A Philosophical Happy Hour on… whatever!
In the Scholastic university, renowned thinkers would regularly engage in open debate on questions posed by other scholars or students at the institution. Most often, these questions would concern a specific, pre-determined topic. From this we derive works such as Thomas Aquinas’ Quaestiones disputatae de Veritate and Quaestiones disputatae de Potentia Dei, etc. But sometimes, they would be completely open-floor: Quaestiones de Quodlibet, literally, “questions about whatever”.
This week at the Lyceum Institute, we are combining that openness to serious and rigorous intellectual questioning with the joviality of our Happy Hour. In other words: we have no set topic this week, but want to entertain any serious or interesting philosophical question. Attendees are encouraged to think up a question beforehand. We will talk about a topic for as long as the conversation flows—and then proceed to the next.
These can be questions about which you are merely curious, in which you are deeply interested, which revisit topics discussed previously; questions about specific thinkers or ideas; relations between philosophers; and so on and on!
So if you have any philosophical questions you want to ask, come join us!