GVSU Philosophy Club

04/23/2026

Hi everyone,

We will be hosting our *last* meeting of the semester tonight at 6:00 PM in MAK B-1-138. There is no reading to do as *we will be hosting a potluck* to celebrate the end of the semester and the last meeting of the semester of our awesome club!

Layne Weatherwax
Philosophy Club President

04/15/2026

Hi everyone,



We have *two* meetings left of the semester! This week, we will be talking about death. The reading this week is "Death" by Beth Seacord from A Companion to Atheism and Philosophy.



As per usual, we will be meeting on Thursday, April 16, at 6 pm in MAK B-1-138.



Additionally, the Philosophy Department is throwing their end-of-year party on Friday, April 24, at 1 pm in MAK-B-LL-132. *There will be food,* and there will be a short presentation on the graduating seniors.



Layne Weatherwax

Philosophy Club President

04/09/2026

Hello, my fellow philosophers!



This week in philosophy club, we will be mixing it up a little bit and attending a lecture put on by the Chemistry Department. The lecture takes place at the same time as the club, so we will go to this in place of our traditional meeting. It is only scheduled to go until 7 p.m., so we will have time to debrief and discuss afterwards.



We will be attending Dr. Kiran Musunuru's lecture Will gene-editing therapies transform human health? (Yes!), Thursday, April 9, at 6 pm in the *Grand River Room (2250) in Kirkhoff*. Please note the room change from our normal club meetings!! There is a reception starting at 5 pm if anyone would like to attend that as well.



More Information About Dr. Kiran Musunuru's Talk:

Learn about groundbreaking gene-editing therapies in Dr. Kiran Musunuru's lectures at Penn Medicine.

04/01/2026

This week in philosophy club, we will be exploring the free will/determinism debate. To prepare, please watch the accompanying video(not the Q&A portion). As always, we will meet at 6 pm on Thursday, April 2, in MAK B-1-138.

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

03/26/2026

Hi all!



This week in Philosophy Club, we will be doing a joint meeting with the Ethics Bowl Team. There is no reading this week as we will be watching a documentary on the Ethics Bowl (The Bowl), which will go over the process and rounds of an ethics bowl and what the competition (and the preparation for it) entails. *There will be pizza!*



*As always, we will be meeting on Thursday, March 26, at 6 pm in MAK B-1-138.*



I have included a short description from the Ethics Bowl Team if you would like to read it.



Layne Weatherwax

Philosophy Club President

"Hello! The ETHICS BOWL TEAM, a registered student organization, welcomes new members, as we will begin our preparations for the Regional Ethics Bowl competition in November. Every year, more than 100 colleges and universities participate in regional ethics bowl

competitions all over the country. 36 teams qualify for the national competition. Grand Valley’s Ethics Bowl Team, founded in 2017, has qualified for the nationals three times so far: in 2018 (Baltimore), 2019 (Atlanta), and 2020 (Zoomland).Ethics bowl is a little bit like debate, but more collaborative.



In an ethics bowl match, two teams publicly present and explore, in civil, respectful fashion, their views regarding complex and difficult ethical issues facing communities, society, and humanity today – concerning, for example, the environment, health care, climate change, civil rights, education, social media, public health, business, labor, the family, animal rights, etc.



According to its “inventor,” Robert F. Ladenson, the Ethics Bowl fosters “(a) the development of ethical understanding in connection with complex, ambiguous, and difficult to resolve issues; and (b) the key virtues associated with democratic deliberation.”



If you enjoy deeply exploring concrete, complex, ethically difficult, real-world issues in a group of similarly interested peers, join the Ethics Bowl Team!



90-second video about the ethics bowl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M__wi40eyw0



ALL STUDENTS ARE WELCOME, no matter what your major/minor or year of study is!



If you can’t make the orientation meeting but would like to be on our EMAIL LIST, email Professor Ronald Loeffler ([email protected])



SPREAD THE WORD!



For more information:

GVSU Philosophy Ethics Bowl Team: https://www.gvsu.edu/philosophy/ethics-bowl-team-153.htm
APPE: About Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl: https://www.appe-ethics.org/about-ethics-bowl-appe-ieb/
Email Professor Ronald Loeffler ([email protected])

Learn about the collaborative and engaging Ethics Bowl Team at Grand Valley State University.