From wikipedia:
Socrates Cafe is the name used by a number of philosophy discussion groups, which take their model from the book of the same name by Christopher Phillips.
A typical group meets in a public place, is open to anyone who wishes to attend, and uses the Socratic method to discuss a question which is chosen by vote or which is announced shortly in advance. Typically there are no prerequisites, and no reading or other preparation is required (end of wikipedia quotation).
About a month ago I read the Book that is described above, and I think we should start a Socrates Cafe here in Mofo. For those unfamiliar with the Socratic method...it basically revolves around the idea that everything can and should be questioned. You take a question with philosophical implications such as: "What is truth?" or "Why is life worth living?" and examine it as much as you possibly can. You attempt to view the issue from every possible perspective and leave no possibility untouched. Often you end up with more questions than answers...but you uncover a lot of ideas that probably wouldn't have occured to you along the way. Keep in mind...this is a collaborative effort, so while you're encouraged to disagree with others, the ideal response is to propose an alternative viewpoint in a way that won't dissolve into argument.
If I haven't been clear enough about this whole thing...then let me know what I could do to explain better.
With all that out of the way...how 'bout someone proposes a question and we can try to get this underway. We'll discuss it for a while and then I suppose We'll decide when it's been exhausted and the time has come to move on. Luckily there are millions of questions so we're unlikely to run out. I'll leave things open for someone else to propose the first question, and if no one does after a day or two I'll come up with my own...but it can be any question that might yield interesting discussion. The more broad the better (because it can go in more directions) I urge everyone to give this a try...in the book it seemed to be very stimulating.
Socrates Cafe is the name used by a number of philosophy discussion groups, which take their model from the book of the same name by Christopher Phillips.
A typical group meets in a public place, is open to anyone who wishes to attend, and uses the Socratic method to discuss a question which is chosen by vote or which is announced shortly in advance. Typically there are no prerequisites, and no reading or other preparation is required (end of wikipedia quotation).
About a month ago I read the Book that is described above, and I think we should start a Socrates Cafe here in Mofo. For those unfamiliar with the Socratic method...it basically revolves around the idea that everything can and should be questioned. You take a question with philosophical implications such as: "What is truth?" or "Why is life worth living?" and examine it as much as you possibly can. You attempt to view the issue from every possible perspective and leave no possibility untouched. Often you end up with more questions than answers...but you uncover a lot of ideas that probably wouldn't have occured to you along the way. Keep in mind...this is a collaborative effort, so while you're encouraged to disagree with others, the ideal response is to propose an alternative viewpoint in a way that won't dissolve into argument.
If I haven't been clear enough about this whole thing...then let me know what I could do to explain better.
With all that out of the way...how 'bout someone proposes a question and we can try to get this underway. We'll discuss it for a while and then I suppose We'll decide when it's been exhausted and the time has come to move on. Luckily there are millions of questions so we're unlikely to run out. I'll leave things open for someone else to propose the first question, and if no one does after a day or two I'll come up with my own...but it can be any question that might yield interesting discussion. The more broad the better (because it can go in more directions) I urge everyone to give this a try...in the book it seemed to be very stimulating.
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"Like all dreamers, Steven mistook disenchantment for truth."
"Like all dreamers, Steven mistook disenchantment for truth."