Why join the club?
Philosophers are often asked the question, "Why do philosophy?" There are, of course, several reasons to pursue philosophy: it fosters exceptional analytic and critical thinking skills, it dives deep into perennial questions all humans have faced in an appropriately careful manner, it prevents dogmatic and unchallengeable thought from becoming the norm in society, and many others. But for many philosophers, "Why do philosophy?" is the wrong question to ask. If you're reading this, and you're passionate about philosophy, it's likely the case you feel a drive to do philosophy. In other words, you can't help but explore philosophical questions and to engage in philosophical discussion. The "why" comes after the desire to do it, in the same sense a brilliant painter can go their whole life with an enduring passion for painting without ever formulating an exact reason to paint. If philosophy pulls you in and triggers in you intellectual joy of this kind, this is the right club for you.
It's also the right club if you want to meet and connect with people on campus, if you want to include in your academic resume the fact you participated in a lively extracurricular, if you're simply curious about philosophy and want to see if it's the kind of subject about which you'd like to learn more, or if you want to see how philosophy intersects with your preferred subject. If any of these relate to you, then don't hesitate to reach out to philclub@uark.edu to learn more!