PHILOSOPHY CAFE

Conversation & Coffee

UPSTAIRS AT
THE WICK INN
63 Western Rd,
Hove, East Sussex.
BN3 1JD

Are some things unknowable?
Can science and religion coexist?
Can power exist without corruption?
Is creativity born or learned?
Is the subconscious more powerful than we think?
What is the purpose of suffering?
What makes a life meaningful?
What role should religion play in public life?
Would you upload your mind to a computer?

These, and hundreds of other questions maybe pop up in your minds..
Let’s meet and talk about them, and hundreds of other questions, in the relaxed and friendly atmosphere of a pub with a few thinkers on a Sunday afternoon..
We have about 300 topics, written on cards.
We look at the cards.. we pick one topic, we discuss it passing around a token, so that everybody has an equal chance to speak.
Then, we read the next card, and so on.

YOU CAN VIEW ALL THE TOPICS HERE

Conversation & Coffee

UPSTAIRS AT
THE WICK INN
63 Western Rd,
Hove, East Sussex.
BN3 1JD

Are some things unknowable?
Can science and religion coexist?
Can power exist without corruption?
Is creativity born or learned?
Is the subconscious more powerful than we think?
What is the purpose of suffering?
What makes a life meaningful?
What role should religion play in public life?
Would you upload your mind to a computer?

These, and hundreds of other questions maybe pop up in your minds..
Let’s meet and talk about them, and hundreds of other questions, in the relaxed and friendly atmosphere of a pub with a few thinkers on a Sunday afternoon..
We have about 300 topics, written on cards.
We look at the cards.. we pick one topic, we discuss it passing around a token, so that everybody has an equal chance to speak.
Then, we read the next card, and so on.

YOU CAN VIEW ALL THE TOPICS HERE

According to Shakespeare:
‘All the world's a stage, And all the men and women are merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts’.

The comparison of the world to a stage and people to actors long predated Shakespeare. Richard Edwards' play Damon and Pythias, written in the year Shakespeare was born, contains the lines, "Pythagoras said that this world was like a stage / Whereon many play their parts’.

Renaissance humanist Erasmus asks, "For what else is the life of man but a kind of play in which men in various costumes perform until the director motions them off the stage."

Is a man’s life no more than a brief appearance on a stage. Do we strut about and stress on the stage, but all those passions and, indeed, everything you do in life, is meaningless, as at the end we just disappear. Like an actor anguishing on the stage over the trials of life, with great passion, and then, after the performance, just going home to resume his normal life.

Is an actor playing out the human drama only an actor? At the end of the show do we resume a different, more permanent, life – an afterlife – and what we have done on the stage, in other words, in his life, just an act. Real life lies beyond that?

Do we all have a role to play, and is it up to us to decide how we want to play it? Can we choose to be the star of the show, or we can choose to be a supporting player? Can we choose to be happy or be sad? Is the choice ours? And can we perform different roles in different scenes in our life play?

The Bhagavad Gita emphasizes the importance of fulfilling one's own dharma (duty) rather than someone else's. It teaches that performing one's duties selflessly and without attachment to the outcomes leads to spiritual growth and fulfillment. Krishna advises Arjuna to act decisively in battle, highlighting that the act itself is more important than the results, and that one should not consider oneself the cause of their actions. This principle encourages individuals to embrace their roles with integrity and dedication, aligning their actions with their personal and societal responsibilities.

Do you believe the role you are playing? Are you playing it to the best of your ability?
Are you playing it selflessly?

Handout, including quotes:
..to follow...
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We have great venue, CAFE QUENCH in Hove, with our own space on the 1st floor.
Walking distance to Hove station. Free parking.

Please arrive in time to order your refreshments and find a table.
NOTE TIME: 2.30 - 4.30 PM
IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND, PLEASE CHANGE YOUR
RSVP.