The University of Arizona Philosophy Club was founded a few years ago around 2020. Each semester we reserve rooms in one of the classrooms of the Social and Behavioral Studies building on the ground floor where many of the Philosophy professors have their offices and teach. We are a weekly club that typically meets on Thursdays each semester, to end the classweek with our meetings.
The club used to be more active but lately, it finds itself with anywhere from several to about 20 people. A small group size is appreciated though as the most dedicated make their way to have more personal and engaging discussions with each other as a whole We like to spend the first half of a meeting explaining a philosophical debate (such as if the world was created or always existed) and getting an overview of what the positions are, who some names behind them are, and what are some arguments. We spend the latter half opening up a discussion where we discuss together the nature of the question, and hypotheticals, or argue our positions.
Many of our meetings have included some rigorous topics such “Rousseau or Hegel on the nature of Freedom,” “Leibniz, Kant, and Hegel on Time,” or “Responses to Lyotards Postmodern Condition.” We typically frame more basic debates such as “Can you divide a line infinite times” or “Do you have free will” with a healthy mix of ancient & modern perspectives, then introduce some higher level thinking so everyone in the club can understand what going on and even learn something new. We also have used the club as an opportunity to encourage student-faculty relationships which we very much pride ourselves on by asking professors to come and give talks and participate in discussions with students which has proven to be an extremely popular and crowd-building practice. Our professors also find themselves wanting to talk about things they publish, read, or otherwise can’t find a way to talk about in their classes.
We also often find ourselves after the club meetings when the night is young still wanting to discuss various things, whether it be philosophy or otherwise. With a good position on campus, the Social and Behavioral Sciences building is not too far off from some good restaurants and bars downtown, and there is even a new hot spot on campus (Cork & Craft) that serves beer in the cafeteria. Many of the seniors and graduate students continue the night with a few beers (Remember to drink responsibly) after the club talking about whatever our last thoughts were on the night, classes, or what our weekend plans are.
At the University of Arizona Philosophy Club we are very proud of our members and faculty, and the healthy relationships and feeling of fraternity we hold together. We feel that we have established our own little Lyceum where everyone has found personal development and good comradery. We hope to continue in no other way in the future, building stronger relationships between students and faculty alike, by the motto that ‘Iron Sharpens Iron’.
Alec Scroggins
Alec Scroggins is an undergraduate student at the University of Arizona studying Philosophy. Alec is also the current president of the University’s Philosophy Club. Alec spends much of their free time studying philosophy and has an interest in Early Modern to 20th Century Continental thought.
