What we’re about
Join us if you're interested in philosophy, literature, film, and socializing. This group will be for people who want to talk about books and movies that explore life's big questions. We won't presuppose any definite answers. It's more about the journey than the destination.
We will have regular meetups with different formats. Once a month we will meet to discuss a book or selection from a book. Readings will vary widely, ranging from ancient philosophy and literature to contemporary fiction and nonfiction. Each month, we will also have social gatherings, film outings, and open discussion meetups.
Upcoming events
8
The Purloined Poe: Lacan, Derrida, and Psychoanalytic Reading by John Muller
Amélie's French Bakery & Café | Park Road, 4321 Park Rd, Charlotte, NC, USDoes a letter always arrive at its destination?
This month, we will be reading, The Purloined Poe: Lacan, Derrida, and Psychoanalytic Reading by John Muller. If you do not want to buy the book, the discussion will be based on Edgar Allan Poe’s The Purloined Letter from 1844, Jacques Lacan’s Seminar on "the Purloined Letter” from 1954-55, and Jacques Derrida’s response to Lacan Le Facteur de la Vérité (The Postman of Truth) from 1975.
Poe’s short story is his third featuring C. Auguste Dupin, who uses logic and reasoning to help the police solve crimes purely to entertain his intellectual curiosity. This character served as the prototype for Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. It is short, suspenseful, and worth reading even if you choose to skip the Lacan and Derrida. Much of the conversation will be based on the events of this short story.
In Lacan’s Seminar on “the Purloined Letter,” he argues that the purloined letter functions not as a concrete object but as a signifier—a bearer of symbolic meaning within the Symbolic order. Its power lies not in its content (which is never revealed) but in its position within a symbolic chain.
Derrida argues that Lacan remains too faithful to a closed system of structuralist logic and doesn’t account for the dissemination and undecidability of meaning. Derrida thinks Lacan overdetermines the letter’s structure and function, closing it off from ambiguity and play.
We will be reading the story, seminar, and response above. Feel free to explore the critical responses that make up the rest of the book.
15 attendees
The 13th Acre Haunted Trail
Aw Shucks Corn Maze, 3718 Plyler Mill Rd, Monroe, NC, USWe attended this event last year and it was amazing! We will post a meeting place within the grounds when we arrive, and make sure we are all together before entering the haunted trail portion. Please be sure to buy tickets for the date of the event.
Description from their website below:
Just east of Charlotte, NC in Monroe, an eerily silent haunted trail captures the attention of many. Unknown creatures create chaos and mayhem in the area at night, but no one ever dares to enter it to know the truth. Are you brave enough to find out what lies in there? Feel as if you are walking right into your worst nightmare when you and your friends see how far you can go through The 13th Acre.
This walking event is not for the faint of heart. Once you enter these creepy woods, you will only have one chance to retreat, and if you miss it, you will have to finish what you’ve started. Frightful creatures will welcome you into their realm, and it is up to you to escape. There is only so much we can do to keep you alive as you dare to encounter the dead and dearly departed. Find out what lays in wait when you visit us today.
WARNING! This EVENT MAY BE TOO INTENSE FOR CHILDREN 12 & UNDER
7 attendees
Death Cafe
Amélie's French Bakery & Café | Park Road, 4321 Park Rd, Charlotte, NC, USLet's talk about death.
Join us for a loosely structured open discussion where we talk about our understanding, thoughts, fears, and experiences, among other things, in regard to death and dying.
We will be pulling questions to discuss from The Coffin Cards. The Coffin Cards is a collection of questions with the intention to reflect upon and explore our mortality and navigate grief.
Questions from The Coffin Cards include: "How can we make our society more supportive around death and grief?", "What role has art and creativity played in your grieving process?", and "What would happen if you died tomorrow?"
This continuing event is inspired by Swiss sociologist and anthropologist Bernard Crettaz’s cafe mortel and the broader global Death Cafe movement.
15 attendees
Past events
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