The Method and Process of the Philosophical Café: Workshop Analysis

Abstract

The philosophical café method sparked my interest due to its design purpose of bringing back philosophy in contact with the everyday person and by the fact that it is a group practice, entailing the need for people to interact with one another and exchange philosophical ideas in the process. The 17th International Conference of Philosophical Practice held in Timisoara, Romania in 2023 granted me the opportunity to work with this method having as attendants a group of international participants. The workshop I conducted, titled “Experiencing the Café-philo”, revolved around the topic of the possibility of using philosophical counselling as a helping tool in alleviating the consequences technological alienation has on the human being. The first part of the article takes on the task of getting a better understanding of what does the philosophical café method actually mean, by taking a look at the method and practice it implies, as well as trying to determine whether it really implies philosophizing or not. Having had a deeper knowledge of the method we have worked with during the workshop, the second part of the article is meant to be an analysis off the philosophical café process that was undertook during this workshop.