A modern-day Socrates takes to the road to bring philosophy back to the people. Journalist-turned-philosopher Christopher Phillips is on a mission: to revive the love of questions that Socrates once inspired in ancient Athens. With great charisma and optimism, he travels around the country, gathering people to participate in Socrates cafes in bookstores, senior centers, elementary schools and universities, and prisons. In this accessible, lively account, Phillips recalls what led him to start his itinerant program and recreates some of the most invigorating sessions. Harvard psychiatrist Robert Coles praises the "morally energetic and introspective exchanges with children and adults from all walks of life," which come to reveal sometimes surprising, often profound reflections on the meaning of love, friendship, work, growing old, and other large questions of life. Phillips also draws from his own academic background to introduce us to the thought of philosophers through the ages. Socrates Cafe is an engaging blend of philosophy and storytelling.
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
For Christopher Phillips, philosophy is a passion: it is not so much a discipline to be learned as an experience to be lived. Taking his cue from Socrates, the inaugurator of the Western philosophical tradition, Phillips embarks on a search for truth and meaning through a series of conversations that is at once refreshing, humorous, troubling, confusing, encouraging, depressing, and provocative. What makes Plato's Socratic dialogues so enduring--and Phillips's book so intriguing--is that for both Plato and Phillips, philosophy is not something you read or study. It is something you do. Plato wrote in Parmenides that "without wandering around and examining everything in detail one is unable to secure understanding." Phillips takes this approach--the Socratic approach--to heart. In the course of Socrates Café, he travels around asking questions of everyone who's interested. Just like the real Socrates, who did not confine himself to the Athenian ivory tower, Phillips searches out public conversations--what he calls Socrates cafés--with children, seniors, psychiatrists, prisoners, ex-academics, students, lawyers, and everyday people. In a sense, the book is a series of short, modern-day Socratic dialogues interspersed with meditations on the nature of philosophical inquiry.
Phillips seizes upon what the Greeks called "elenchus," a method of inquiry that helps people see their own beliefs and opinions more clearly. In the course of the numerous Socrates cafés highlighted in this book, Phillips persistently reminds us that we ought to ask questions simply because the process is good for us. In each of the cafés, the participants vary as widely as the questions, and the dialogues are by turns candid, insightful, muddled, intelligent, bland, and piquant. The real meaning of Socrates Café lies in the contentious and wonderful space of human interaction. --Eric de Place
From Publishers Weekly
In an entertaining blend of memoir and philosophical reflection, a former journalist describes his adventures bringing philosophy to the masses through his Socrates Caf‚. Phillips travels the country starting philosophical discussion groups in caf‚s, schools, churches, community centers, prisons, hospices, nursing homes and senior centers. In each session, a question from a participant becomes the focus for free-flowing, sometimes contentious, communal inquiry. Questions spotlighted in this book include "What is insanity?" "How do you know when you know yourself?" "What is a world?" "Does anyone have the right to be ignorant?" and "Why question?" A rough version of the Socratic method is employed, characterized as "the sustained attempt to explore the ramifications of... opinions and... offer compelling objections and alternatives." Phillips presents several real discussions in poetically "filtered" form, interspersed with his own lucid commentary and citations. These dialogues are lively and sometimes moving, particularly his account of how he met his wife. But the quality of participants' opinions is often low, on the sophomoric level of such comments as "Communication is meaningless," and despite Phillips's efforts to probe, these dialogues yield few fresh insights. Phillips's own philosophical weakness is in romanticizing questioning as nearly an end in itself, claiming to run a "church service for heretics," even though his belief that "all so-called truths... are never the last word" is itself a popular dogma. Nevertheless, as in the case of the usually silent fifth-grader who wonders out loud about the word "wonder" ("I wonder what other kids think of me.... I wonder what they see, I wonder if they see a good person..."), he winningly showcases a tantalizing method for getting philosophy to thrive more widely.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
47 of 49 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is the fascinating story of a young man imbued with the love of philosophy, who wants to bring philosophical thinking into the lives of more people. So, in his words, as a Johnny Appleseed of Philosophy, he begins going to book stores, coffee shops, elementary schools, senior centers, even prisons, to hold philosophical jam sessions. With a little advance notice, he can usually draw at least a small crowd. Sometimes he's surprised at the numbers of people who show up. He introduces himself, and asks what questions the folks in attendance would like to discuss philosophically. Suggestions are made, and soon a free wheeling, yet Socratically disciplined conversation begins, typically among people who don't know each other, and who are perhaps from very different backgrounds, occupations, and worldviews. With Chris playing the role of Socrates, and teaching by example how we can all play that role - the role of a seeker after wisdom who is willing to question everything in search of the truth - he ignites philosophy in a place where it may never before have happened. He teaches and he learns. And he moves on to the next opportunity for creating philosophical community.
It's quite a story. This is a man on fire to help people think more deeply about their lives and experiences. And a man willing to go wherever he can to make this happen. Throughout the pages of the book, he comes across as an idealist who is willing to do what it takes to see his dream come true. And the book consists of stories from along the way. We get to sit in on discussions all over the place, in a prison, or in a school. We are allowed to listen in on people's ruminations, reflections, and efforts to articulate their deepest beliefs. We overhear polite disagreements and witness collaborative efforts to get at the truth. What is the examined life recommended by Socrates? How can we live it? What is the best sort of life to live? And how do we get our bearings day to day, whatever we happen to be doing?
The conversations can veer from the practical to the theoretical, but always the voices of real people break through. I couldn't put it down until I had read the whole book, and it's rare for a new book to hold my attention like that when I really should be reading three others I've already started.
Take a look at Socrates Cafe and you may find yourself drawn into its great conversations like I was. And somewhere up in Platonic Heaven, Socrates himself may smile.
25 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The book started off in a very interesting fashion. The dialogues he initiates are interesting. They also have some enlightening answers. Not to mention rational thinking, a very under-used part of the mind, is given an arena to exercise itself. However, I felt the second part dragged. Or as a family member described it, "he turned into his own commerical." The more I look back on it, the better that statement seems to describe later sections of the book. His writing is for the most part good. His aim is admirable. But in the process the book became bogged down and uninteresting. I also think the premise that truth can be arrived at through conversation is an untenable one. It can map out exactly what we are talking about and the complexities of the issue, but not much more than that. I don't think the book has anything lasting about it. It merely seems to reflect a trend to bring philosophy into the pragmatic, everyday world, such as Alain de Botton. I would recommend Botton's work as opposed to this, which has much greater insights into everyday life using traditional philosophy. If more people take this route, philosophy can be saved from word games and deconstruction, which even Derrida himself said "can not be a method and should not be one."
23 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I was blessed to go to a reading-signing conducted by Chris Phillips, who also facilitated a live Socrates Cafe. I was astounded by how his dialogues in his books don't just mirror his live dialogues, but tie in all these wonderful threads with great thinkers across the disciplines from the past and present, while Phillips himself weighs in critically and creatively -- Socratically, I guess he'd say -- on so many timeless topics. He shows what a sham it is to create all these artificial divides between the disciplines, he shows how art and poetry and the hardest of the hard sciences are all intertwined, and how we can reveal hidden likeness between so many things by joining him in his exhilarating pursuit to question, question, and question some more in a decidedly Socratic way. My favorite vignette of all from his book is "What's Love Got to Do With It," where he recounts movingly the story of how he met his wife at a Socrates Cafe; in fact, she was the only one who came to that particular session -- they discussed the question, "What is love?" -- and they ended up marrying one another! It's so beautiful, and all the sections of the book are deeply moving, penetrating and insightful. Best of all, Phillips never talks down to his readers. Rather, he prods us to think through our own unique answers to life's great questions. What a gift he has given to us. Already, thanks to his book, I'm asking myself, and answering more fruitfully, "Who am I?" and "WHo can I become?"
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Socrates Cafe
This was a very thought provoking book. I read the book several weeks ago but I still find myself recalling the ideas that were set before me. I recommend this book to anyone. Read more
Published 2 months ago by LAJ
Socrates Cafe
Purchased for school reading assignment. Book in great shape and shipped super fast! My daughter wasn't crazy about the subject matter since she prefers novels and thinks it... Read more
Published 9 months ago by tuliplvr
Ignorant of real Socrates, doesn't care
That's a pretty "interesting" thing for Phillips to say, at least.
And, the real Socrates (read I.F. Read more
And, the real Socrates (read I.F. Read more
Published on March 29, 2009 by S. J. Snyder
A decent introduction to Socratic thinking
Phillips does what he says he'll do in this book: he introduces (or, reintroduces) Socrates to the general public. Yay! Read more
Published on January 15, 2009 by Bret Wright
Okay...
I really enjoyed this book when I read it for the first time in tenth grade. Looking back on it, however, I see it now as a bit...well, a bit childish. Read more
Published on April 20, 2007 by Josh
Using "reason" as a key to life.
Christopher Phillips, in the true tradition established by Socrates himself, has provided a road map to passing on the process of "reason". Read more
Published on January 11, 2007 by Jack Berger
The cafes have some unexamined chinks
Where does "everyman" go in this world for reasoned, open, and enlightened conversation outside an academic setting? Read more
Published on October 11, 2006 by J. Grattan
cool read
i can't speak for experts but for a firsttime philosophizer like me who wanted to get his feet wet in the field and know about Western philosophy, reading this book was a great... Read more
Published on May 2, 2006 by LamIAm
likeable philosophy
i run a (dead)philosophy club, and couple of people recommended the book to me, so i was obligated to read it. i usually don't care for Socrates. He gets on my nervs. Read more
Published on March 14, 2006 by Israel55
nice
What the book lacks in consistent philosophical precision it more than makes up for, it seems to me, in the type of probing and imaginative inquiry into the most pressing... Read more
Published on September 24, 2005 by Martin W.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
"Psychiatry is the rape of the muse!" Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
natural complex, view from nowhere Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Philosophers Club, New Jersey, Founding Fathers, William James, Friedrich Nietzsche, John Herman Randall, Walter Kaufmann, San Francisco, Santa Claus, Columbia University, Don Quixote, Immanuel Kant, Justus Buchler, Laszlo Versenyi, United States, Baruch Spinoza, Cesar Chavez Elementary School, Plato's Theaetetus, Soren Kierkegaard New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
"Psychiatry is the rape of the muse!" Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
natural complex, view from nowhere Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Philosophers Club, New Jersey, Founding Fathers, William James, Friedrich Nietzsche, John Herman Randall, Walter Kaufmann, San Francisco, Santa Claus, Columbia University, Don Quixote, Immanuel Kant, Justus Buchler, Laszlo Versenyi, United States, Baruch Spinoza, Cesar Chavez Elementary School, Plato's Theaetetus, Soren Kierkegaard New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 71
books:
See all 71 books this book cites
2
books
cite this book:
- A Treatise of Human Nature (Oxford Philosophical Texts) by David Hume on page 181, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (Routledge Classics) by Ludwig Wittgenstein on page 170, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Faith of a Heretic by Walter Kaufmann on page 128, page 160, and Back Matter
- The Concept of Mind by Gilbert Ryle in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- From Shakespeare to Existentialism by Walter Kaufmann on page 128, and Back Matter
See all 71 books this book cites
- Dating the Greek Gods : Empowering Spiritual Messages on Sex and Love, Creativity and Wisdom by Brad Gooch on page 159
- Issues in Philosophical Counseling: by Peter B Raabe on page 223
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