Sentientism, Activism, and Personal Growth
In this American Ethical Union Salon, Hugh Taft-Morales, Amy Halpern-Laff, and Jamie Woodhouse will explore the opportunities and challenges of “sentientism,”a worldview that demands moral consideration of all creatures experiencing feelings and sensations. Based on evidence, reason, and compassion, sentientism extends secular humanism to the treatment of other animals. Sentientists endeavor to minimize suffering and [...]
Reconstruction and Saving Democracy
Hugh Taft-Morales Leader, Philadelphia Ethical Society After the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln hoped to bind the nation’s wounds. “Let ’em up easy,” he told the Union Army, trying to discourage retribution. But following the President’s assassination, the federal government, in alliance with formerly enslaved people, radically reconstructed the South, enfranchising and electing Black Americans. Then [...]
Book Discussion: Killing Rage by bell hooks
PA, United StatesHugh Taft-Morales hosts two discussions of the book that galvanized a generation of activists. In the first meeting we’ll cover the introduction and the sections Beyond Black Rage: Ending Racism; Revolutionary Feminism: An Anti-Racist Agenda; and Overcoming White Supremacy: A Comment. The second meeting will focus on Beyond Black Only: Bonding Beyond Race; Keeping a [...]
Sense in the City: Homelessness and Humanity
A winter Wednesday Zoom discussion series with the Center City Residents Association How can citizens nurture constructive dialogue that respects everyone and helps make our society more equitable and inclusive? How can we live more meaningful, engaged, and responsible lives? Join Hugh Taft-Morales, Leader of the Philadelphia Ethical Society, for a series of guided conversations about [...]
W.E.B. Du Bois: Will the truth set you free?
From the all AEU Program recorded on January 30, 2022 Special guest Dennis D. Parker of the National Center for Law and Economic Justice presents a speech that civil rights' icon W.E.B. Du Bois gave to the NYSEC in 1949. Join here online at the scheduled time: tiny.cc/pesprograms
Forgiveness
Philadelphia Ethical Society 1906 Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, PA, United StatesHugh Taft-Morales Leader, Philadelphia Ethical Society What is forgiveness? How should humanists approach forgiveness so that it elevates our quality of life and strengthens our commitment to ethical living? Felix Adler wrote that “to forgive is not to forget—quite the contrary. To forgive is to remember the past action, but to remember it as belonging [...]
Introduction to Ethical Humanism
Be part of a small-group conversation about our Ethical Society community, history, and philosophy. This informal Zoom gathering with Hugh Taft-Morales is open to everyone. Join online at the scheduled time: CLICK HERE
Sense in the City: Fear and Street Crime
A Wednesday Zoom discussion series with the Center City Residents Association How can citizens nurture constructive dialogue that respects everyone and helps make our society more equitable and inclusive? How can we live more meaningful, engaged, and responsible lives? Join Hugh Taft-Morales, Leader of the Philadelphia Ethical Society, for a series of guided conversations about community, [...]
Black Women’s Bodies in the Archive and the Afterlife of Captivity
Marisa Fuentes Rutgers University Historical and contemporary records are consistently unreliable for understanding Black lives in precarity. Historian Marisa Fuentes will consider the ethics of historical research into vulnerable subjects by analyzing a document from the Barbados colonial slave archives alongside the police investigation into the killing of Breonna Taylor. She also will offer ethical [...]
Dogs, Cats, and Sentientism
Philadelphia Ethical Society 1906 Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, PA, United StatesHugh Taft-Morales Leader, Philadelphia Ethical Society Animals have long supported human life, from their non-consensual role in our diets to their loving place in our homes. Humans often go to great lengths to care for them: rescuing wild animals in distress or feeding feral ones. Hugh will share two stories—one about dogs and one about [...]