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Chari
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I have just finished reading SOCRATES CAFE: A FRESH TASTE OF PHILOSOPHY by Christopher Phillips. I am thinking it was Leonie who recommended it on CCM awhile back? I ordered it through ILL so I could see if it was something my oldest, 16dd, should read...........because she sometimes thinks she might like to go to Thomas Aquinas College.........and I want to make sure she is well read before she leaves home.
So, I read it...........and was very surprised to find myself very interested in the topic. I have always steered away from anything resembling philosophy.........I did not want to tax my brain  ...seriously
I have also found myself, more often than I naturally was, answering my kids questions with questions :)........and listening to their answers, and questions, with a different perspective. I like the way it feels.
I started this thread for several reasons:
1. I would like to have any of you who are savvy with the Socratic method, to share your thoughts, words, advice, recommendations.
2. This book above, describes the author's experience in starting these Socrates Cafes all over the world. You can see his website here: http://www.philosopher.org/ I think it would be cool, to have a place on these boards, for us to do the same thing, but in cyberspace (if there is interest......we could have a forum, just for this purpose). And, among Catholic friends. I would be leery myself of going to one of these cafes, because I KNOW the lack of the True Faith among the people would make me nuts. Plus, I am not sure that is some cases it would be a potential occasion of sin to be at one of these places..........someone would need to be strong in the faith, I think, to be present there. Just my thoughts....so, I thought it would be cool to raise questions of discussions here.......in a socratic way. This being said...........I recommend that all of you read the book. There is one bad word (by a prison inmate, so of course, it is not as surprising)...............and there is one instance about a girl being abused by her stepfather, in case you do not want your kids to read that part (page 98).........upper HS level kids. I would read it first, of course. It is a very good, and easy read about an intro into socratic discussion. Leonie, don't you have a group based on this for teens? Could you share your experience?
3. hmmm......now what were the other reasons..??? aw, well..... 
so, don't you think it would be fun to discuss questions? it would/could help us to keep our brains exercising as we increase in age 
Saint Thomas Aquinas could be the Patron of our thread, as he is probably the greatest known philosopher of the Church
any comments??
In the sweet  of Mary,
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Dh Marty 27yrs...3 lovely maidens: Anne 24, Sarah 20 & Maddelyn 17 and 3 chivalrous sons: Matthew 22, Garrett 16 & Malachy 11
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Elizabeth
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Chari wrote:
I started this thread for several reasons:
1. I would like to have any of you who are savvy with the Socratic method, to share your thoughts, words, advice, recommendations.
2. This book above, describes the author's experience in starting these Socrates Cafes all over the world. You can see his website here: http://www.philosopher.org/ I think it would be cool, to have a place on these boards, for us to do the same thing, but in cyberspace (if there is interest......we could have a forum, just for this purpose). And, among Catholic friends. |
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Chari,
You crack me up  I thought you didn't like message boards...now you want to add another one?
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Chari
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elizfoss wrote:
Chari,
You crack me up I thought you didn't like message boards...now you want to add another one? |
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I am glad to add mirth to your life, Elizabeth!
I STILL do not like message boards! IT makes me nuts. Ask Willa, I told her last night......in a phone call that was 208 minutes!!! yikes!! hope I did not go over my long distance minutes! of course, that was Willa and I chatting.........AND Clare and Anne, too!
anyway........as I have mentioned before..........I have NO ONE locally to talk to about my thoughts......I am almost totally isolated here, spiritually, Catholically, mentally, physically, geographically.........you all are stuck with me
so, when I have thoughts, or recommendations, or questions..........my thoughts immediately fly to you all..........yep, you are stuck 
In the sweet of Mary,
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Chari...Take Up & Read
Dh Marty 27yrs...3 lovely maidens: Anne 24, Sarah 20 & Maddelyn 17 and 3 chivalrous sons: Matthew 22, Garrett 16 & Malachy 11
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Willa
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Chari, my friend,
We talked for 208 minutes -- was it REALLY that long even with the girls' long conversation -- and you never even MENTIONED your interest in philosophy. It's become my favorite topic besides religion, and the two are so closely intertwined. Literature and history connect in there too.
Fortunately, Liam loves the topic too -- so I have someone to discuss it with besides myself. He is reading through Tour of the Summa (of St Thomas Aquinas) this year, by Msr. Christopher Wrenn. I've also heard good things about the One-Minute Philospher published by Sophia Press.
I share your circumstances as you know -- no close Catholic homeschool friends nearby.
I think I'm going to send you a phone card
Aidan's trying to dive into the screen to get closer to all those emoticons -- he loves them. Better go,
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Willa
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Elizabeth
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WJFR wrote:
Aidan's trying to dive into the screen to get closer to all those emoticons -- he loves them. Better go,
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Nicky is totally into the emoticons! He likes these the best:     
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Angie Mc
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WJFR wrote:
I've also heard good things about the One-Minute Philospher published by Sophia Press.
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12yo Devin Kate and I give this book a  .
I'll look forward to contributions on this topic. I'm a natural questioner (much to the dismay of my mother!) yet am a self-learned, baby-phase philosopher. Currently I'm reading Kreeft (
Making Sense Out of Suffering) and have started catching G.K. Chesterton: Apostle of Common Sense) on EWTN. Catholic apologetics, in large part, brought me back to the Catholic church.
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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Natalia
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Chari,
I just placed a hold on Socrates Cafe at our library. I love philosophy but
don't know much about it. For a while a priest friend of ours, my dh and
I had a "philosophy book club". We were working our way through the
series History of Philosophy by Fr. Coppleton ( I think that was his name).
It was interesting to here the different perspective we brought to the
discussion: a priest, an engineer (my dh) and a psychologist (moi). Sadly
babies and toddlers got in the way and we only made to the third book in
the series. I think that there are 11 all together.
I'd love to have a place to "philosophize.
Natalia
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Elizabeth
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I saw this book last year at the conference and nearly picked it up. Socrates Meets Jesus
There are several other Socrates meets...in the series.
I love Peter Kreeft and I thought about working through this with MIchael. I told Chari earlier that I wanted to hold off on a Socrates Cafe forum until after Lent because I think we're missing people due to Lenten sacrifices.But, I'm also still searching for that perfect lenten read and maybe one of these is it. Thoughts on when to begin, anyone?
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Willa
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Natalia wrote:
Chari,
For a while a priest friend of ours, my dh and
I had a "philosophy book club". We were working our way through the series History of Philosophy by Fr. Coppleton ( I think that was his name).
Natalia |
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I started reading this series! I found the first 2 volumes at a Catholic school sale. It is heavy going; I didn't get past the first few chapters. I admire you!
At that point I went off sideways, in a way. There's a lot online. This is a good site:
http://radicalacademy.com/studentrefphil.htm
There's articles by Mortimer Adler and also mini-courses in different aspects of philosophy -- in spite of its name The Radical Academy the philosophy is mostly traditional/Catholic compatible. It's not exactly a beginner's site so don't be discouraged anyone by going there and getting lost. What happened with me was that I was on a classical list where terms like "epistemology" and "ontology" were being thrown around casually and so the site helped me get a slight handle on things that were still over my head.
Mortimer Adler, the co-author of How to Read a Book, has written several books on armchair philosophy that are readily available at the library.... I read the book "The Six Great Ideas" last summer. He was originally an agnostic, who converted to Catholicism on his deathbed, and you can really see how philosophy moved him towards the Catholic faith during the course of his lifetime.
I found this site on Peter Kreeft who has written several books on Catholic philosophy. There's one called Philosophy 101 and a tape set called "What would Socrates Do? There's articles on the site too.
http://www.peterkreeft.com/books.htm
Plato himself isn't actually that hard reading for a highschooler. The Socratic dialogues are pretty fun and not as boring as the "Socratic questioning" sites I've found (Google it and you'll see, they seem so artificial to me).
I'm getting carried away -- sorry. AH I've been looking for a chance to use that Geek emoticon. I could probably go on and on   (Paddy chose that last one)
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Willa
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Leonie
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Ooh, so interesting! 
I highly recommend any of Pope John Paul 11 's books - he studied philosophy and this is evident in Love and Reponsibilty and Person and Ac, among others
The Pope wanted to avoid "thinking about thinking about thinking", which he apparently felt was a dnager in philosophic discussion.
He also could see a partial marriage between phenomonology ( looking at the events and feelings and why around a human event) and the traditonal Thomistic thought.
I think any of the Pope's writings could be used alongside a philosophic cafe.
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: SOCRATES CAFE: a place to philosophize
