Philosophical Café
The Philosophical Café is an open social space of respect, tolerance, and solidarity. It aims at self-awareness and spiritual enrichment. Its purpose is not to transmit academic philosophical knowledge but to engage in direct dialogue on everyday matters.
Admission is always free!
The thoughts of philosophers, ancient and modern, Western and Eastern, serve as a starting point and inspiration for personal inquiry. The aim is not merely pleasant theoretical discussion but the discovery of practical solutions and direct paths.
The practical consequences we seek pertain to both individual and societal levels. There cannot be true citizen well-being in a suffering society.
What IS the Philosophical Café
- A friendly and open environment for exchanging experiences, opinions, and discussing topics of general and substantive interest.
- A quality initiative that brings people out of isolation and allows them to engage in dialogue and direct communication once again.
- An open social space characterized by respect, acceptance, tolerance, and solidarity.
- A dialectical inquiry into crucial individual as well as collective issues, because true citizen well-being cannot exist in a society that suffers.
- An opportunity for reflection and reconsideration of our lives. We are not professional philosophers, but we love to philosophize, because an unexamined life does not suit humanity.
- A motivation for self-awareness and spiritual enrichment.
- A catalyst for benevolent actions.
What is NOT the Philosophical Café
- Philosophical lectures by 'experts'
- Monologues
- Space for ideological education and doctrinal thinking
- Display of unassailable knowledge
- Theoretical and fruitless discussions
- Fruitless clash of opinions
Philosophical Café of Athens and beyond
The Philosophical Café started in Athens in October 2014 and has expanded to other cities in Greece and Cyprus since then.
Moreover, an Online Philosophical Café has been created to meet the need for communication among people in remote areas, away from the cities where the Philosophical Café events take place.
Philosophical Café of Athens
The motivation
The motivation behind organizing philosophical meetings was to provide ordinary people with the opportunity to express themselves, communicate directly, and reflect on their lives.
We live in a technologically advanced era that pushes people towards isolation and passivity.
Simultaneously, the crisis of ideologies and religions has significantly contributed to the reinforcement of individualism and the loosening of social fabric.
Certainly, there are many groups, clubs, and associations, but our primary interest lies in the type of communication that prioritizes the exploration of fundamental existential questions:
Who am I? What is the purpose of my life? What is my relationship with my fellow human beings? What can I do to create a just and peaceful world?
Our belief is that these questions are not exclusive to various ‘experts,’ but each person is called to confront them if they wish to live responsibly and consciously.
Operating rules
- The topic of discussion is announced in advance. Everyone can propose a candidate topic to the moderators.
- Topics are usually of common interest and accessible to all.
- The discussion is not necessarily moderated by a ‘philosophical expert’.
- The moderator regulates the smooth flow of discussion, grants speaking time, prevents deviations from the topic, and ensures adherence to time limits for each intervention, which should not exceed 3-4 minutes to allow more participants to join.
- There is an opportunity for rebuttal and secondary comments if there are no other speakers.
- We welcome all references to great thinkers, both ancient and modern, Western and Eastern, and from all philosophical traditions, provided that the knowledge shared has been ground in the mill of the mind, warmed in the heart, and tested in practice by each interlocutor.
- No final conclusions are drawn, and everyone retains what they find most useful.
