Christopher Phillips

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For others named Chris Phillips, see Christopher Phillips (disambiguation).

Christopher Phillips
Born (1959-07-15) July 15, 1959 (age 66)
Newport News, Virginia
OccupationBestselling Author, educator, co-founder, DemocracyCafe.com, Founder, SocratesCafe.com Philosopher-in-Residence, HumanityInDeepSpace.com,
Alma materB.A. Government, College of William & Mary, MAT, Montclair State University, California State University-Dominguez Hills, Masters in Humanities, MSc Natural Sciences, Delta State University, PhD, Edith Cowan Univeristy
Period1996–present
SubjectSocratic dialogue, philosophy, democracy, constitution
Notable worksSocrates Cafe: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy, Soul of Goodness (with a foreword by Dr. Cornel West), Six Questions of Socrates, Constitution Cafe: Jefferson's Brew for a True Revolution
Notable awardsDistinguished American Leadership Award
Website
www.christopherphillips.com

Christopher Phillips, PhD (born July 15, 1959) is a Greek-American author, educator, consultant, lecturer, recognized as a pre-eminent practitioner and scholar of the Socratic Method, and as pro-open society advocate.[1] He likely is best known for his 2001 internationally bestselling book Socrates Café: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy.[2] Public Radio International called Phillips the "Johnny Appleseed of Philosophy."[3]

Phillips's efforts and outreach are lauded for their focus on cultivating greater human autonomy, inclusive freedom of speech and expression, including at universities in this era of polarization, and have expanded into many parts of the globe, including Latin America, Brazil, the Middle East. Phillips's stated aim is to "build intentional bridges between one human soul and society and another, in a time and clime when too many are deliberately trying to build walls between and among us." Additionally, Phillips has been named the first-ever Philosopher-in-Residence for the Humanity in Deep Space program, and previously was first-ever Senior Education Fellow for the National Constitution Center as well as a Network Ethics Fellow at Harvard University's Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics. Further, Phillips is an Investment Advisor Representative with a specialty in SRI (Sustainable Responsible Impact) Investing and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Investing.

Phillips's most recent books include A Child at Heart: Unlocking Your Creativity, Curiosity and Reason at Every Age and Stage of Life was published in March 2018 (Foreword Reviews and Adam Braun both praised it.[4]

His 2022 book, Soul of Goodness: Transform Grievous Hurt, Betrayal, and Setback into Love, Joy, and Compassion, includes a Foreword by the preeminent public intellectual Dr. Cornel West and was penned following the tragically unexpected and still-mysterious death of his beloved father, Alexander Phillips, an inspirational figure whose life was, according to Dr. Phillips, "a true Horatio Alger story". Phillips has also penned several illustrated series of philosophical works for children and youth, including 'Day of Why', which is part of the 'Days of Wonder' series, 'The Philosophers' Club,' now a series of books, 'The Early Morning Princess,' and Finnegan the PhilosoFish Fights Global Warming,' part of his PhilosoAnimals series.

Phillips has dual U.S.-Greek citizenship and he is focusing increasing effort on reviving the Socratic heritage and rich tradition of philosophical inquiry in Greece, in particular on the island of Nisyros, part of the Dodecanese chain, from which his father's family immigrated to the U.S. over a century ago

Early life and education

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According to Phillips, he read Plato's Socratic dialogues when he was about 12. After graduating from Menchville High School, he received a BA in Government from the College of William & Mary;[5] In 1997, he earned an M.A.T. in Teaching from Montclair State University, and studied in the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children.[6] In 2000, he earned an M.A. external degree in Humanities, with an emphasis in philosophy, at California State University, Dominguez Hills;[7] He also has a Master of Science in natural sciences degree from Delta State University,[8] which was the first of his master's degrees.[9] Phillips received a PhD in communications from Edith Cowan University in Australia - the subject of his doctoral dissertation (or thesis as it is known in Australia) is "Socrates café: an effective mechanism for realising a more participatory democracy".[10]

Phillips's Café Initiatives

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Phillips was a school teacher and newspaper reporter, then editorial consultant and freelancer for national magazines, before launching in 1996 what became the global grassroots Socrates Cafes, featuring a version of the Socratic Method (one that Phillips calls 'the Socrates Cafe method' to differentiate it from other iterations) in a variety of venues, including cafés, community centers, nursing homes, university student centers, churches, schools (where the gatherings are sometimes called Philosophers' Club, also the name of his first children's book), mental health facilities, and prisons.[11] Phillips' idea of having open-invitation meetings in which participants methodically and empathically explore life's most timely yet timeless questions was inspired in part by Matthew Lipman, the founder of the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children who advocated introducing philosophy into schools and under whom Phillips studied,[12] as well as by Marc Sautet, whose Café Philosophique Phillips became aware of after reading an article about Sautet while Phillips was teaching English at university and earning a master's degree in the Mississippi Delta.[13]

Besides the Socrates Cafe, Phillips has launched kindred initiatives, including Democracy Cafe, Constitution Cafe, Spirit of '76 Cafe, and most recently, a Shakespeare Cafe. This latter project, which is resonating across the U.S. and, increasingly, on a global level, springs originally from the tragically unexpected, mysterious death of his father (Phillips notes in his book 'Soul of Goodness' and elsewhere that he was never so much as directly informed by those with his father at his passing that he had died, and based on testimonies of some of those closest to his father, came to the heartrending conclusion that he father was unspeakably betrayed, in what he calls 'a tragedy of Shakespearean dimensions' - at the hands of the very ones his father said he had rescued repeatedly from one financial-legal imbroglio (of ever-ascending seriousness) after another.

In his critically acclaimed book "Constitution Café: Jefferson's Brew for a True Revolution", Phillips recounts his journey across the U.S. holding offbeat mini-constitutional conventions, inspired by his fellow College of William & Mary alumnus Thomas Jefferson,[14] and driven by the Jeffersonian idea of 'true democracy'-'ward republics' that hinge on exercising democratic freedom, experimentation and practicing broad pluralistic inclusiveness.[15] He has since launched the Declaration Project, a one-of-a-kind initiative that came to be in anticipation of our 250-anniversary celebration in 2026 of the release of our July 4, 1776 Declaration. It features a comprehensive collection of declarations of independence, causes, rights, and principles from across the ages and continents (including the Declarations from our original colonies that preceded our nation's July 4, Declaration of Independence),[16] but scores of others from centuries earlier and ones that have been issued since that were inspired by our July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence. Two other facets of this project include the Spirit of '76 Cafe initiative, featuring questions for rigorous, impassioned exploration that spring from our July 4, 1776 document, as well as 'My Declaration,' which provides the tools and a forum for people to sculpt their own declaration. Phillips considers these initiatives, from Socrates Cafe to Constitution Cafe[17], Democracy Cafe[18], to Spirit of '76 Cafe initiatives, and most recently Shakespeare Cafe, to be all of a piece, in the theme-and-variation symphonic sense. Phillips also co-founded a for-profit consulting service, Socrates Group, with Dennis K. Dienst, as well as the nonprofit Democracy Cafe, with Cecilia Chapa Phillips.

Academic career

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Phillips was a 2012 recipient of the Distinguished American Leadership Award, along with Adam Braun, founder of Pencils of Promise.[19] Phillips has also taught in the graduate program Media, Culture and Communication at New York University,[20] and at the University of Pennsylvania as a Senior Writing Fellow.[21] He has been Senior Education Fellow at the National Constitution Center[22] and 2014–15 Network Fellow at the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University.[23] He also publishes on Substack , Medium, and elsewhere, and has pretty broad social media presence, with a popular and eclectic Socrates Cafe Youtube channel that feature everything from his public exchanges around the world to one-on-one exchanges with the likes of such luminaries as global poverty warrior Jeffrey Sachs, public intellectuals Cornel West, Robert P. George and Lawrence Lessig, as well as a strong presence on Instagram, X, .Bluesky Facebook , LinkedIn, occasionally on sites like Zocalo Public Square[24]

Published works

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Books

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The books published by Phillips are (the ISBNs refer to paperback editions, where available):

  • Constitution Cafe: Jefferson's Brew for a True Revolution (ISBN 978-0-393-06480-3) (W.W. Norton, 2011)
  • Socrates in Love: Philosophy for a Die-Hard Romantic (ISBN 978-0393330670) (W.W. Norton, 2007)
  • Six Questions of Socrates: A Modern-Day Journey of Discovery through World Philosophy (ISBN 978-0393326796) (W.W. Norton, 2004)
  • Socrates Café: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy (ISBN 978-0393322989) (W.W. Norton, 2001)
  • A Child at Heart: Unlocking Your Creativity, Curiosity and Reason at Every Age and Stage of Life (Skyhorse, 2018), ISBN 1510729631
  • Ceci Ann's Day of Why (ISBN 978-1582461717) (Penguin Random House, 2006)
  • The Philosophers' Club (ISBN 978-1582460390) (Penguin Random House, 2004)
  • Soul of Goodness, with a Foreword by Dr. Cornel West

Papers

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Phillips wrote, among many others, the following papers:

  • "Coalition" M/C Journal, Vol. 13, No. 6 (2010)
  • "The Austrian Philosopher Who Showed that Words Can Spark Humanism – Or Barbarism"," Zocalo Public Square, January 31, 2018
  • "Philosophical Counseling: An Ancient Practice Is Being Rejuvenated," Thinking: The Journal of Philosophy for Children, Vol. 14, Issue 1, 1998, pp. 48–49
  • "Daring to Revise America's Sacred Text", San Francisco Chronicle, Opinion Page, July 3, 2017
  • "Socratic Inquiry for All Ages", Vol. 8, No. 15, 2012, Childhood & Philosophy
  • "Why aren't kids part of 'All men are created equal'?", Huffington Post, December 9, 2014
  • "Live Like Picasso: Nurturing Fluid Intelligence and an 'Artistic Dimension", Huffington Post, December 19, 2014
  • "The Efficacy of the Lipmanian Approach to Teaching Philosophy for Children", Childhood & Philosophy, Vol. 7, No. 13, 2011

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Lyceum Agency - Speakers - Christopher Phillips". Archived from the original on December 20, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  2. ^ "Find the deeper meaning at 'Socrates Cafe'" – via Christian Science Monitor.
  3. ^ Vasilopoulos, Vicki (June 13, 2004). "IN PERSON; Socrates' New Disciple". The New York Times.
  4. ^ "Review of The Philosophy of Childing". Foreword Reviews. May 27, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  5. ^ "Williamsburg man challenges people to think about the Constitution - …". archive.ph. January 21, 2013.
  6. ^ Montclair State University, "The 'Johnny Appleseed of Philosophy' Returns to Montclair", accessed March 5, 2014
  7. ^ "Russell Hudson, "Alum Updates Socrates' Philosophy, Captures International Attention", 2005, CSUDH website, accessed 5 March 2014". Archived from the original on June 18, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  8. ^ "‘Socrates’ Philosopher to lead events at Delta State", 2008, Delta State University website, accessed March 5, 2014.]
  9. ^ "Coffee talk: Are Socrates cafes the antidote to modern life?" Archived March 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, The Ottawa Citizen, August 30, 2005, accessed March 5, 2014.
  10. ^ Upcoming Lectures Archived March 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Iowa State University website, accessed March 5, 2014.
  11. ^ Phillips, Christopher, Socrates Café New York: W.W. Norton, 2001, p. 5.
  12. ^ "Parting the Ivy – HILOBROW".
  13. ^ Montclair State University, Insight, "INSIGHT Columns: September 15, 1997". Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved March 6, 2014., September 15, 1997, accessed March 5, 2014; Bill Workman, "San Bruno Thinker Spurs Robust Chatter in Cafes", San Francisco Chronicle, May 21, 1998, accessed March 5, 2014.
  14. ^ "Socratic Method". Archived from the original on May 4, 2015. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  15. ^ Phillips, Christopher Constitution Café New York: W.W. Norton, 2011, pp. 11.
  16. ^ "Home". DeclarationProject.org.
  17. ^ "'We the People': Reconstituting the Constitution". NPR.
  18. ^ "Democracy Cafe Comes to Boston". GBH. November 10, 2017.
  19. ^ Unknown[permanent dead link]
  20. ^ Phillips, Christopher. "Home".
  21. ^ "Penn News | Christopher Phillips Brings His Socrates Cafés and Constitution Cafés to University of Pennsylvania". Archived from the original on June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  22. ^ "Christopher Phillips - National Constitution Center". Archived from the original on May 30, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  23. ^ "Christopher Phillips".
  24. ^ Phillips, Christopher. "Christopher Phillips". Huffington Post.
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