Upcoming Events
Wisdom on the Vine: ‘An Economy of Life’
June 14, 2026 | 3pm
Magnolia Vineyards, Amissville, VA
Join us for this special event featuring a talk by esteemed Professor of Philosophy Talbot Brewer (UVA) based on his extraordinary essay “An Economy of Life”.
About this talk: Perhaps nothing is more important to us than love. Given how badly we desire it, you might at least expect that we would be sure what it is. But on this question we find the deepest and seemingly most intractable obscurity. In this talk, Professor Brewer will return to the dialogues of Plato to consider his strange yet compelling idea of love, and suggest that a return to the Platonic idea of love might help us find our way from an economy that disfigures what is best in us to an economy that brings our potentiality fully to life.
RSVP required
About the Speaker
Talbot Brewer is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Virginia. He specializes in ethics and political philosophy, with particular attention to moral psychology and Aristotelian ethics. He is the author of numerous essays, including “Virtues We Can Share: A Reading of Aristotle’s Ethics” (Ethics 115, 2005), “Savoring Time: Desire, Pleasure and Wholehearted Activity” (Ethical Theory and Moral 6, 2003), “Two Kinds of Commitments (And Two Kinds of Social Groups)” (Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 66, 2003), and “Maxims and Virtues” (The Philosophical Review 3, 2002). He has been a visiting professor in the Harvard University Philosophy Department and has been invited to present his work to audiences at a number of universities and professional conferences in North America, South America, Europe, China and the Middle East. He has authored two books, the most recent of which is The Retrieval of Ethics (Oxford University Press, 2009).
"The Hero's Journey: A Way Forward"
July 16, 2026 | 5pm
Rendezvous Studio & Events, Roanoke, VA
Join us for this special event featuring a talk and conversation with visionary business leader, entrepreneur, author, and MTV founding member, August Turak.
In this compelling talk, August Turak will offer a solution to the pressing epidemic of loneliness and despair in contemporary Western society. Drawing on his extensive experience as a successful entrepreneur, corporate executive, award-winning author, and life-long spiritual seeker, Turak presents a revolutionary model that provides the higher meaning and purpose that is so often missing from modern American life.
$15
RSVP required
About the Speaker
August Turak is a successful corporate executive, entrepreneur, award-winning author, speaker, and consultant. He is the founder of the educational nonprofit the August Turak Foundation.
His book, Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks, uses 1000 years of Trappist business success and his own entrepreneurial experience to demonstrate the monks are not successful businessmen despite adhering to only the highest ethical values, but because they do.
An inspirational true story, Brother John: A Monk, a Pilgrim, and the Purpose of Life, combines Turak’s $100,000 Templeton Prize winning story with original oil paintings from award-winning artist, Glenn Harrington.
His memoir, Not Less Than Everything, reveals how August Turak overcame meaningless depression through a daring quest for life’s purpose. Through a series of wildly entertaining stories and life lessons, Turak offers a powerful blueprint for a purposeful life. A life overflowing with joy, peace, and above all gratitude.
Turak has published many popular leadership articles for Forbes and been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Selling Magazine, the New York Times, and Business Week.
Turak writes and raises cattle on his seventy-five-acre farm outside Raleigh, NC.
THE PARLOUR
July 10, 2026 | 6:30pm
Lost Barrel Brewing, Middleburg, VA
Join us for an evening of friendship, philosophy, and learning as we engage in the art of meaningful conversation.
$10
Salon topic: TBD
RSVP required
Past Events
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"Life Cannot Be Delegated: Why the Arc of AI Bends Toward Demoralization and What to Do About it"
May 26, 2026 | 5:30pm
Warrenton, VA
Join us for this special event featuring a talk by the widely-read and respected writer, teacher, and speaker, Michael Sacasas.
About this talk: The arc of AI bends toward the demoralization of the human person. As AI advances into more and more spheres of human life, we are invited to outsource an ever wider range of human activity to the solicitous technologies that promise freedom, efficiency, convenience, and optimization. But what we are invited to outsource—care, thought, judgment, action—these turn out to be essential to a fully and recognizably human existence, and together they form a virtuous loop that fuels our experience of meaning and purpose. In this talk, we'll explore these various human activities, how they are threatened by AI, and why we must take care to guard their place in our experience.
You can learn more about Michael’s work through his newsletter, The Convivial Society. And by listening to his New York Times interview with Ezra Klein
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Parlour Philosophy
June 4, 2026 | 5pm
Middleburg, VA
Come meet new friends, share your perspective, and learn as we engage in the art of meaningful conversation.
Salon topic: Courage and Human Agency
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Philosophy on Tap: 'Artificial Intelligence and the Human Future'
February 27, 2026 | 5pm
Warrenton, VA
Join us for this special inaugural event featuring a talk by Professor Talbot Brewer (UVA) about the consequences of AI for humanity.
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Parlour Philosophy
May 2, 2026 | 12pm
Roanoke, VA
Come meet new friends, share your perspective, and learn as we engage in the art of meaningful conversation.
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Parlour Philosophy
May 14, 2026 | 5:30pm
Roanoke, VA
Come meet new friends, share your perspective, and learn as we engage in the art of meaningful conversation.
Salon topic: Courage and Human Agency