Cafe Socrates delivers hot servings of philosophy

By Joanne Santomauro

"What makes a bad person bad?" was the hot topic of last week's Cafe Socrates. Cafe Socrates is a weekly gathering of the minds sponsored by the philosophy department, in which philosophy majors and non-majors alike come together to discuss and reason answers to questions such as this.

Usually, one or two faculty members attend to moderate the discussion and catalyze the conversation. Last Thursday, about 12-14 students came to the Graham basement to discuss the distinctions - if there are any - between moral actions and moral intentions. The attending professors were Dr. Christopher Kulp, Dr. Bill Prior, Dr. Shannon Vallor, and Dr. Emily Parker.

Senior math major Yekta Yazar attended Cafe Socrates for the first time on Thursday.

"It was interesting. We had a good discussion. Some of it went a little over my head, but overall…the different areas they went into, the different views, I had never really thought about it before," said Yazar.

The discussion pressured participants to defend their views on the nature of morality and whether it is even possible to draw moral boundaries.

Led by Dr. Christopher Kulp, the conversation progressed into a rich dialogue about the actions of historical figures like Adolf Hitler, Osama bin Laden, and Aristotle. Students and faculty also discussed how mental illness affects the moral grounds on which a person can be judged.

Thursday evening concluded with an open forum for the students in attendance to suggest topics to be discussed during the winter quarter. Students and faculty expressed interest in discussing interdepartmental topics, like the connection between physics and philosophy.

"This way we try to get a number of topics lined up in hopes that students will know what's coming, and thus it will attract more students and get their attention," said Kulp.

Cafe Socrates began about nine years ago, under the direction of Dr. Scott LaBarge.

"[The mission of Cafe Socrates] is to provide a venue for students to come together and discuss philosophical topics that are of interest to them. It's meant to be something informal and student-centered, in which the students are the ones who really take the lead. We view the faculty as being there to give direction to things," said Kulp,

"We want it to be something that is intellectually rigorous, the sort of thing that serious-minded students are going to be able to take seriously because it's worthy of it. Rather than people just expressing how they feel about things - that's okay to a certain extent - we want to have conversations that are actually thoughtful and serious-minded, in which we are taking responsibility for what we're saying."

Recent transfer student Nick DeMonner, a senior philosophy major, is greatly enthused about the mission of Cafe Socrates.

"I feel like philosophy on campus has not received the sort of attraction other studies have…and has sort of been buried in the dustbins of academia. I feel like when you sit in a room like that, and people from different disciplines are gathering to talk about philosophy, you begin to understand philosophy as the foundation for all those other things people are studying," said DeMonner,

"Whether you like it or not, it is philosophy that got those disciplines where they are. The whole reason we have physics majors is because someone asked about natural philosophy, and I feel it brings it all back when we can sit in a room and see how practical philosophy really is. I wish that room would be filled with non-majors."

A wide array of topics is covered over the quarter, but the most hotly discussed by Cafe Socrates is the endlessly debated question of whether or not Socrates was guilty. Each year, Dr. Bill Prior and Dr. William Greenwalt take their stances on Socrates' verdict from philosophical and historical views, making for a heated discussion.

"The room was filled with students. As everyone left, they had to vote on the basis of the debate, who they thought was right," recalled Parker. "That was great."

For a stimulating evening of discussion and philosophical inquiry, come to Cafe Socrates.

Cafe Socrates is held every Thursday in the basement of the Graham 100 building from 6-8 p.m.

Contact Joanne at jsantomauro@scu.edu or at (408) 554-1918.