Philosophy Café

Held online via Zoom. Facilitated by Peter Whitfield.

The next Philosophy Café takes place on Friday 23 October.

Register to take part and receive information about upcoming topics.

A weekly get together of like minded people, who want to engage or recharge their interest in the practical benefits of studying philosophy.

Free drop-in sessions on Zoom, with no need to attend every week. You will need to register: please click here to register.

• Weekly topics taken from the philosophy courses with a focus on Practical Philosophy, and what works in "my" life.

• Breakout rooms are allocated to allow time to meet and discuss ideas in smaller groups.

• Participants are encouraged neither to accept nor reject ideas, but to keep an open mind to discover what might be useful.

• We will use the four principles of platonic dialogue.

Platonic dialogue

1. Truth is the goal

2. Be willing to be refuted

3. Listen with full attention; give space to the other person and do not monopolise the stage: everyone's voice is important

4. Ask questions

Peter Whitfield has been teaching the introductory courses in Philosophy for over 30 years. His love of great stories and belief in an eternal wisdom that provides practical help to live life fully, truly and happily has helped thousands of students.

The Introductory Philosophy course has transformed so many lives and the Philosophy Café is an opportunity for anyone, current students, past students, family or friends, to come along and be inspired.

With Peter's facilitation, the Friday night Philosophy Café promises to be a new, flourishing event. Come along, be a participant and find yourself, in good company.

Usual session times

7pm London (Friday)
7pm Sydney (Friday) / 9am London (Friday morning)

You can check your own timezone here

Calendar

Friday 02 October — Adrian Green

Choral Contemplations
Both Cafés — 7pm Sydney and 7pm London

Discover a choral project undertaken by Adrian Green and others in the London School of Philosophy to unearth, record and advocate for music by nine musicians, all inspired in different ways by the teaching of Leon MacLaren.

At the heart of the project is an aspiration held by composers and artists to connect more fully with the words behind the music. Adrian will explore where the project began, the creative and practical process of bringing the music to life, its reception, and where this musical journey might lead next.

Friday 09 October

7pm Sydney — Lama Choedak Rinpoche
Transforming the Mind
Live from Forster Yoga Studio and broadcast on Zoom

Lama Choedak Rinpoche will explore how Buddhist wisdom and practice can help us understand and transform the mind, and how these ancient teachings can remain practical and relevant to our lives today.

7pm London — Warwick Jessup
Sanskrit Influences in Korea?

Warwick recently spent two weeks in South Korea expecting to explore new horizons. He certainly found a unique culture there, but began to wonder to what extent this part of the world has been influenced by Sanskrit.

Warwick will share some of his surprising initial findings and open up a wider enquiry into the way Sanskrit and its philosophical heritage may have travelled across cultures, nationalities and traditions.

Friday 16 October

7pm Sydney — William Wray
Beauty Will Save the World

William’s course on Stoic philosophy is currently looking at Stoic ideas of beauty and how they form part of the tradition of classical philosophy.

In Dostoevsky’s novel The Idiot, Prince Myshkin is associated with the extraordinary claim that “Beauty will save the world.” Though this may initially sound absurd, the idea has subsequently been taken up by figures including Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Pope John Paul II, who see beauty as a call to transcendence and an antidote to human despair.

William will explore how, for the classical philosophers, beauty has everything to do with the ascent of the human soul — the movement from separation to unification, from discord to harmony.

William will also repeat this presentation for the 7pm London Café early next term.

7pm London — Barbara Solowey
Emerson: Self-Reliance

Barbara Solowey is a lifelong student and teacher of Ralph Waldo Emerson and has taught numerous courses on his work.

This term her Emerson class is studying one of his most important essays, Self-Reliance. Barbara will open this subject to the Café and explore what it really means to trust oneself and how Emerson’s understanding of self-reliance connects with the deeper philosophical and spiritual traditions that influenced his thought.

Friday 23 October

7pm Sydney — CANCELLED

7pm London — Dennis Blejer

The Impossible Universe: Quantum Unreality

Dennis joins us for the first time to explore the extraordinary world of quantum physics, its early development, baffling phenomena and challenges to our understanding of reality.

Dennis has worked as an engineering physicist for 51 years and has been a member of the Philosophy School since 1974.

Friday 30 October

MID-TERM BREAK

Friday 6 November — Malcolm Lennox

Not So Solid
Both Cafés

Malcolm returns for Part Two of his three-part philosophical exploration of what is real.

In Not So Solid, Malcolm examines the concept that reality is material and essentially mechanical, inviting us to question just how solid the apparently solid world really is.

Friday 13 November

7pm Sydney (8am London)
Neville Crofts – Meister Eckhart: Detachment
Final title to be confirmed.

7pm London (6am Saturday Sydney)
Derek Saunders – Choral Contemplations
Details to follow.

Friday 20 November — Valery Rees

Both Cafés — Marsilio Ficino

Valery Rees joins us with Marsilio Ficino very much alive on her desk: the final book of a project spanning more than fifty years is now in printers’ proofs and should be newly published by the time of her Café.

Valery will share threads from Ficino’s teachings, as well as perhaps something of the exhilaration of completing a project sustained through patience, loyalty, inspiration and commitment for more than half a century.

Friday 27 November — Paul Mason

Both Cafés
Yoga, Meditation and Dharma — A Conversation with Paul Mason

Paul Mason, author of Yoga, Meditation and Dharma, joins us for an informal presentation and live Q&A exploring the remarkable history and relationships surrounding Guru Dev, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and His Holiness Shantananda Saraswati Maharaj Ji.

Paul’s book has become particularly popular amongst people in the School, where the teachings of Shantananda Saraswati have been followed for many years. This will be an opportunity to hear from Paul about the people, history and research behind the book and to bring questions of our own.

Friday 18 December

Christmas Special — details to follow

Topic for this week

Friday 23 October - 7pm London

Just ONE Philosophy Café this week - and it promises to be (or not to be) out of this world!

Our usual 7pm Sydney Café will not be taking place this Friday, so we have just one Café this week:

(Other time zones: 2pm New York / 5am Saturday Sydney)

And for those of you in the Antipodean time zones, read on - I think you'll find that getting up early on Saturday morning will be well worth it!

Dennis Blejer – The Impossible Universe: Quantum Unreality

This week, we welcome Dennis Blejer to the Philosophy Café for the first time, taking us into the extraordinary and sometimes bewildering world of quantum physics, where our familiar understanding of reality begins to unravel.

I remember one of my university lecturers announcing to the entire class that physicists were on a first-name basis with God. He then declared, "And God said..." - turned to the blackboard, wrote down Maxwell's equations, and concluded, "Let there be light!"

And there was light! My lecturer was demonstrating that God spoke directly to Maxwell, who had obligingly translated His words into mathematics.

Dennis, who has worked as an engineering physicist for 51 years, will explore the strange phenomena and controversies of quantum theory, challenging us to reconsider some of our most fundamental assumptions about the physical world.

From Dennis:

The Universe is a great mystery! How it came about and how it works cannot be said to be truly understood. Is this not what makes it so wonderful to observe, investigate, and ponder?

The subject of Quantum Theory seeks to reveal the workings of the atomic and sub-atomic worlds. This level of reality - or is it unreality (?) - is remarkable as it does not conform to our intuition, yet it is seemingly the basis for the physical world.

This talk will address the development of the early stages of Quantum Theory and illustrate some of the baffling phenomenology and controversy inherent in the subject.

Dennis has been a member of the Philosophy School since 1974.

I look forward to seeing you on Friday - or very early Saturday morning for our friends Down Under.