Philosophical Café: A philosophical dialogue and/or therapy?

Abstract

Since cafe philosophy got started in Croatia in 2011, it has been conducted using a method developed by its founder M. Sautet: participants themselves suggest topics to discuss and select them democratically. Conducters are required to have a degree in philosophy, and to keep the discussion on track regarding philosophical rigor and structure. The first aim of the paper is to get an insight into a spiritual climate of the moment through analysis of the selected topics. Given the phenomenology of co-occurrences of the topics, it comes clear that apart from classical philosophical issues such as time, order, truth and meaning, participants predominantly choose to discuss ethical and societal issues. It comes out that they are overall preoccupied with human relationships, actual social trends and problems, as well as their own personal development. The second aim of the paper is to test whether the cafe philosophy is understood among participants as a kind of therapy, or at least a help to live a more balanced and happier life, and whether philosophy can be legitimately understood as a (group) therapy. The authors conclude that philosophical dialogue differs from a therapeutical one by a set of criteria, however it may have therapeutical side effects, as it usually does. Following the thought of E. Martens, philosophizing in public corresponds to an accurate understaning of philsophy as elementary cultural technik (Martens, 2009).