Welcome, San Francisco Philosophers!

Location
San Francisco, CA 37.77-122.44 94117US
Meetups
38 so far
Rating
The San Francisco Philosophy Meetup Group 4.50 4.5014
Founded
September 19, 2006

Our Charter: Philosophy fostered plainly and simply as the persistent examination of thought, and hence a basic human art. Conversations are framed to be generally relevant, and open to all who value good reasoning. Requirements of special erudition are consciously avoided, but reasons for viewpoints are requested persistently; such is the nature of philosophy.

The spirit of philosophical conversation fostered here is antithetical to that of debate. While philosophical conversation is collective truth-seeking in which all participants are open to accepting the view with the best reasons, debate attaches views to sides that will "win" or "lose", and hence reasons may be opposed simply due to competitive investment. While debate has its values, it lacks virtue as a mindframe for philosophical conversation. Winning in philosophical conversation is everyone moving closer to the truth, and losing is the conversation degrading into egotistical, or otherwise entrenched, polemics.

In sum, this group is about examining thought on relevant topics where good reasoning and collective truth-seeking are the principal values. It is also a context to develop one's skills and virtues as a philosopher in the truest sense.

In addition to the main meets framed and scheduled on this website, on occasion there will be offshoot meets that are managed by assistant organizer Rodrigo Vanegas. Though topical information about these meets will be posted on this website, details about place and time will be provided only at the main meets. The reason for this is that these offshoot meets are conceived as opportunities to continue the conversations of the main meets. Though continuing the main conversation, these offshoot meets may address more particular questions and readings chosen by Rodrigo or collaboratively.

The organizer, Paul M. Paolini, holds a BA and an MA in philosophy. While in school, Paul chose an analytic orientation and had philosophical logic and political philosophy as prime interests. Paul's philosophy website, which includes essays he has written for this group is at: http://www.pmpaolini.com.

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Our next MeetupLoyalty

Where?
Murphy's Pub
217 Kearny
Between Sutter and Bush
San Francisco, CA 94108
Who’s coming?
4 Yes / 2 Maybe

Want to attend?

The topic of this meet shall be loyalty. Below is a sketch of a short essay that I wrote for the occasion. While I hope the essay inspires thought, you will not need to be a logical analyst to find our meet conversation meaningful. Our conversations are always broad-ranging, with the nuance of personal experiences.

What is loyalty?

What does it mean for a person to be loyal to someone or something, X? Read more

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What members are saying

 Each person has the choice either to live according to the philosophies of others or to become a philosopher. This group is for those favoring the latter alternative. 

 To me it's about limbering up some areas of my brain that have not been used in a long time and about stretching my perceptions. ... 

Erin

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More upcoming Meetups

This group doesn't have any additional upcoming Meetups scheduled.

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Join The San Francisco Philosophy Meetup Group

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What's new?

  • Nov 18
    • New member
      “I want to discuss philosophy while I'm on vacation over there.”
  • Nov 16
    • New member
      “A truth-seeker looking for rational and intellectual debate. “A hidden connection is stronger than an obvious one.””
  • Nov 14
  • Nov 13
    • New member
      “New to the city, looking to find intelligent company.”
  • Nov 12
    • New member
      “I have some familiarity with Zizek, Lacan, and Zen Buddhism. I'd love to expand my range and get into some interesting conversations.”
    • New member

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