After Charles Taylor — On the cruelties of willful misrecognition
From my The Philosophy of Childing, with some additions: According to the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor, a leading authority in identity politics, due recognition of our fellow humans is, as he puts it in Philosophical Arguments, “not just a courtesy we owe people. It is a vital human need.” Taylor holds that we must recognize […]
Yes, America (and NPR’s 1A), we can talk about guns
Today, NPR’s relatively new nationally syndicated program 1A (a great breath of fresh air that has replaced the Diane Rehm Show), it thoughtfully explored, ‘Why can’t we talk about guns?’ The thing of it is, though, we can. We the people do. All the time. It just escapes notice of the major media. We do […]
San Francisco Chronicle article on my Socrates, Constitution & Democracy endeavors
Really pleased that the San Francisco Chronicle picked up my article in Zocalo Public Square’s magazine NEXUS: The Magazine of Ideas. They didn’t let me know in advance, so I was wondering why all of a sudden I was receiving a bunch of inquiries from the Bay Area. It’s cool that our work is getting […]
Why we usually don’t choose questions ahead of time at an ongoing Socrates Cafe
The coordinator of one of our Socrates Cafes around the globe recently wrote to me with this comment and question: I have a question that I’ve heard many times here when I discuss the idea of the Cafe and it’s a fundamental question about the way Socrates Cafe works. People ask all the time: isn’t it […]
Ending ‘know better-itis,’ reviving our democracy
Chris McGown, a really cool guy I’d just met in person for the first time earlier that day, came all the way from Kentucky to be part of our recent Democracy Cafe: A System Unrigged, at Takoma Park, MD, public library. Chris listened intently to all the views proffered, and only weighed in at the end, […]
So many new Socrates Cafes and Democracy Cafes are forming
New Democracy Cafes and Socrates Cafes are being established far and wide — from Krakow, Poland to Sahait, Syria, from the UK to Conifer, Colorado, to Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, to Sebastopol, CA, among others, many new groups have come into being of late. It’s thrilling, and humbling, that our unique approach to philosophizing and democratizing […]
the forensic scalpel of inquiry — a tool for loving as much as thinking
Just came across this wonderful feature about my work with Socrates Cafe that was published a decade ago in a newspaper in Scotland when I was over there spreading the Socratic gospel as I also traveled throughout the UK to give presentations about what was then my newest book, Socrates in Love: Philosophy for a […]
A More Perfect Union
Our efforts to make ours a far more perfect union are getting some notoriety; here’s a piece about what we’re up to in the wonderful publication of Zocalo Public Square, NEXUS: A Magazine of Ideas
Doing philosophy versus teaching philosophy, going deep with inquiry versus conversation
My philosophy of the difference between doing philosophy and teaching philosophy: here’s the link
Why Democracy Cafe? Why now more than ever?
At the Democracy Cafe I held in Sebastpol, CA, recently, I was interviewed beforehand by the group’s young and dynamic organizer, Odin Halvorson. The multitalented young man has an amazing social conscience (thank the heavens that he came across my first book, Socrates Cafe: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy, in a used bookstore and was […]