Anchorage Socrates Cafe

3230 Lake Otis Parkway, Anchorage AK

11 June, 2021

Description

Anchorage SOCRATES CAFE—is a place for respectful dialogue on every day and vitally important philosophical issues, following the Socratic method ()--that is, philosophical discussion for the common person. Meeting every Friday from 10 am to Noon, people from different backgrounds exchange thoughts and experiences on philosophical questions. In so doing, we seek a better understanding of human nature and to become more critical and creative philosophical inquirers. Please join us at the Friendship Rm, at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 3230 Lake Otis Parkway. Some of the types of questions we address: What is the best way to avoid conflict? How important is a sense of humor? Are women’s and men’s jobs interchangeable? How is protection different from domination? How do we know who we can trust? Is capitalism inherently greedy? Why do insults hurt? What is integrity? What is the difference between religion and superstition? How it works: The discussion moderator lists participants' philosophical questions on a white board. Participants vote on the questions to choose which one to talk about first. The one with the most votes wins. (Participants vote as many times as they like.) You raise your hand to speak. The moderator makes sure that all who want to participate have a chance to do so. What we DON'T do: judge others, call each other names, or proselytize (that is, endeavor to convince others) of our own personal political or religious beliefs or convictions. If and when we disagree, we respectfully challenge each other’s OPINIONS but not the PERSON. The Socratic method, instead of requiring allegiance to a specific philosophical viewpoint or analytic technique or specialized vocabulary, calls on common sense and common speech, listening, and near exhaustive questioning around the chosen topic. In many ways it resembles the scientific method but removes the “must be measurable” requirement, allowing for also addressing such paramount concerns as sorrow, joy, suffering, and love.