Socrates Cafe

The philosophy club had the incredible opportunity to engage in a philosophical discussion with Christopher Phillips, author of Socrates Café.  Mr. Phillip’s book was the inspiration for both the Friday discussion circles in philosophy class and the philosophy club.  In the mid-1990s Mr. Phillips started traveling around the country to bring philosophy back to the people—much like Socrates did when he stood in the public square in Athens and challenged people’s ideas.  He held discussions in schools, coffee houses, jails, senior citizen homes, etc. and these experiences led him to write his best selling book. 

The philosophy club was invited to meet in Washington Square Park on two different dates to engage in a discussion with people from all over the city, the country, and the world—there were people from as far away as Spain!  For the first discussion (which ended up being held in a coffee lounge because of the rain) the discussion revolved around the question, “Why is it so difficult to live in the now?”  For the second Socrates Café the question was “Do we appreciate what we have--why or why not?”  At first the participants didn’t know how to approach the question and started exploring what it meant to appreciate what they have, but so many other questions came to mind. What do I have? What do other people have? Should I be comparing myself to others? What does appreciate mean to me? Do I have to show appreciation in order to actually appreciate?  Everyone had a unique view on the topic. Although not everyone agreed with everything that was said, everyone, as promised by Chris, left with more questions than answers.