Group Aims: to meet and enjoy a challenging, but always convivial, discussion on all things philosophical. 

So: what is philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek)? Put briefly, it is the systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language: understood as a rational and critical inquiry that reflects on its own methods and assumptions. ‘Critical’ here means ‘to examine an idea or opinion to determine whether it can be rationally supported, or not’ – it doesn’t mean simply disagreeing with something.

If you voice an idea or opinion, my first response will be: ‘Why do you think that? Convince me that it’s sensible/correct etc. and that I should think or act accordingly’. In other words: ‘what you think’ is only a start – I need to know why you think it? It is precisely about being able to critically examine ideas, beliefs and opinions – both your own and other people’s – to determine whether they are rationally justifiable. In that way ideas and attitudes can be developed, challenged, affirmed and changed in properly constructive ways.

We use The Western Analytic Tradition – deriving originally from ancient Greek practice (Sacrates, Plato, Aristotle et al.). It is best characterised as an activity, rather than a passive theoretical study, organised around a basic principle of aiming to structure and present (to ‘argue for – or against’) ideas in a rationally convincing way. In other words, it’s something that you do: it’s about quality of thought and persuasive argument. As my first philosophy tutor put it: ‘It’s about thinking about thinking’ (paraphrased, as I quickly discovered, as: ‘having your brain routinely scraped out and re-arranged, just for the fun of it’). But don’t be afraid – anaesthetic is available!

Members suggest and address a variety of topics, both from within philosophy proper, from everyday life and personal experience, and drawn for instance from personal interests in, say, current affairs, literature, art, music and so on. Should resources (wealth) be spent on world cruises when the ships are massively polluting and there are millions (? billions) living in extreme poverty? Should the Sultan of Brunei (recent news article) be allowed to amass a personal collection of 7,000 (seven thousand) cars, and spend £15,000 routinely having his personal barber flown out from London whenever he wants a haircut? They can also be from practical interest areas (e.g. ‘is sport fishing’ or ‘shooting game for sport’ justifiable?).

Whatever the case however, we always work in a fully collegiate way. Group leader guides and clarifies as needed, and suggests resources and so on.

If you are interested in joining the group, please contact the Group Leader. And please feel free to come along initially as a ‘guest’, just for a ‘taster’. The water is warm and the natives are friendly (regardless of what happened to Captain Cook in the South Seas in 1779!)

No past knowledge, skills, or experience of philosophy is needed - just an open and inquiring mind to encourage critical thinking, and a capacity to listen to, engage with, and appreciate each others' points of view.

Group events: in-person meetings, usually 10.30 – 12.00 (informal gathering from 10.00) 1^st Thursday of each month at The Queens Head, in Rothbury. They usually allocate an accessible downstairs room for us – so please just ask at the bar on arrival. Refreshments available from the bar. 

More information: generally, please contact Group Leader by email above. He is most likely to be found, deep in thought, in a cave somewhere remote – but does maintain an internet connection …………

For starters however, for anyone who would like to do some prep., or just read for interest, here is a select list of possible resources (there are many others). They range from pretty digestible introductory options (e.g. Sophie’s World, and Simon Blackburn’s Think) to more rigorous teaching texts and so on. I usually bring a few of them to Group meetings, and will always help if you are unsure where to start.

But equally, don’t feel you have to read anything. Simply being interested and open-minded is more than enough. But always some preparatory thought on your own terms goes an awful long way!

• Jostein Gaader: ‘Sophie’s World’ (the best general introduction for the uninitiated that I know of). There are two versions: the novel itself, and a rather simplified ‘pictorial’ version.
• Simon Blackburn: ‘Think’ (short, clear, highly authoritative)   
• Adam Morton: 'Philosophy in Practice' (I have a strong personal regard for this one, since it’s a very well structured, comprehensive and systematic teaching text. So it depends how seriously you want to get into the discipline)
• Horner and Westacott: 'Thinking Through Philosophy'
• Francis Roberts: ‘The Philosophy Workbook'
• John Hospers: 'An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis' (I 'cut my teeth' on this one thirty years ago, and arguably have never been quite the same since!)
• Alec Fisher: 'Critical Thinking: An Introduction'
• Simon Blackburn: 'Truth'
• Simon Blackburn: 'Being Good' (You could always try this one on a small child - but only if desperate, or cruel perhaps .......?)
• Martin Curd: 'Argument and Analysis'
• John Shand: 'Philosophy and Philosophers' 
• Simon Blackburn (Again! - he really is rather good): 'The Big Questions'

Pretty much all of these can be found on Amazon (aka: ‘The Evil Empire’) – as well as Ebay (arguably less ‘evil’, even if only slightly!), often at reasonable prices second-hand. There are of course many other sources.