What we’re about
Welcome to the San Francisco Philosophy Reading Group! We are a group of amateur, interested philosophers who get together to read and discuss classic works of philosophy.
Our group will focus on a different reading every 2 weeks, and then meet up in person to discuss the reading in a friendly and casual setting. We welcome readers of all levels and philosophical inclinations, as long as you are willing to engage with the reading and discussion in a friendly, open manner.
We also have a Discord where we discuss Kant and other philosophical topics—join us anytime!
Upcoming events (2)
See all- Maurice Merleau-Ponty - The Phenomenology of PerceptionThe Radical Reading Room, San Francisco, CA
For this session, we'll be reading the Introduction of Maurice Merleau-Ponty's The Phenomenology of Perception. Our discussion will just focus on the Preface, but if you find him interesting please feel free to read more!
In “comments” below Marc has linked to a short video introducing phenomenology.Maurice Marleau-Ponty was a 20th Century French phenomenological philosopher whose writings centered on the role that perception plays in how we experience the world. Rather than treating perception as a passive process through which we absorb bare facts about the world around us, Marleau-Ponty posited that perception is an active process and dialogue between our minds, our lived bodies, and the world which we perceive. His thinking remains highly influential in the fields of psychology and cognitive science.
Phenomenology of Perception is one of his most famous works. The Preface that we will be reading addresses a huge number the core concepts in Husserl's Phenomenology, and should serve as a good introduction to the phenomenological tradition as a whole
- Husserl's Cartesian MeditationsThe Radical Reading Room, San Francisco, CA
For this session, we'll be reading Edmund Husserl’s Cartesian Meditations focusing on the Introduction, Meditation 1 (The Way of the Transcendental Ego) and Meditation 3 (Constitutional Problems. Truth and Actuality) with the other sections being optional.
Edmund Husserl’s Cartesian Meditations refines his method of phenomenology by returning to Descartes’ radical doubt, not to question knowledge, but to suspend all assumptions about the external world. In the Introduction and Meditation I, Husserl introduces the epoché, or phenomenological reduction—bracketing the natural attitude to focus on how things appear in conscious experience. This move isolates the structures of intentionality, the directedness of consciousness toward objects.
Meditation III presents the transcendental ego, the pure subject that constitutes meaning and objectivity. This ego is not part of the world but the condition for its appearance as meaningful. Husserl’s goal is a presuppositionless foundation for philosophy rooted in lived experience, not external observation.
