This our members only Philosophy Club where we'll gather in a beautiful Bed-Stuy apartment to explore the limits of language in our everyday communication as well as in the scope of modern political correctness. BYOB!

Philosophy Club | What Can't we Say?

Jeanne Proust at Living Room

Wed, Mar 13 at 7:30 p.m.   |   90 minutes


When we ask ourselves about the limits of what language can express, we are both asking if we are allowed to say everything and if it is possible to say everything.


We also have to ask ourselves what "everything" means: can words describe every nuance of our sensations, perceptions, emotions? The relationship we have with our interlocutor also plays a role in our feeling comfortable saying what we truly think. And looking within the context of political correctness, we'll explore why it would or would not be ok to say whatever we want.

We'll look to our own experience as well as what some philosophers like Hegel, Bergson, and Austin had to say about topics like performative language, language as social power, and words as labels.

Teacher: Jeanne Proust

While teaching at different universities in New York, Jeanne is advocating for a widening of philosophical education beyond the academia frontiers by participating in different events open to the general public. She taught at Rikers Island as a volunteer, and regularly gives public talks in philosophy, leading her to recently produce her own podcast, "Can You Phil It?”.


Venue: Living Room
Add to Calendar March 13, 20197:30 p.m. March 13, 2019 America/New_York Think Olio | Philosophy Club | What Can't we Say? This our members only Philosophy Club where we'll gather in a beautiful Bed-Stuy apartment to explore the limits of language in our everyday communication as well as in the scope of modern political correctness. BYOB! None

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Think Olio is here to put the liberation back into the liberal arts.

Classically, the liberal arts, were the education considered essential for a free person to take an active part in civic life. To counter a humanities that has been institutionalized and dehumanized we infuse critical thinking, openness, playfulness, and compassion into our learning experience.

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Olio: A miscellaneous collection of art and literature.