Philosophy
We have two philosophy groups, both of which started with beginners, in January 2003 and December 2008. We take a broad view of "philosophy", including within the term the history of ideas and culture, as well as the narrower scope dictated by academic philosophy.
Both groups operate in a similar manner, with members reading a chapter of a nominated book before the monthly meeting so that, with group members bringing ideas and interests from a wide variety of backgrounds, we can balance wide participation with (occasionally) coherent discussion of important topics.
Each group started with a general introduction to philosophy, following Nigel Warburton's clearly written Philosophy: the Basics and then moved on to the history of philosophy from the Ancient Greeks to the 20th century using Bryan Magee's accessible, illustrated, but non-trivial, The Story of Philosophy. To cater for our wider interest in the history of ideas, we also looked at some influential thinkers who are not considered primarily as philosophers, such as Darwin, Freud, Jung and Durkheim.
The longer established group (Topics in Philosophy) then reverted to studying the subject by topic, using Roger Scruton's challenging (that is, not so clearly written or accessible) Modern Philosophy: an Introduction and Survey. New members with some knowledge of philosophy would always be welcome.
The other group (History of Philosophy) started on the history of philosophy using Magee's The Story of Philosophy in August 2010. New members would always be welcome. For this group no prior background is necessary.
Hugh Davis, August 2010