NYC Philosophy and Psychology Readers Community

Did you turn the lights off in the apartment this morning? Yes, I am certain of it. What kind of certainty do we have in mind here? It seems that this kind of certainty is relative to the usual assumptions we are all willing to make on an everyday basis such as: my memory can be reasonably trusted, if I turned off the lights this morning they won't magically turn back on, the person asking me isn't looking for a mathematical proof, etc. When we study philosophy, though, we encounter skeptical arguments which can call into question many everyday assumptions we are all willing to make without much reflection. How should we synthesize these philosophical arguments with everyday practice?

In a famous essay by G. E. Moore, he argues against the skeptics and idealists that he sees as popular in philosophy at the time, and gives what he calls a proof that two human hands exist: "By holding up my two hands, and saying, as I make a certain gesture with the right hand, ‘Here is one hand’, and adding, as I make a certain gesture with the left, ‘and here is another’." Your reaction to this argument could be elated excitement that finally a philosopher is defending common sense or you may react with confusion, what does Moore think philosophy should be about?

For this week, we will take Wittgenstein in On Certainty as our guide for how to make sense of this discrepancy. Wittgenstein specifically responds to Moore's argument and provides a much more nuanced discussion of the various different language games that we play in philosophy and everyday life. For this week, I will prepare slides containing what I see as the most important aphorisms in On Certainty and we will meet to discuss these nuggets of wisdom together.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra is a masterpiece of philosophy, literature, and poetic expression, offering one of the most radical critiques of morality, religion, and human existence. Written between 1883 and 1885, this work follows the fictional prophet Zarathustra as he descends from his solitude in the mountains to share his revolutionary teachings with humanity. Through allegorical storytelling, Nietzsche explores profound philosophical concepts such as the Übermensch (Overman), the eternal recurrence, the will to power, and the death of God.

Join us to discuss this classic book over the course of 5-weeks!
Week 1 Sat 1/24 12:30pm-2:30pm The Seahorse Room @ Pier 57
Week 2 Sat 1/30 12:30pm-2:30pm The Seahorse Room @ Pier 57
Week 3 Sat 2/7 12:30pm-2:30pm The Seahorse Room @ Pier 57
Week 4 Sat 2/14 12:30pm-2:30pm The Oyster Room @ Pier 57
Week 5 Sat 2/21 12:30pm-2:30pm The Seahorse @ Pier 57

Reading for Week 5
Part 4 (93 pages)

Join us for weekly discussions of Jacques Derrida's 1967 deconstruction of the speech/writing binary in western philosophy, Of Grammatology.

Required reading for this meeting: ch. 2 Linguistics and Grammatology (pg. 29) up to The Hinge [La Brisure] (pg. 71)

(Note: we’re meeting at 2pm this week instead of our usual 1pm)

Note:
This group is currently underway. I have closed it for RSVP for now. I may open it in the future if we need more attendees. I am managing the RSVP's off meetup for this event so the attendees here are not an accurate reflection of what we have, we currently have about 15 people, if there are dropouts or changes I can reopen for new people.

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Hi Folks,

Please join us for a slow and close reading of Arthur Schopenhauer’s magnum opus, The World as Will and Representation.

Schopenhauer is incredibly important as:

• One of the first major Western philosophers to deeply integrate Eastern ideas (after studying the Upanishads and Buddhist thought)
• One of the earliest Western philosophers to build a comprehensive atheistic worldview
• A major critic of Kantian philosophy, reshaping Kant’s “thing-in-itself” into his own concept of the Will
• An outspoken opponent of Hegel, his contemporary and rival professor at the University of Berlin
• The primary philosophical influence on Nietzsche, who regarded Schopenhauer as his great educator

Schopenhauer introduces the Will as the thing-in-itself — the inner reality underlying all appearances. His metaphysics explores how human desire drives suffering, and how we can transcend it through compassion, selflessness, and creative expression, especially through art.

### 📖 Apply to Join

This text is challenging but rewarding. To get the most out of it, you’ll need:

• Some background in Kantian philosophy (especially the principle of sufficient reason, the phenomenal / noumenal divide and Kant's "architectonic"); familiarity with Eastern thought is a plus
• The ability to closely read and interpret complex philosophical arguments
• The communication and social skills to express ideas clearly in discussion

You can apply to join by first RSVP'ing to this event, then filling out the Google Form survey linked on this event's location page — I’ll review responses personally.

### 📚 Reading & Participation