The Philosophy Association of the University of Macau is a student-run association, which serves the purpose of advertising and promoting philosophy. A significant reason for the existence of this association is that its members continue to engage in philosophy outside of the classroom and pursue a variety of questions about the world and our place in it: What can we know? What should we do? What may we hope? What makes human beings human? These and related questions are not inventions of philosophers (as much as Immanuel Kant might have thought so), but have been accompanying us ever since our childhood. Philosophers, however, seek to keep such questions alive, and address them through reasoned discussion and argument instead of accepting easy answers based on mere opinion and blind prejudice. The spreading of the practice of philosophy understood as a way of living allows students to strive for, cultivate and defend their convictions in an increasingly complex world. The Philosophy Association provides an open and welcoming platform for those who intend to further pursue philosophical issues or simply enjoy to engage in shared activities with others who also love to read, think and talk about the big questions.

More specifically, we organize lectures, discussions, student-lead forums, debates, film screenings, reading groups, personal interviews and field trips. Our goal is to offer various avenues to actively engage in the examined life, a life Socrates considered worth living. Confucius might have responded: “life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”  Mhhh …