Christopher Phillips (1)

Been on my shelf since forever. You get a rough idea of what the author is trying to do with his philosophical gatherings from the gonzo style reporting of them, and tying it back from practical examples of dialogues to dropping some theory or background information sort of works as a format, but it's ultimately messy and unsatisfactory. Do you really want to read in detail about every Tom, Dick and Harry that showed up to such and such event and said something half baked or moderately profound? Do you want to hear what the weather was, how they sipped their coffee or what facial expressions they made during the encounter? The author is swimming in a sea of breezy conversations with new acquaintances and it's very hard to be engaged in the third hand recounting.

But isn't this doing Socratic dialogue? Well, sort of. Does anyone actually believe the dialogues aren't idealized accounts? In a real world setting, and surely for Socrates - assuming he actually existed and did what Plato claimed - going around asking philosophical questions results in what we see in this book. Something meaningful for participants, surely - but meaningful as an outside third hand party that isn't participating in the discussion? Not really.… (mere)

I wasn't entirely thrilled with this book, maybe because of the constant theme of astonishment at the ability of ordinary people to provide interesting answers to philosophical questions, which felt awfully cynical and condescending to me. Otherwise, though, this book champions an interesting concept, the development of philosophy clubs as a popular pastime. Getting people together to talk about stuff could certainly be a fantastic way to help improve communities, and the 'Socratic' question model that Phillips demonstrates in this book seems easy enough to adapt to any group's needs.… (mere)

Excellent read! Lots to think about, it even motivated me to find out if a 'Socrates Cafe' existed in Melbourne that I could join. I'm happy to say that I found one, and have been philosophising on a regular basis ever since! I can't wait to read his later offering, 'Socrates in love: philosophy for a passionate heart' - it's getting higher in my pile of "must read" books every day! :)
I recommend this to anyone who likes to go a little deeper in their thinking about life and all of its possibilities. It was hard to put down.… (mere)