It’s quite a scary thought to see that November is already here and half of my first term is gone already. Fortunately, I have managed to catch my breath a little bit in the past few days as it has been reading week, where we have a short break from lectures and use the time to re-view what we’ve learnt so far. I’ve opted this year to go for the Logic II, Language and Real-ism and Normativity units and they’re all providing me with plenty of opportunities to get my teeth stuck into some meaty philosophical problems. Logic II has been a particular favourite and, although it’s probably the hardest unit I take, it’s all the more satisfying to get that answer right when you’ve been spending several hours trying to crack a question. I’ve also tried to get involved with Philosophy outside of my dedicated units and one of the highlights has been attending an ‘Artificial Minds’ reading group where we get to discuss all kinds of cool stuff such as ‘can computers think?’, ‘what is consciousness’ or ‘how ethical are self-driving cars?’.
When not busying myself with Philosophy, I’m a member of a couple of clubs and societies. I ran the Bristol Half in September and surprised myself with a faster than anticipated time so I’ve been looking for more opportunities to get involved with sport. I decided to join the cycling and triathlon clubs so hopefully, I can get enter a few competitions further down the line. I’ve also joined PhotoSoc and am quite excited to give the SU’s darkroom a go and develop some of my own photos. Another society that I’d definitely recommend getting involved with is Basecamp, the university’s entrepreneurship and innovation society. For anyone interested in start-ups or running a business the free talks they put on every Monday are great (and count towards your Bristol PLUS award as an added bonus).
James 
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