What we’re about
See upcoming readings on our Notion, and chat with us on our Discord
Welcome to the San Francisco Philosophy Reading Group! We are a group of amateur, interested philosophers who get together to read and discuss classic works of philosophy.
Our group will focus on a different reading every 2 weeks, and then meet up in person to discuss the reading in a friendly and casual setting. We welcome readers of all levels and philosophical inclinations, as long as you are willing to engage with the reading and discussion in a friendly, open manner.
We also have a Discord where we discuss Kant and other philosophical topics—join us anytime!
Upcoming events
1
Lacan: Imaginary, Symbolic, and the Big Other
The Radical Reading Room, 438 Haight St, San Francisco, CA, USFor this session, we’ll be reading Lacan’s Seminar I, Lesson 7: The Topic of the Imaginary; Seminar II, Lesson 19: The Introduction of the Big Other; and Seminar II, Lesson 24: A, m, a, S.
- In Seminar I, Lacan defines the Imaginary as the realm of images and ego-identifications, stressing that the ego is a misrecognition created in the mirror stage.
- In Seminar II, he introduces the Big Other—the Symbolic order of language, law, and authority that structures subjectivity.
- By Lesson 24, he formalizes these relations through his algebra: A (Other), m (ego), a (object of desire), S (unconscious subject).
Together, these lessons show Lacan’s shift from the Imaginary to the Symbolic, mapping how the subject is split, constituted in language, and bound by desire.
The readings can be found on our discord here. Choose the sf-philosophy-reading-group channel and check out the two most recent pinned messages.
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