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Sam Harris Series | Episode 2: No Free Will and Spirituality without Faith
Friday June 28 at 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm EDT
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Regan Arntz-Gray, who’s been hosting a Sam Harris podcast discussion group for the past 6 years, is hosting a 4-month Interintellect Salon series on his body of work.
Episode 2: No Free Will and Spirituality without Faith
Sam argues not only that free will is an illusion, but that the illusion of free will is itself an illusion! Our desires and thoughts arise in a manner that is wholly mysterious, but understanding the mind through meditation and psychedelics can be a path to spiritual fulfillment which doesn’t require believing falsehoods. We’ll discuss Sam’s arguments against compatibilism, the implications of belief in free will for our sense of self, justice, and motivation, and whether it’s really possible to create a generationally sustainable secular culture. We’ll discuss arguments made in “Free Will” and “Waking Up” but pre-reading is not required.
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In this salon series, we’ll traverse through the thought-provoking and diverse work of Sam Harris. We’ll examine the central claims made in his books as well as through his body of work as a public intellectual. This series will include four salons, each focused on one major topic or group of issues to which Sam has contributed atheism and critiques of Islam, morality and cultural relativism, free will and spirituality without faith, and the transformative power of discourse.
For each topic, we’ll discuss Sam’s central claims, any questions they stimulate, and where they might require updating or recontextualizing for 2024. We’ll cover content discussed in several of his books, including The End of Faith, Free Will, Waking Up, The Moral Landscape, and Lying, so some pre-reading is helpful but not at all necessary.
In each salon session, expect thought-provoking discussions, speculative inquiries, and a deep dive into Harris’s intellectual legacy. Bring your questions and curiosity as we embark on these constructive discussions, and I expect we’ll all come away with some new insights on these important topics!
This event will be recorded.
