The Philosopher’s Collective Logo
Students Adrian Sojka and Dean Tsoumbakopoulos have created a new club, The Philosopher’s Collective, to promote critical thinking and unite those who love the subject.
Sojka will serve as president of the Philosophers Collective, while Tsoumbakopoulos will serve as vice president. The advisor for the club is Dr. Joanna Nemeh M.A., who teaches many courses in philosophy, theology, and religious studies.
For those who would like to become a part of The Philosophers Collective, they can join the club on The Den. For now, meetings will be held every Monday at 3 P.M. in room S110, though this is subject to change in the future,
Sojka said he was inspired to create the club from a “deep passion for philosophy.”
He went on to explain that “I was always quite an inquisitive person and would wonder about things like existence, cause and effect, morals, etc. and I never knew there was a field dedicated to this.”
For him, the club is a way to share his passion for inquiry and to unite others who love philosophy, as well as those with a budding interest. He wants to “create an inclusive and engaging environment that suits both newcomers to philosophy and more “seasoned” philosophers.”
Tsoumbakopoulos gave Sojka the credit for creating the club, though said that he has “a deep passion for philosophy myself and am proud to be working with Adrian in leading the club.”
He went on to share what philosophy means to him.
“There is something devastating to the soul that comes from living each day feeling locked off from meaningful conversation. Meaningful, philosophical discussion, in my view, is a necessary part of healthy human existence. We need to develop and nurture our moral and political views if we, as humans, wish to make sense of our lives and our relationship to one another.”
Club meetings will have a very open structure. After summarizing the planned material from the last meeting, club members will spend the bulk of the meeting discussing any ideas they were drawn to, and points that are relevant to the conversation.
This structure will “allow for free thought and expression,” Sojka stated.
Beyond philosophical conversations, Sojka said that club members will “plan on practicing our speaking and debating skills through planned debates, improving our logical thinking through workshops such as a “logical fallacies” workshop, and much more”
When asked what texts the club would cover, Sojka said that he wants to explore a wide range of topics across club meetings.
“We will dedicate meetings to specific branches of philosophy such as ethics, metaphysics, or logic, and we will also dedicate meetings to Western philosophies such as ancient Greek philosophy, Medieval philosophy, and also Eastern Philosophies such as Daoism or Taoism.”
Tsoumbakopoulos said that he wants to see “an intersection between different time periods and philosophers.”
He also added, “I believe understanding how some of these philosophers and their traditions overlap throughout time and incredibly diverse political/geographical environments will greatly enhance the material we cover and what we are able to take away from each meeting.”
In the future, the two Collective leaders want to build a tight-knit community of philosophers at SXU. “Ultimately, we hope to contribute to and bring back a campus culture that values philosophy and the examined life” Sojka stated.
He also wants to offer students a place to engage in deep conversations outside of class since the philosophy major has been cut.
“After the philosophy program was removed, I think people are going to want a place where they can come and talk about things that don’t have a proper place in everyday conversations. We offer exactly that. If you want to talk about time and space, come to our meetings.”
Sojka also encourages students with questions about life to come to a meeting and talk it out with other members.
“If you’re wondering why humans have to contemplate morals and ethics, while other animals don’t, then come by our meetings we’ll try to figure it out. Everyone in the club is intrigued by these questions and we all have a love for wisdom, which is the definition of philosophy after all.”
Sojka made it very clear that anyone who wants to join the Collective, or just stop in for a meeting, should feel free to do so. He emphasized that the club is a collaborative effort, and that he is open to the input of members.
“We want to complement the educational experience at SXU. We welcome students from all disciplines since all disciplines have their roots in philosophy, and we want to contribute to the university’s intellectual atmosphere.”
He also said, “Members are also free to suggest topics for meetings so if there is something on your mind that you’d really like to discuss and ponder with other people, then you can bring it up and it will probably become the next meeting’s topic.”
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