Philosophy Club

We do a lot of thinking in medical school. We think about science, about its relation to people, and how to take care of them. We think about public health, economics, even history. As a medical community we like to learn and to question what we learn.

The newly formed Philosophy Club is excited to be part of this community. We hope to add to the many things that we think about, learn about, and question. At its most basic level, philosophy involves asking questions, and that is what we do at our meetings. We ask hard questions such as, “What is the good life?” “Is there such a thing as the ‘good’?” “How do we interpret our bodies in relation to our minds?” We rarely posit answers to these questions. In fact, trying to answer them succinctly isn’t the point, since some of these questions are unanswerable and timeless. The joy is in talking with one another about challenging topics and strengthening our community as we do it.

So far we have read and discussed the work of great thinkers, including Plato, Kant, and Hegel. Our sessions range from student-led informal discussions to professor-led seminars. One constant at our meetings is tea. Afternoon tea, philosophy and friends are quite the combination and three of the many reasons we are excited to see our new club evolve and deepen over the months and years ahead.

— Dua A. Hassan’17