Philadelphia Association for Critical Thinking

Monthly Lectures

Monthly lectures are held on the third Saturday of each month (except in the summer).

Note: We have a new meeting room for this year. See details below:

Unless otherwise noted below, all lectures are held at 2:00 PM in the C2-28 Lecture Room at the Philadelphia Community College. This room is in the Center for Business and Industry at the corner of 18th and Callowhill streets on the College's Main Campus.

After you enter the building, take the stairs to the right to the second floor. When you get to the second floor, the lecture room is in front of you on the right. There is also a nice lounge area to the right of the lecture room.

Click here for a campus map. (Click on the CBI building to see a panoramic view of the lobby!)
Click here for a street map of the area.

Note: Parking is available in the college parking garage, but it is no longer free as in the past. The Saturday rate is $3.00.

PhACT thanks Dr. David Cattell and the Philadelphia Community College for providing us with an excellent meeting space.

The general public is more than welcome to attend our lectures. You do not need to be a PhACT member to attend.
For information, contact Eric Krieg at erickrieg@verizon.net

Executive Meetings

Executive meetings are held prior to the monthly lectures, at 1:00 p.m. Any member may attend.

Upcoming Meetings

Saturday, March 20, 2010 - The Decline of Males

Dr. Lionel Tiger is the Charles Darwin Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University. His title reflects his pioneering role in introducing biosocial data into the social sciences. Since the mid-1960's he has been deeply involved in bridging the gap between the natural and social sciences. He has asserted that the words used appear to imply that human social behavior is somehow not natural. But of course it is. Exploring how and why is Tiger's central adventure. As a teacher, as a writer of books and articles which have been widely published and translated, and as co-Research Director of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, he has been an influential figure in broadening our knowledge about why we do what we do.

He combines his scientific expertise with a lively sense of humor to offer original, entertaining, and informative lectures that challenge what is entrenched or fashionable, and move intellectually where others fear to tread. Currently he is focused on day care, young males, the pill, college demographics, the workforce, and the ways in which humans are becoming progressively more and more alienated from their biological roots.

A graduate of McGill University, the London School of Economics at the University of London, England, he is a consultant to the U.S. Department of Defense on the future of biotechnology and the author of a controversial book, The Decline of Males. Dr. Tiger, who developed the concept of "male bonding" in his classis study Men In Groups, has determined that women are in a trend to surpass men in economic, social, and reproductive status - and that the cause of this seismic shift is not political or moral, but biological.

Responding to concerns about the relationship between organizations and their members in the next two decades, Dr. Tiger lectures on Pleasure: The Carrot, The Stick, and The Future of Employment. Pleasure is also the subject of his book The Pursuit of Pleasure. In it, he argues that all our present pleasures can be traced to their functional, basically biological origins. We perceive and pursue pleasure because evolution actually programmed enjoyment into behaviors that are essential for survival.

Dr. Tiger is also the author of the much-discussed books The Imperial Animal, written with Robin Fox; Optimism: The Biology Of Hope, Female Hierarchies; Women in the Kibbutz; and The Manufacture of Evil: Ethics, Evolution & the Industrial System. He lives in New York City.

Saturday, April 17, 2010 - TBD

Please check back later for April meeting details.

Saturday, May 15, 2010 - PhACT Banquet

Our speaker will be Joe Nickell.
Please check back later for details.

Sunday, May 16, 2010 - New Jersey Devil Expedition

For the more adventurous, Joe Nickell and other PhACT folks will embark on an expedition to find the Jersey Devil in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. PhACT member Don Nigroni will be our guide on this adventure. All are welcome to participate. This event is free.