FROM BOB CORBETT -- An invitation to join a very different sort of e-mail list.

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Folks on the Corbett Haiti list:

In 2001 I started a discussion forum with a few hundred of my students and
former students.  It was supposed to be about philosophical topics which
touched everyday life.  For various reasons I dropped the list in 2002,
but now intend to re-open it.  Since the Haiti list has been so quiet and
with so few posts :) lately, I did want to take a minute to invite any of
you who might enjoy such discussion a chance to join this list.

Below in the note I have just sent to my existing "forum" list announcing
that fact that I am about to review it.  It will give you more information
about the list.  If you are interested in joining it, just drop me a note
instructing me to subscribe you to the discussion forum.

As though I don't have enough to do.....  I must be crazy.  But, I'm also
starved for more philosphical discussion.....

Best wishes,   Bob Corbett

------------------

To:  Current members of the Bob Corbett discussion forum --
From:  Bob Corbett


Folks, I stated this list back in 2001 when I was teaching in Vienna.  For
a while it was an active list, but then it ceased to be active and I
abandoned it.  For some time I have been thinking of reviving it and have
come very close about 4-5 times and just didn't get it done.

Now I am ready.

The original list was mainly students I was teaching in Vienna, or had
taught at Webster University St. Louis in the past.  A few others had come
on it though friends.  I closed it down since no matter what issues I
tried to float, they tended to turn to contemporary political discussion
almost immediately and I was just bored out of my mind with political
discussion, so I lost interest.

Last night my brother and I began a local neighborhood discussion forum
meeting in a new coffee house just up the street from my house.  We had 13
neighborhood residents show up and we discussed the question of the
separation of church and state.  What excited me was that we announced the
discussion would have to do with the general PRINCIPLE of the separation
of church and state and NOT SPECIFIC ISSUES such a gay marriage, or prayer
in schools or ministers demanding the congregation vote some way and so
on.

And, delightfully, the group took it in that spirit and we had an
informative and spirited disucssion of the fundamental principle, and the
dilemma that arises since both church and state have an important
interests in certain moral issues which creates an overlap and even
competition.

The group then decided to meet again in a week and we will each be
submitting two discussion topics to the group and we'll drawn a new tipioc
each time we meet.  For next week we will discuss the question of "moral
luck" (the question of what sense to make of the advantages any of us have
in life which are due to luck rather than our own achievements -- our
genetic code, health, family, schooling, material situation and so on).

Since it has fallen to me to write a statement of the problem for our
in-the-coffee-house discussion group, I decided to use this occasion to
re-open my discussion forum with that topic.

I will send out a note about this question of moral luck to the discussion
forum in two days.  But, I first want to have time to remove any of you
from the discussion list if you are no longer interested, or don't have
the time or whatever.  On the other hand, if you know others who might
want ON the list, then please let me know.  Thus I'm allowing a bit of
time to both add new people to the  list and to take people off the list
who need or want off.

In the new format I will not necessarily post EVERY reply to the list.  I
will be selective only posting things which keep us on the subject
announced, so it will be a moderated list and I will be the moderator and
it will be a selective list.  It's important you know that so that you
don't have false expectations.

So, please, if you are on the list and want to stay on the list -- DO
NOTHING.  In a few days you will get a statement of the first topic and
the floor will be open.....  If you want off the list just drop me a note
and I'll take you off.  If you know people who would like to be on the
list just have them send me a note saying:  subscribe me to the discussion
forum.

Hopefully we can get this rolling within the week.

Best wishes to you all, I'm very excited to get this off the ground again.

Bob Corbett