History of Philosophy Book Club

Did you take a philosophy class in high school or college and wish you had taken more? Do you read philosophy texts independently but have no one to discuss them with? Then this group is for you.

We will read, in chronological order, major works from the history of philosophy. Although the majority will have been written by European and American authors, we will be open to texts from other cultures. Representative philosophers include Plato, Averroes, Descartes, Spinoza, Hobbes, Kant, Hegel, Sartre, and Foucault.

Most of the time we will read works from a single author. Periodically we may want to read an anthology of their works or focus on a specific subject, such as "ethics", "metaphysics", or "the philosophy of language", and compare how different philosophers approached it.

Meetings are usually held at the Cleveland Park Library in DC, on the third Saturday of each month.

Click here to see the reading schedule for 2010-2012.

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Meetup
Schopenhauer's "The World as Will and Idea"
- Sat Mar 17
  1:00 PM
- RSVP 4 spots
  left
- 16 attending
- 2 comments
Cleveland Park Library

3310 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC (map)
Schopenhauer was known for two key philosophical concepts: the primacy of will, and pessimism. Although an admirer of Kant's epistemology, he felt it needed modification... Learn more

Hosted by: Scott (Organizer)

Recent Meetups

February 18 at 1:00 PM, 10 Philosophy Readers attended
Utilitarianism: Bentham and Mill
They rated it 5.004 (4 ratings)

“
It was great to hear diverse views. ...

—Kyongsook Kim

“
Great as always.

—Alex Rediger
January 21 at 1:00 PM, 10 Philosophy Readers attended
Hegel's "Philosophy of Right" and "Philosophy of History"
They rated it 5.004 (4 ratings)

“
Good discussion - helped clarify important issues. participants had interesting comments and spoke to the point. ...

—Richard Fitz

“
Great. This is a major link to philosophy in my life these days. ...

—Kyongsook Kim
December 17, 2011 at 1:00 PM, 13 Philosophy Readers attended
Hegel's "Phenomenology of Spirit"
They rated it 5.002 (2 ratings)

The Phenomenology is one of Hegel's earliest works yet arguably his most important. Appropriating and modifying the concept of dialectic, he uses it to analyze the... Learn more
November 19, 2011 at 2:00 PM, 9 Philosophy Readers attended
Kant's Moral Philosophy
They rated it 5.004 (4 ratings)

“
Great discussion-- seemed like we were all working at figuring things out, using the discussion to work on our own ideas and interp' ...

—Alex Rediger

“
It was great. I'm really glad that I went b/c I learned a lot. ...

—Kyongsook Kim
October 15, 2011 at 1:00 PM, 14 Philosophy Readers attended
Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason"
They rated it 5.005 (5 ratings)

“
It was a very interesting and challenging experience; really enjoyed it!

—Maria Zubizarreta

“
I loved the meeting. I thought many of the comments were very objective and instrumental.

—Maurice Edmonds

See all past Meetups

What's new

New Discussion Reply

Nicholas replied to A brief primer on Aristotelian Virtue Ethics as opposed to Utilitarianism
4 hours ago

"There are 2 points I wanted to make regarding virtue ethics in relation to Scott's fine critique: 1) Aristotle is similar to the Millian Utilitarians in at least one ways. This is in regard to the issue of collectivism versus individualism...."
New Discussion Reply

Nicholas replied to Aristotle and Schopenhauer sipping coffee and discussing Ethics (latest of 3)
4 hours ago

"Very interesting points. A lot to think about. And. hahahaahahahah. Funny last ending John."
New RSVP

Elley Bang RSVPed Yes for Schopenhauer's "The World as Will and Idea"
4 hours ago

Mar 17

Schopenhauer's "The World as Will and Idea"
Saturday 1:00 PM at Cleveland Park Library

16 attending
New Discussion Reply

Nicholas replied to Derek Parfit unites Kant and Bentham
Yesterday at 1:17 PM

"Hume and Utilitarianism I was also thinking about something regarding Utilitarianism regarding Scott's question. I have hinted at above that the solution to his problem may have to do with 'scaling the criterion' in the correct way...."
New Discussion

Nicholas started Aristotle and Schopenhauer sipping coffee and discussing Ethics
Yesterday at 6:33 AM

"I was reading over some of my old notes and literature about On The Basis of Morality by Schopenhauer. And I was thinking about how Aristotle would answer some of Schopenhauer's reservations concerning Kantian ethics...."

Read more…
New Discussion Reply

Nicholas replied to A brief primer on Aristotelian Virtue Ethics as opposed to Utilitarianism (latest of 5)
Tuesday at 12:52 PM

"** For clarity. Aristotle questioned almost everything and examined things quite thoroughly. He is in the Socratic tradition in that respect. I would not want to do him an injustice by portraying him in a way that does not demonstrate this..."
New Discussion Reply

Nicholas replied to Derek Parfit unites Kant and Bentham (latest of 5)
Tuesday at 10:28 AM

"For John: Johnson that the "optimific alternative" is the one that "brings about the best consequences, or 'maximizes the good'" begs the question of how, if anything, this differs from Parfit's usage of the term. ## True..."
New Member

Elley Bang joined
Monday at 11:06 PM
New RSVP

Houran RSVPed Yes for Schopenhauer's "The World as Will and Idea"
Monday at 2:06 PM

Mar 17

Schopenhauer's "The World as Will and Idea"
Saturday 1:00 PM at Cleveland Park Library

16 attending
New comment

Nicholas commented on Schopenhauer's "The World as Will and Idea"
Monday at 7:32 AM

"Yes. To understand Schopenhauer one needs to understand 2 past philosophers primarily - Plato and Kant. However, I would say in reading him do not expect a complete, comprehensive system of thought that you see attempted with Kant and Hegel...."

Read more…

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History of Philosophy Book Club http://www.meetup.com/History-of-Philosophy/ http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/5/5/1/3/global_18381779.jpeg

Washington, DC 20038

Founded Oct 1, 2010

20101001