Faversham Stoa is a pub philosophy discussion group. We meet the 3rd Tuesday of every month from 7.30 to 9.30pm in the Next Meeting – “Status Anxiety”
Tues 15 May, 7.30 — 9.30pm, at the Bull
Our topic this month is about an almost universal anxiety: an anxiety about what others think of us; about whether we're judged a success or a failure, a winner or a loser. We care about our status for a simple reason: because most people tend to be nice to us according to the amount of status we have.
We will also be looking at the concomitant rise of the phenomenon of snobbery whereby we look down on those 'below' us as well looking enviously at those alongside and above us.
The advantages of two thousand years of Western civilization are familiar enough: an extraordinary increase in wealth, in food supply, in scientific knowledge, in consumer goods, in physical security, in life expectancy and economic opportunity. What is perhaps less apparent is the way that such impressive material advances have gone hand in hand with a rise in levels of status anxiety among ordinary Western citizens, ie, a rise in levels of concern about importance, achievement, income and how we appear in others' eyes.
All about the Stoa
What is the Stoa?
The Stoa is a philosophy discussion group which meets every month in the The Bull pub in Tanners Street, Faverham to talk about serious issues but without being too solemn about it. None of us are professional, academic philosophers and although it's "popular" philosophy we're interested it's never dumbed-down!
When do you meet?
We meet on the 3rd Tuesday of every month from 7.30 — 9.30pm although many members continue informal discussion in the bar after the meeting finishes.
Where do you meet?
We meet in the back bar of The Bull pub in Tanners Street, Faversham, ME13 7JL. Directions...
How much does it cost?
There is no charge for membership but we do have a whip-round of £1 each just to cover the cost of the room.
What kinds of things do you discuss?
Browse through our Topics page to see what we've discussed at previous meetings.
What do you do?
Each meeting is led by a member or a visting speaker and is generally based one or more articles we have all read (althought it's not critical that you read the articles beforehand). Links to all the articles can be found on the Topics page and the dates of meetings can be found on the Schedule page (which includes a link back to the relevant reading).
Who can attend?
Everybody is welcome!
How can I get on your mailing list?
Drop us a line via the Contact form and you will be recieve our monthly bulletin "News from the Stoa".
Why 'Stoa'?
In classical Greek architecture the stoa was the covered promenade attached to the marketplace which became the place where philosophers frequently met to dialogue and debate. In fact it was this habit of regularly meeting in the stoa that earned the 'Stoic' school their epithet: it simply meant "guys who hang out at the stoa and chew the fat!". I like to think that the title of our group suggests an open marketplace where ideas can be traded and critical thinking is our currency.
You might also like to compare the ancient Greek stoa with our marketplace at the centre of Faversham. There are some very close similarities and so that gives us another association with the title.
What is Marginalia?
Marginalia is a blog containing random notes, scribbles, comments, jottings and drolleries on a variety of philosophical topics, including those discussed at the Faversham Stoa. While the notes in the topics section of this site are intended to be fairly impartial, the ideas and polemics in Marginalia are unapologetically my own. You are welcome, indeed encouraged, to append your comments to the entries and start a conversation.
Acknowledgements
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