A croissant, some coffee and a conundrum.. This is Café Philo, a setting for debate and analysis that a University of Miami philosophy professor recently transported from Paris to Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale.
The mix of caffeine and conversation is designed to stir up discussion among strangers and make philosophy accessible to all by reviving the Socratic period in Athens.
Gale Prawda, Café Philo moderator and adjunct philosophy professor, explained that the café is a “means to express ideas outside of an academic context.”In 1992, Marc Sautet, a French philosopher, started Café Philo in Paris with several of his friends as a means of discussing issues of the day.