Philosophy Club
The Philosophy Club meets informally during the school year and is open to students in all areas of study. Regular events include guest speakers, panel discussions, and film viewings. Events are open to the College community and normally the public. Lauren Jakubowicz '10 (ljukubowicz2@washcoll.edu) is our current President and student organizer. Our Vice President is Alexandra Borden (aborden2@washcoll.edu).
The Club welcomes all students with an interest in developing or participating in events related to philosophical themes. Contact Lauren J. for regular mailings.
Dr. Peter Weigel (pweigel2@washcoll.edu) acted as our faculty advisor from 2002 until this past spring. His time as advisor saw the revitalization of the Club by holding regular events and the institution of an annual student journal, Apeiron.
The Club now warmly welcomes Profs. Kevin Brien (kbrien2@washcoll.edu) and Matthew McCabe (mmccabe2@washcoll.edu) as co-advisors for the academic year 2008-2009. Dr. Weigel will continue as advisor to the journal.
News and Events
Under the energetic leadership of Lauren J., the Club met every other week this past spring for informal discussions and movies. The Club held a viewing and discussion of the film Waking Life over the course of two evening meetings on February 18th and February 25th. The animated film features characters discussing philosophical issues in a series of dream-like sequences.
On March 19th the Club and Philosophy Department held our annual roundtable discussion from 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. in Sophie Kerr in the Miler Library. The reading for this year's discussion was the essay by Henry David Thoreau on "Walking". Our guest discussion leader was Tutor Thomas May of St. John's College in Annapolis and our own WC Prof. Susan Vowels, who teaches in the Business Department and is a graduate of St. John's.
Our last major event of the academic year 2007-2008 was attending, on April 2nd, the reception celebrating Dr. Alan Pasch's donation to the Miller Library of his collection of rare historical texts on logic and the English language. Some texts date from the 1500's and include early or otherwise rare editions by such thinkers as Thomas Hobbes, Isaac Watts, Noah Webster, Lewis Carroll, George Boole, and many others.
The 2008 issue of Apeiron, our annual student journal of philosophy, is now available. Paper copies are in the library lobby or in the alcove outside Dr. Weigel's office in Smith 227. Submissions are welcome anytime, but should arrive by February 1st to be considered for publication the same academic year. Publication is every April. Contact Dr. Weigel.
Since its founding in 2002, several contributors have had their work republished in a national venue, including Bill Spencer '06, Jennifer Sutphin '04, and Tim Huston '07 (d.) recently republishing in Dialogue, the national student journal for Phi Sigma Tau, the International Honor Society in Philosophy. "On Ambiguous Sense and Non-existent Reference" by Ben Kozlowski '08 appears in the April 2008 issue of Dialogue.
Timothy Huston's article on John Locke in the 2005 issue of Apeiron was published in the October 2006 issue of Dialogue. Tim died suddenly as a passenger in an automobile accident in July of 2005, near his home in Vineland, NJ. His family graciously agreed to the republication of his work. We are thankful for the opportunity to share it with a larger audience.
Last Year
Events last academic year concluded with our annual majors picnic Friday, May 4th. We met at the Hynson Pavilion on the Chester River. Students of all years brought games and their musical instruments, while the weather cooperated nicely this year. Special thanks to our Chair, Prof. Brien, for seeing to the high quality food and drink.
On April 10th, 2007 the Club held our annual roundtable discussion. The reading for this year's discussion was Booker T. Washington's famous "Atlanta Compromise" address and an historic critique of this address by W.E.B. DuBois in "Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others." Our co-leaders were Tutor Thomas May of St. John's College in Annapolis and Prof. Alisha Knight of the WC English Department and Black Studies Program.
On March 3rd the Philosophy Department sponsored a day-long departmental colloquium on the nineteenth-century German philosopher Hegel and his Legacy in the Sophie Kerr room. Keynote speakers were Dr. Daniel Schulz (Technische University Dresden, Germany) speaking on "Hegel's Philosophy between Law and Politics: A Theory of Constitutional Patriotism" and Dr. Christoph Henning (Universitat St. Gallen, Switzerland) speaking on "Beyond the State - Making Sense of Hegel's Philosophy of Right Today" in the afternoon sessions.