We draw our inspiration from Socrates: I say again that the greatest good of man is daily to converse about virtue…and that the life that is unexamined is not worth living.

The Examined Life reading group continues its exploration of the relationship between meaningful stories, essays, and poems and our personal identity. This season we focus on models for achieving happiness or satisfaction and the importance of identifying a life purpose. Can a life without purpose be rewarding? Is suffering a prerequisite to happiness? Do we rely on passion or reason to choose our destiny? Our readings provoke us to contemplate these questions and develop our own world view.

This group meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month, September through May, 5-7pm in the Athenæum’s Bound. Please note that the November meeting is on the 5th Wednesday of the month.

Wed, September 28
Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Wed, October 26
Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
Donald Hall, Ox-Cart Man

Wed, November 30
Arthur Miller, The Death of a Salesman
Sigmund Freud, Civilization and its Discontents

Wed, December 28
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

TUES, January 31 *rescheduled from Weds, January 25*
Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

Wed, February 22
The Bhagavad Gita
Kazuo Ishiguro, Remains of the Day

Wed, March 22
Matsuo Basho, Narrow Road to the Interior
CP Cavafy, Ithaka

Wed, April 26
Anton Chekhov, The Lady with the Dog
James Joyce, The Dead (from Dubliners)

Wed, May 24 *Meeting OFFSITE at the First Unitarian Church*
Arthur Schopenhauer, On the Suffering of the World
Dr. Martin E.P. Seligman, PERMA

The Examined Life Discussion Group is curated and led by Robert Allio, an Athenæum member with a continuing interest in the humanities.