We meet on the first Wednesday of each month, starting at 6pm. All Master Masons are welcome to attend.
The Assignment for July 15, 2019, is John Stuart Mill’s “Utilitarianism”
The great minds who crafted our noble fraternity were extremely well read. And in their extensive study, they collected many secrets both common and occult in nature. For operative Masons, the secrets that needed to be shared among the brethren included things you might find today in the works of Euclid. But, as you can imagine, those secrets were only the tip of the iceberg. And, as our fraternity expanded to include speculative Freemasons, the body of knowledge that needed to be taught to the Craft expanded to include many lessons of History as well as the ideas of Philosophy. It is to the master works known by our sage brethren, and the works that have defined the centuries since, that we now turn for illumination. Join us in this effort, and explore the depths of the knowledge passed. Some of us believe that what we have been taught is the key to the map that divines Elysium. Seek with us that fair country and the treasure that lies therein.
Meeting Archive
Focus: “Ethics”
July 15, 2019
John Stuart Mill’s “Utilitarianism”
June 5, 2019
Immanuel Kant’s “Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals”
Focus: “Human Understanding.” 18th c. Epistemology and Metaphysics.
April 3, 2019
Immanuel Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason”
March 6, 2019
David Hume: Book 1, Parts 1 and 3, of “A Treatise of Human Nature”
February 6, 2019
David Hume: Book 1, Parts 1 and 3, of “A Treatise of Human Nature”
December 5, 2018
John Locke: Exerpts from: “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding”
Focus: “Know thyself.” Exploring American Philosophy.
September 5, 2018
John Locke: Book 2 of “Two Treatises of Civil Government”
July 3, 2018
Ayn Rand: “The Fountainhead”
May 2, 2018
Henry David Thoreau: “Civil Disobedience”
April 4, 2018
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essays: “History” and “Self-Reliance”
March 7, 2018
William James’ “Pragmatism” (lectures 2 and 6)
February 7, 2018
John Stuart Mill’s “On Liberty”
January 3, 2018
Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”
Focus: Thought leading up to the Protestant Reformation
December 6, 2017
Desiderius Erasmus’ “In Praise of Folly”
November 01, 2017
Desiderius Erasmus’ “Manual of a Christian Knight”
October 4, 2017
Machiavelli’s “The Prince”
Focus: Understanding Rationalism and Idealism. (set topic aside for later)
August 2, 2017
Renee Descartes’ “Meditations on First Philosophy”
Focus: To create a Utopia, you need good people.
July 7, 2017
Plato’s “Republic Books 6-8”
May 16, 2017
Plato’s “Republic Books 1-5”
March 21, 2017
Thomas More’s “Utopia”
February 7, 2017
Francis Bacon’s “The New Atlantis”
Focus: Frequently misunderstood philosophies.
December 6, 2016
Friedrich Nietzsche’s “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”
September 20, 2016
Sun Tzu’s “Art of War”
Focus: Pythagoras and “Sacred Geometry”
August 2, 2016
Hosted a workshop on Geometry featuring the use of compass and straight edge.
Focus: Stoicism is alive and well.
May 17, 2016
Marcus Aurelius’ “Meditations”
April 19, 2016
David Burns’ “Feeling Good”
Focus: Happiness and Friendship.
March 15, 2016
Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics Book VIII (Friendship)”
March 1, 2016
Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics Book I and II
Focus: Examination of philosophical ideas present as Christianity organized.
February 16, 2016
“The Kyballion” by Three Initiates
February 2, 2016
“The Kyballion” by Three Initiates (Introduction to the 7 Hermetic Principles)
September 15, 2015
Brian Brown’s “Wisdom of the Egyptians”
August 18, 2015
Plutarch’s “Isis and Osiris”
August 4, 2015
Iamblichus’ “On the Mysteries of the Egyptians, Chaldeans and Assyrians”
July 21, 2015
Plotinus’ “6 Enneads”
June 30, 2015
Porphyry and Neoplatonism. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.
