The Student Fellowship of Philosophy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, colloquially known as Philosophy Club, was revived in 2022 after a brief hiatus to deal with the tough times for student organizations that ensued with a global pandemic. The club’s resurgence last year has been great for the Philosophy Department at UAB, as we have gotten more students interested both in broad and more specific philosophical topics. The club meets every other week with a variety of activities planned by the student-led executive board—currently constituted by myself as President, Ashley Barnett as Vice President, and Anthony Venezia as Coordinator.
Philosophy Club is an entirely student-led organization with a faculty advisor—currently Dr. Lindsay Brainard—who aids in disseminating information for the upcoming meetings. Attendance varies from meeting to meeting, but typically there are at least a handful of students who come willing to engage with the topic at hand. The meetings vary in topic and format. There have been discussions about different facets of philosophy, professor panels, and movie nights. Professor panels have garnered a great deal of interest from students because they want to know what their professors think about, especially if it differs from how they teach. Most professors like to keep their teaching pretty neutral, so it is fun for students to get faculty opinions on the topics they are teaching.
Our last professor panel hosted Drs. Marshall Abrams (Philosophy of Science), Matt King (Ethics/Philosophy of Responsibility), Josh May (Neuroethics), and Gregory Pence (Bioethics). The audience got some good insight into what life is like as a professor in the philosophy department; along with how the individual panelists got into their particular field of study. This was Spring 2023, so the professors voiced opinions on AI, as the topic has recently been in the headlines. Some panelists expressed worry about AI while others considered it a tool that can be used. The next panel is going to be on October 30th, and it will feature some returning faces, Drs. Abrams and Pence, as well as some new perspectives, Drs. Keshav Singh (Metaethics) and Tieying Zhou (Eastern Philosophy). This event is one that all students involved with the Philosophy Club are looking forward to.
Another type of event with a great turnout has been movie nights. Our first meeting back as a club involved watching and discussing Inception. The discussion turned to metaethical questions about how we know what is real and how we can believe that reality. If you have not seen Inception, spoilers ahead, but the end is a big sticking point for most people. Cobb spins the top that he uses as his totem, and it is unclear as to whether he is real or dreaming. Some argue that the top was starting to falter, while others think that it is still spinning. This choice by Christopher Nolan has puzzled many and it was a great point of discussion for the club.
Another movie the club watched was The Truman Show. This was also a great pick for metaethical questions about existence and reality. Again, spoilers ahead, but Truman’s entire existence was for observation, and he lives in a television show about his life. He does not know about the show until much later on, but the movie brings up great questions about how we deal with our realities and how we can consent to things. It seems clear that Truman did not consent to his life being put on display. This is complicated by the fact that the show starts with his birth, a point at which he would be incapable of consenting. The group came to the consensus that a sequel would be equally entertaining. It would be interesting to see someone who has lived in a bubble have to navigate the ‘real’ world. This thought may bring up some more questions about human desires to view others.
The last type of meetings to touch on are group discussions on various topics. The first kind of ‘discussion’ based meeting was titled “Split the Room.” The purpose was to use philosophical argumentation to decide silly questions like “is cereal soup?”, “is a hotdog a sandwich?”, and the like. The main focus of the group was to identify the categories that these different things fit into and come up with distinct definitions for those categories. It ended up being a pretty fun event and led to some deeper discussions about definitions and semantics. There have been similar discussion-based meetings on a variety of other topics. To name a few: “Philosophy of Law: How should we interpret the law?”, “Philosophy of Mind: Can AI achieve consciousness?”, “Different Types of Philosophy: Is there a right way to do it?”, and “Different Types of Skepticism.”
Overall, the resurgence of Philosophy Club at UAB has engendered a sense of community in the Philosophy Department, especially among students. This department is a hidden gem at UAB with a deep sense of community and an ability to talk and think about so many incredible things. No matter how big or small a work is, it gets celebrated. It is also clear that professors enjoy working and engaging with students. I am hopeful that the club will continue past my tenure, and that great things will continue to emerge.
Liberty Wigen
Liberty Wigen is a senior graduating this upcoming April with a major in Philosophy. She has been the President of Philosophy Club at the University of Alabama at Birmingham since Fall 2022 and has been a key component in the club's post-COVID revival. Liberty plans to pursue law school after a gap year, in which she will work for a law firm and continue her philosophy research.
