A recently developed student organization, the Philosophy Club, is offering new experiences for both professors and students.
Its president, Kathleen Baldwin, explained that for the professors who speak at club meetings, it is a different process than in the classroom. She said they are used to talking about the lives and ideas of other philosophers, but in the meetings, the professors discuss their own lives and ideas.
This is also a different attraction for the students, because they are used to hearing about philosophers they probably will never meet.
Baldwin said the club offers them the chance to view their professors as philosophers, and it gives them a chance to stimulate their own thoughts on the subject.
At the club’s most recent meeting, Dr. Leslie MacAvoy spoke on her views of existentialism, which emphasizes the uniqueness of an individual in a hostile environment, and stresses the importance of not conforming to the norms of society. MacAvoy, a professor of philosophy, first became involved in the subject, when she, too, was trying to discover who she was as a teen-ager.
MacAvoy began to question herself and her ideas at the age of 17, and upon learning more about philosophy and existentialism, realized that many of the ideas appealed to her. She became interested in it because it raised the same questions she was asking herself, and she found assistance in uncovering who she was.
“The core of existentialism is the reflection upon existence and the importance of the understanding of existence, individuality, and selfhood,” MacAvoy said.
In fall 2002, MacAvoy will be teaching a philosophy class on existentialism.
For more information, call her office at 439-6623.

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