Saturday, March 28, 2020

April 24, 2020— "Essay on Man," by Alexander Pope

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be April 24, 2020.  

Meeting Content:
    We'll be discussing "Essay on Man," by Alexander Pope

Meeting Time and Place:
    Zoom on-line conference
        —If you have attended one of our meetings this year (2020) an email will be sent a day prior to meeting with a link to join the meeting.
        If you have not attended a meeting this year and wish to join the Zoom meeting, send a request to greatbookskc@gmail.com.
    Date: April 24, 2020
    Time: 7:00 pm

Description of Book:
"Essay on Man," by Alexander Pope is a poem published in 1733–1734It is concerned with the natural order God has decreed for man. Because man cannot know God's purposes, he cannot complain about his position in the Great Chain of Being and must accept that "Whatever IS, is RIGHT". It popularized optimistic philosophy throughout England and the rest of Europe. Pope's Essay on Man and Moral Epistles were designed to be the parts of a system of ethics which he wanted to express in poetry. Moral Epistles has been known under various other names including Ethic Epistles and Moral Essays.

Monday, March 2, 2020

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, by Mary Wollstonecraft

WE'RE MEETING BY ZOOM AT THE REGULAR TIME 
LINK to Join Zoom Meeting

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be March 27, 2020.  

Meeting Content:
We'll be discussing "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects," (1792), by Mary Wollstonecraft.

Meeting Time and Place:
Location: Plaza Branch Kansas City Public Library
               (on-line by Zoom)
Date: March 27, 2020
Time: 7:00 pm
Address: 4801 Main Street
Kansas City, MO

Description of Book:
"A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" (1792), written by the 18th-century British proto-feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, is one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. In it, Wollstonecraft responds to those educational and political theorists of the 18th century who did not believe women should receive a rational education. She argues that women ought to have an education commensurate with their position in society, claiming that women are essential to the nation because they educate its children and because they could be "companions" to their husbands, rather than mere wives. Instead of viewing women as ornaments to society or property to be traded  in marriage,  Wollstonecraft maintains that they are human beings deserving of the same fundamental rights as men.