Socrates Cafe

The phenomenon of the "Socrates Cafe" has spawned from a book by the same name written by Christopher Phillips. These "cafes" are meetings where people can get together to discuss opposing viewpoints, & hopefully gain insight into each other's perspectives. Skepticism is encouraged, as well as the rethinking of one's own opinions.

One local Socrates Cafe meets at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe on the third Sunday of the month.

Another Socrates Cafe group meets on the 2nd & 4th Wednesday evenings at the Tempe Library.

I have yet to go to a meeting because of this or that, but I was added to the email lists. One of the groups' coordinators recently sent out an email to the group with a provocative question about whether health care providers should be required by law to prescribe birth control pills, & the coordinator & I engaged in an interesting email discussion on the topic.

Finally, I asked how the rest of the group had responded to the question:
NANCY: Great topic! I think I'll bring this up in our next Puntos de Vista class. Has anyone else responded?
WENDY: No, sorry Nancy. I didn't get any responses to that email.

Unbelievable.

Isn't the Socrates Cafe a group of people interested in questioning, discussing, & sharing opinions? Didn't these people sign up for the group of their own accord? How could there be a bunch of philosophers who are uninterested in philosophizing?? Is anyone else floored by this?!

What has happened to us? We are all so busy trying to decide whether or not bulldogs wear lipstick that we have lost our sense of what is really important.