Philosophy Dept. goes home

Marching to the sounds of bagpipes, the University's Philosophy Department trekked from 34th and Market streets to Logan Hall last Friday to celebrate its return to the main campus. For the past six years, the department has been housed at 3440 Market Street, a location unpopular with many faculty members. The department moved back to its former home in Logan Hall over winter break. "Being over on Market Street felt like being in a cave," Philosophy Department Chairperson Gary Hatfield said in an address to the crowd. "We feel that by going back to campus, it is like going back to [the] light." Hatfield and many other faculty members compared the conditions on 34th and Market streets to those described in Plato's Parable of the Cave. In Plato's allegory, Hatfield explained, prisoners were trapped in a dark cave with their heads bound so they could only see shadows. Eventually, these prisoners emerged into the light and were released from their captivity, he added. In addition to this sentiment, many department members also felt that the location at 34th and Market streets lacked a certain ambiance. "This building [3440 Market Street] didn't have the character that Logan Hall has," said Sandra Natson, a secretary who has worked for the department for the past 19 years. "When we were first moved here, it felt like we were in the outback country." Gerri Winters, another Philosophy Department secretary, added that "being on campus really makes you feel like part of the University." During the march, several students also said that they felt the department had been deprived for the past six years by its somewhat out-of-the-way location. College senior David Slarskey, an English major, said he had come to the parade "to support [his] neglected brethren of the humanities." Once the parade had begun, bystanders watched happily as the emerging mass of faculty and students proceeded to Logan Hall. Turning left onto Sansom Street, the marchers by the Law School to allow more Law and Philosophy professors to join the parade. While waiting outside the school, the members of the procession defiantly chanted their rallying cry, "Market Street is way too far! We don't want to rent a car! Logan Hall will be a ball! Philosophy, come one, come all!" The department marched for roughly 1/2 hour before reaching the steps of Logan Hall at 249 S. 36th Street. There, five members of the department's faculty -- dressed in ceremonial academic attire -- ascended to the top of the stairs and waited for speeches by Hatfield and Philosophy Professor Paul Guyer. Hatfield spoke about the department's six year ordeal at the 34th and Market streets location, while Guyer spoke about the history of the department, Logan Hall and various of Penn's other schools and buildings. The event concluded with a reception held on the third floor of Logan Hall, in what is now the permanent home of the department.