Image - George Hammond on stage at The Commonwealth Club
Past Event

George Hammond: The Revitalization of Ancient Greek Philosophy

Monday Night Philosophy at The Commonwealth Club celebrates its 14th anniversary by revealing how 20th century scientific knowledge was used to revitalize the power of Pythagorean insights and Platonic ideals. Using ancient Greek principles that promote clear conceptual reasoning, Hammond spent his 20s reorganizing the concepts we all use into a more coherent whole, generating both philosophical wisdom about the patterns in our personalities and perhaps even a better scientific understanding of the universe as well.

Just as it did 2,500 years ago, focusing on the existence of the continuum of change and on the unchanging principles inherent in it reveals a cosmos of order rather than an impenetrable chaos. Surprisingly, the same thing can also be said about uncovering the patterns of order in our own individual―and admittedly apparently chaotic—personalities.  

Join George Hammond on his 70th birthday as he explains why he expects this civilizing force to get a big boost in the near future, and why he continues to focus on clarifying first principles first—and then setting them loose in the world

Notes

A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums.

Marie Antoinette’s apocryphal advice will be followed to a tea after the program.

March 6, 2023

The Commonwealth Club of California
110 The Embarcadero
Taube Family Auditorium
San Francisco, CA 94105
United States

Speakers
Image - George Hammond

George Hammond

Author, Conversations With Socrates