Virtual Reading Groups
Would you like to join interesting people and have interesting conversations based on readings from the history of liberty?
Free Participation! | Powered by Zoom
Our Virtual Reading Groups will each focus on a particular topic, and a common set of readings will form the basis for our discussions. Each group is facilitated by a professional moderator and is conducted via the Zoom online platform.
Participation is offered at no-cost, and there is no need to be an expert on the topic for discussion! The only requirement is that participants be eager to read and engage in conversation.
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Participants who successfully complete all sessions will receive an e-gift certificate from Amazon.com!
Upcoming
On Cruelty Well-Used: Machiavelli and Realism
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Pre-registration is required.
Realism has emerged as an important field of inquiry within political theory and philosophy in recent years. While much political and ethical thought looks to ideals outside the domain of social and political life, realism, by…
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Benjamin Franklin and the Founding
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Pre-registration is required.
This VRG will examine three aspects of Franklin’s thought through his writings, both private and public. We will be able to trace the development of his ideas by reading the material for each session in chronological order. The…
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Liberty, Law, and the Social Contract in Hobbes to Hume
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Pre-registration is required.
The idea of the social contract — the idea that individuals enter into an agreement to cooperate for larger social and political benefits out of a state of nature — lies at the heart of modern political thought as it developed in…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: Henry V
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Pre-registration is required.
Here we see Hal, now King Henry V, on his throne. What lessons has he brought with him from his former wild days? What problems still haunt him? Hal is faced by a series of challenges at home and abroad. Is he prepared to deal…
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Buchanan's Natural and Artifactual Man
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Pre-registration is required.
In this essay, which was first published by Liberty Fund in 1979, Nobel Laureate James Buchanan examines the significance of what he describes as man’s ‘artifactual’ nature. As understood by Buchanan, the term ‘artifactual’…
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Personal Freedoms, Righting Wrongs, and the Nature of Man
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Pre-registration is required.
One of the benefits of literature is that we as readers can explore new philosophies and theories through the eyes of characters and their actions. Add the benefit of striking illustrations and the ideas of political vengeance,…
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Michael Oakeshott on the Human Condition
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Pre-registration is required.
In this virtual reading group, we will reflect on the achievement of Michael Oakeshott, using Timothy Fuller’s book of essays, Michael Oakeshott on the Human Condition, as our primary text. Fuller and Oakeshott were close…
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Reconstruction: What if Lincoln Lived?
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Pre-registration is required.
When considering the scope and ultimate shortcomings of Reconstruction, Americans typically resort to asking an inescapable yet unanswerable question: “what if Abraham Lincoln had lived?” Indeed, what if the author of the United…
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One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: Henry IV, Part II
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Pre-registration is required.
Henry IV, Part two lacks some of the flash and fireworks of the previous play. But it gives us a chance to know Falstaff much better, and to deepen our understanding of this wildly popular character. It also gives Hal’s brothers…
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Insights on Joy: “Anna Karenina”
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Pre-registration is required.
Often considered one of the greatest works in world literature, Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” presents a deep exploration of the true sources of joy in human life. On the novel’s terms, efforts to find joy through the pursuit of…
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One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare's Plays
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Our new series of Shakespeare Virtual Reading Groups will explore all of Shakespeare’s plays over the course of about 3 years. We’ll look at one play a month, with Liberty Fund’s Sarah Skwire leading one 90 minute discussion for…
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Past Sessions
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: Henry IV, Part I
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Shakespeare’s three plays featuring Prince Hal’s development into the famed king, Henry V, are some of his most popular in the modern era. We’ll look into Hal’s intellectual and moral growth, and try to decide how to feel about…
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The Presidents: Jefferson and Understanding the Declaration of Independence
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Thomas Jefferson wrote that in drafting the Declaration of Independence he meant to give expression to “the American mind.” What does this mean? What does the Declaration tell us about the American mind as it relates to the…
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Stefan Zweig’s Chess novella
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Chess story (Schachnovelle) is Stefan Zweig’s last completed work & his most famous. It has been translated into 60 languages. It has sold many millions of copies. It is taught in schools & in colleges. It has been…
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One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare's Plays - Richard II
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Richard II begins Shakespeare’s second tetralogy, which comprises his most famous English history plays. We will consider the play not just as a way of teeing up the Henriad, but on it’s own merits and for its own mission. What…
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One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare's Plays - Cymbeline
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Cymbeline has been classified as a tragedy, a romance, and even a comedy, so our first order of business will be to try to understand what kind of a play this is. Lytton Strachey thought the play was evidence that playwriting had…
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An Economy of Words: Adam Smith and the Political Philosophy of Language
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Linguistic diversity, from the Tower of Babel to the present, has drawn many thinkers to speculate over language and its potential impact on political theory and approach to economic principles. Smith is no exception. Adam Smith’…
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Buchanan's Moral Science and Moral Order
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James Buchanan was a foundational scholar in our modern understanding of public choice, bringing the logic of economics to the study of political institutions. Interspersed throughout his voluminous writings on political economy,…
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One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare's Plays - Hamlet
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It is, of course, ridiculous to tackle this masterpiece in a 90 minute session. The best we can hope to do is to pull at a few threads in the play by asking questions like: What does Hamlet have to teach us about times when our…
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