About us
Café Philo is a way of meeting interesting, inquiring people who enjoy talking about life's big issues and conundrums in a convivial atmosphere in the Bristol and Bath area.
We discuss all manner of topics. Some are profound, others are decidedly not. We aim to have one topic per month, we hold events to discuss this topic in a number locations, often with two separate discussions in each venue - we limit numbers to 12 for each discussion (usually less in practice). Each discussion goes in its own direction, depending on the people around the table. A facilitator gently steers the discussion to help keep things moving, interesting and balanced.
Our discussions are non-party-political and free of religious or ideological dogma (most of the time at least). We encourage a healthy mix of the serious and humourous, so you can be guaranteed a lively, stimulating evening.
We're not academics or experts - just ordinary people from a variety of backgrounds who share a common interest in exchanging ideas about things which matter in life and meeting like-minded people.
If you're a heavy-duty philosopher you may find this group a bit lightweight. For anybody else, come along and get stuck into a decent conversation over a coffee or beer.
In addition to our discussions we hold some social events and occasionally arrange to meet for public talks.
Upcoming events
3
Remember, Remember the 5th of November. Gunpowder, treason, plot and Revolution
The Llandoger Trow, Llandoger Row, Kings Street, BS1 4ER, Bristol, GBNote: Café Philo is a way of meeting interesting, inquiring people who enjoy talking about life's big issues and conundrums in a convivial atmosphere, rather than a heavy-duty philosophy seminar. Read more about our approach here.
Join us this month as we go beyond the eye-catching and English attempts of Guy Fawkes to discuss all aspects of the concept of Revolution.
Starting with, How would we define a Revolution, as opposed to a change, or a progression? [1]
What social realities have been subject to revolution? Examples could include scientific, cultural (broader than the revolution in China, encompassing the arts), and political.
What causes people to revolt? Whether it be the nobles who revolted against the King of England through the Magna Carta, landowners in America, or the average citizen in the French Revolution.
Does a Revolution require momentum, a crisis point, undeniable evidence?
The scientific revolution which replaced the earth with the sun as the centre of the solar system was based on “undeniable” evidence. Why did it take so long to succeed? What systems of thought and enquiry influenced the revolution?
A similar revolution occurred with the adoption of general relativity. Was this easier than the first revolution? Was it aided by the intervening centuries of philosophical thought?
What can we learn from revolutions in the arts? Consider for example the introductions of photography, and of computer-aided drawing. Were these revolutions? Or just progressions in technology?
Revolutions in technology have also occurred which may have changed the way we think of and interact with the world. Examples to discuss include the printing press, the automobile, radio, television, the internet and AI. How were these adopted? Is the speed of technological revolution and adoption accelerating? Are people keeping up?
In the realm of the political, have any political revolutions been without violence? Were these revolutions successful, or did they fail?
Can revolutions overcome the claims of crowd stupidity, and ensure the change prevents the establishment of dictators? Whether it be Aristotle as the foundation of western science, long after his death, or any of the modern political dictators. [2]
Are the individuals who are noted as responsible for revolution, special or unique? Alternatively, could anyone at the right place and time, been able to seize the change in technology, political or cultural currents to claim credit?
What revolutions may we see in our lifetimes, and beyond? Space flight, a steady state economy, green technologies, revolutions in our relationships with each other, world peace?
How many people does it take for a revolution to be successful?
Do we have enough here tonight?
Additional resources
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution
[2] Theory Of Crowd Stupidity That Dictators Built Their Power On - Le Bon25 attendees
What is Courage?
Westbury on Trym, GBNote: Café Philo is a way of meeting interesting, inquiring people who enjoy talking about life's big issues and conundrums in a convivial atmosphere, rather than a heavy-duty philosophy seminar. Read more about our approach here.
Courage, Plato said, was one of the four great virtues, but what is it? Philosophers have argued for millennia, yet almost all agree on one thing: courage is not fearlessness. To feel nothing in the face of danger is not bravery but blindness. The real question is what courage actually is.
Plato's dialogue Laches explores the problem. Two generals try to define courage — first as standing one's ground, then as endurance — but Socrates shows each fails. Endurance without wisdom is just stubbornness. The dialogue ends unresolved, suggesting courage is harder to pin down than it looks.
Aristotle offered the most influential answer: courage is a mean between cowardice and recklessness. The courageous person fears the right things, for the right reasons, at the right time; they endure danger because doing so is noble. The coward flees and the reckless charge in without judgement; both get it wrong in different ways.
The Stoics argued courage is really a kind of knowledge: understanding what is genuinely bad (vice) and what is not (death, pain, loss). Christian thinkers later made courage a cardinal virtue, embodied in patient endurance. Kant moved courage inward, defining it as moral strength — the will to do one's duty against one's own desires. Nietzsche recast it as self-overcoming: the nerve to create new values and affirm life despite suffering. Tillich made courage existential: affirming one's being in the face of anxiety, guilt, and meaninglessness.
- Plato's generals cannot define courage. Can you?
- The Greek emblem of courage was the lion – but can an animal show courage?
- Is a reckless person brave? Aristotle says most reckless people are secretly cowards. Do you agree?
- Must courage serve a good cause to count as courage? Can a villain be courageous?
- Is courage primarily about physical danger — or is moral or social courage (risking ridicule, loss, isolation) the more demanding form?
- If a Stoic feels no fear because they judge nothing external to be truly bad, is that courage — or something else?
- Kant says courage means the strength to resist your own inclinations for the sake of duty – but what defines your duty?
- Nietzsche says every advance in knowledge comes from "hardness against oneself." Is self-overcoming courage, or a different virtue entirely?
- Existentialists claim anxiety about death and meaninglessness cannot be eliminated, only faced. Is facing the void the ultimate courage?
- What gives you courage and sustains it? Can we be more courageous?
Resources
- Courage – Wikipedia
- 10 Sources of a Courageous Mindset – Psychology Today
- Courage: The Art of Facing Fear – YouTube (9 mins)
9 attendees
Past events
531
