The Russellian Society

Russoc discussion group

Next Russoc discussion group

To be announced.

What's the discussion group all about?

The discussion group is about discussion. All that's required is an interest in philosophy and a liking for stimulating conversation -- interesting topics and questions, new ways of looking at things, amusing banter, and occasional heated arguments.

The discussion group includes: investigations of topics, questions, ideas; reports on events of philosophical interest; presentations of papers; readings and analyses of particular texts; screenings of movies with philosophical themes; and general creativity, inspiration and intellectual-type talk.

The aims of the group include: encouraging original student philosophy; and providing a sort of study group, to which you can bring any questions or topics you want to discuss, or anything you're unclear about. If you want to know more about Heidegger, we could arrange for someone to present a paper on Heidegger.

If you have any ideas for topics for meetings, or would be willing to present something, simply drop an e-mail to [email protected].

Copies of handouts for previous meetings are available on request.

What do you want to know about?

Want to discuss your coursework, or any essay or paper you're working on?
Is there something else you would like to hear a presentation on? An interpretation of a passage of Nietzsche, a summary of Critique of Pure Reason, an overview of philosophy of mind or political philosophy, an explanation of string theory? Or simply a report on philosophy courses you�re interested in but either haven't yet taken or have missed out on taking?
Do you have any burning questions or topics you�d like to discuss (god, beauty, death penalty, censorship, refugees, cyborgs, Buddhism)?
Are there books or essays or passages you�d like to discuss (Two Dogmas, Naming and Necessity, Death of the Author)?

Got ideas you want to test?

If you're prepared to give a talk, of any length -- even a one- or two-minute talk -- we would love to hear from you. The talk could be anything. For instance:

You could give a summary of an article or book you're reading.
You could give a report on a philosophy event you've attended, or a philosophy course you've taken.
You could give an outline of an essay or paper you're writing.
You could simply bring in ideas to test out. They could be work in progress: they don't have to be fully developed, fully researched. Just put together some provisional ideas and see what people provisionally think. Just bring what you�ve got, or just bring the misgivings you have about what you�ve got.

We would also love to hear from you if you're willing to give a talk, but don't have anything in particular in mind. For instance, if we know you have some sort of expertise in existentialism, and we get a request to discuss existentialism, we could check if you're interested in putting together an overview.

Movies, etc

Are there philosophical movies or movies with philosophical themes you want to watch ("The Matrix", "Wittgenstein", "Derrida", "Manufacturing Consent", "The Andalusian Dog", Star Wars and Star Trek)? Or is there music or artwork whose philosophical content or implications you would like to discuss?

Suggestions?

Ideas, questions, suggestions, feedback, anything, whatever's on your mind -- please e-mail [email protected].

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