What we’re about
In 2025, the History of Philosophy Book Club will continue to study both canonical Western texts as well as philosophy from other cultures. Since 2022 we have explored Hindu, Buddhist, Daoist, Arabic, and classical Chinese philosophy alongside the traditional Western canon. This is an opportunity for those who have read mostly within the Western tradition to learn and assess new and different ideas, and to see how they have influenced varied philosophical schools. The 2025 schedule can be found here.
NOTICE: If you would like to join the History of Philosophy Book Club, we're happy to have you! Please do take a few moments to give thoughtful answers to our registration questions -- expertise in philosophy is not required, but we'd sincerely like to know about you and your interests in philosophy! As our registration form notes, one-word or excessively brief answers to the questions, as well as snarky or scornful replies, will result in an automatic rejection. Additionally, because the group meets in person, membership is currently limited to the Washington, DC metro area. Thank you for your interest and consideration.
WHO WE ARE
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.
Somewhat of a hybrid, it is a combination study group and book club. The backgrounds of our members vary: some have never taken a philosophy course and are essentially self-taught; others have doctorates in the field. Although the majority of writers have been European and American, we have read and are open to texts from other cultures, and starting in 2022 will be making an extra effort to study them. Representative philosophers have included Plato, Averroes, Confucius, Descartes, Spinoza, Kant, Sartre, Arendt, Rawls, Foucault, and Butler. We often read a single book by a single author, but if their output has been substantial we will consider an anthology or collection of shorter texts. At times we engage with debates between prominent philosophers, such as the Searle-Derrida debate about meaning and interpretation. We also sometimes discuss topics such as theories of metaphor or the philosophy of mathematics, or schools of philosophy such as pragmatism.
We started the group in 2010 with the classical period and finished in 2013 with twentieth century writers, then began the cycle in more depth in 2014 and wrapped up in December 2021, beginning the historical cycle again in January 2022.
Meetings are currently held at the West End Library in DC, located 2301 L St NW, Washington, DC 20037, near the Foggy Bottom-GWU metro station.
Tips in Preparing for Meetings
After you have finished the reading, ask yourself: (1) What are the philosopher’s principal ideas? (2) What arguments are used to support them, and are they strong or weak? (3) Who were the author’s major influences, and whom in turn did he/she influence? (4) What was the historical context in which the author wrote, and did this affect what was said? (5) Are the author’s works still relevant today and, if so, how?
To help in answering these questions, attendees are encouraged to consult the secondary resources posted in each announcement. Wikipedia, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, and the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy are especially useful.
Rules of Conduct at Meetings
Avoid monopolizing the conversation. If you've been speaking for several minutes, and sense others want to get in, relinquish the floor.
Stay on topic, and keep your remarks concise and to the point.
Challenging arguments and disputing facts are fine; personal attacks are not. Derogatory, prejudiced, or discriminatory remarks of any kind are grounds for ejection from the session and termination of membership.
If you have not read at least 50% of the recommended selections, consider skipping the meeting to allow other interested people to attend.
Those who violate the rules of conduct repeatedly will be dropped from the group at the discretion of the organizers.
Note:
To remain viable, groups depend on regular attendance. Toward this end, we ask that you only RSVP "Yes" if you know that you are likely to attend. If it turns out that you cannot make it to the meeting, we ask that you cancel your RSVP as soon as possible to make room for others.
Although everyone is welcome to use our resources, our targeted audience consists of people who live in the Maryland, DC, and Virginia area.
Upcoming events (1)
See all- Baruch SpinozaWest End Neighborhood Library, Washington, DC
Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was a Dutch metaphysician and moral philosopher born in the Sephardic Jewish community in Amsterdam. He spent his entire life in Amsterdam and surrounding towns, and never left Holland. He was expelled from the Jewish community for his unorthodox views in 1656 and supported himself largely through grinding lenses. The inhalation of glass dust may have contributed to his early death at age 44 from consumption (tuberculosis). During his life he was acquainted with the leading intellectuals of his day, including Leibiniz, Huygens and Henry Oldenberg.
Spinoza was intellectually gifted as a boy and was being groomed for a career as a rabbi. However, in 1656 he was issued the harshest writ of harem (excommunication) issued by the Sephardic community for "monstrous deeds" and "heresies." The heresies likely consisted of denial of the immortality of the soul and rejection of the notions of a transcendent, providential God (the God of Abraham) and that the Law was not literally given by God nor any longer binding on Jews. The writ was never rescinded.
Spinoza worked under almost total isolation during his life, with his major works, Ethics and Treatise on the Improvement of Understanding, unpublished until after his death. Spinoza uses the term “God, or Nature” and this identification of God with Nature is at the center of his metaphysics. This naturalized god uses deductive reasoning and has no desires or purposes, and therefore human ethics cannot properly be derived from divine command. Spinozian ethics seeks an understanding of the divine nature and expression in human nature, the way in which human beings can maximize their advantage. Spinoza's ontology, like Descartes', consists of substances, their attributes, and their modes. Unlike Descartes, Spinoza maintains there is only one substance. There is no mind-body dualism, but rather the human mind and the human body are the same thing. One's own mind comes to be identified with something that is eternal that endows the human with a kind of blessed immortality; it is not a personal immortality.
For our discussion we will read selections from the Spinoza Collection translated by R.H.M. Elwes and available as a free download from the Gutenberg Project or as a paperbound copy from online booksellers. Read Ethics parts I-V and On the Improvement of the Understanding. Excellent discussions of these texts can be found online in Wikipedia and in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy as well as other sources. Consider what Spinoza means by the terms 'substance' and 'mode'? What is his concept of immortality and what is an ethical life? And is Spinoza relevant today?
Secondary resources:
Wikipedia, Baruch Spinoza
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP)
Benedict De Spinoza (1632-1677)
Benedict de Spinoza: Metaphysics
Benedict de Spinoza: Political Philosophy
Benedict de Spinoza: EpistemologyStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP)
Principle of Sufficient Reason
Baruch Spinoza
Spinoza's Political PhilosophySpinoza on “In Our Time” (Audio, BBC 4, 42:06)
Rebecca Goldstein, Spinoza's Mind (Video, YouTube, 1:08:59)
Susan James: Why Should We Read Spinoza? (Video, YouTube, 47:19)
