South Lakes U3A - Philosophy Group

Meeting Details

Frequency	Monthly
Time	9.45 for 10.00 am on Wednesdays: 11 August, 8 September, 13 October . . .
Duration	2 hours
Location	Abbot Hall Social Centre
Coordinator	David Silk

What we do

This is a study-group for interested amateurs, or retired professionals. We have a round-table discussion on a topic chosen at a previous meeting. A Note with suggested points for discussion is circulated beforehand (by email or post), or given out at the start of the meeting.

Continuing our top-down examination of ethics (see the reports of the last two meetings, below), the topic for 11-Aug is “The Sources of Morality” and the topic for 08-Sep is “Everyday Ethics”. On 13-Oct we have a change of emphasis, with “The Philosophy of Science”.

The following books may be useful for newcomers to the subject:

The Story of Philosophy by Bryan Magee (Dorling Kindersley hardback 1998, softback 2001 and later editions). This is an excellent and readable overview of western philosophy. Our Group used it as the basis of its historical review of philosophy, from Apr-06 to Dec-09.
The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy Ed. Thomas Mautner (Penguin 1997 and later editions). This is a very useful complement to an historical account.
The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain de Botton (Penguin 2001). In his books and TV programmes, Alain de Botton is a successful interpreter of philosophy in a modern context. Many of his books are best-sellers.

Reports

Details of meetings to date can be found by clicking the following links: