Where Do Justice and Kindness Meet?

Gregory Sadler (Marist College)

Join us for the first public event of the Milwaukee chapter of SOPHIA (Society of Philosophers In America) - a public discussion of how Justice and Kindness meet up (and whether they are in conflict with each other). And consider joining this new SOPHIA chapter while you're there!

We will be holding this event in the COMMUNITY ROOM of the Milwaukee Public Library, starting at 1:30 PM, and running until about 4:00 PM on March 17.

The first hour of the session will be a facilitated discussion - led by Andi Sciacca, Kreigh Knerr, and Greg Sadler - engaging the community on issues of justice, community, kindness or beneficence. What do people think justice is? Why are there so many conflicts about justice? What is needed beyond justice? These are just the starting points for our discussion. We'll also look very briefly at one moral perspective that construes kindness as a part of justice.

After a short break, we will have a second discussion, led by Greg Sadler, and focused on some key ideas from Cicero's work of Stoic Ethics, On Duties. We will go further into the interplay between kindness and justice, discuss what we owe those outside our community, and look at justice's connections with the other three main virtues recognized by the Stoics - wisdom, courage, and moderation. No previous background , study, or reading in philosophy is required for the first hour - just an interest in participating in these discussions vital to our Milwaukee community. For the second hour, it is recommended that participants read book 1 of Cicero's work, On Duties. We'll be using the Miller translation. You can read it for free at these sites:

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Cic.%20Off.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cicero/de_Officiis/1A*.html

If you'd like to purchase the Loeb edition of the text, you can do so here - http://amzn.to/2CZZrh1

Given the focus on Stoic ethics, this event is also co-sponsored by the MKE Stoic Fellowship - a local meetup for people interested in Stoic philosophy and practice