UMass Philosophy Society

Everyone is Welcome! Come to meet other Philosophy students, engage in discussion, and share your thoughts on future activities! 

We will have interesting and diverse discussions this semester, so anyone who is interested is welcome to choose a topic and facilitate a weekly meeting. If you are interested in choosing the topic for next week, please reach out!

Upcoming Meeting

Friday, May 9, 2025  2:45PM

Location

South College, E301

To be a discussion facilitator:

• Choose a topic/question in philosophy that interests you
• Topics should be accessible to everyone (previous classes/readings should not be necessary to understand the topic)
• Reach out to Tom (tlaprad@umass.edu) or Kashish (kashishsingh@umass.edu).

Choosing a topic:

• Pick your favorite topic in philosophy (philosophy of science, political philosophy, philosophy of gender, etc.)
• Classes, movies, or moral dilemmas all can provide interesting topics (trolley problems, personal identity, or The Matrix)
• The Pig That Wants To Be Eaten by Julian Baggini offers many thought experiments to choose from if you are stuck.

Facilitating a discussion: 

• Present a short overview (5-10 minutes) of the topic for anyone who isn’t familiar
  • Should provide enough information for people to discuss and raise questions
  • But not too much information that the central topic is lost
• Facilitate the discussion (50 minutes)
  • Come prepared with guiding questions, talking points, cases
  • Manage the scope of the discussion
  • Let the conversation flow (rather than staying narrow to your topic, if a new idea seems to be intriguing to the group). All other club information can be found at https://linktr.ee/umassphilosophysociety. 

Sign Up Sheet

 Philosophy Society Facilitation Sign Up