Philosophy Salon: Philosophy as a Way of Life

It may look as if philosophy is buried in its own tradition, preserved in books and academic theories which touch no one today, or that it is reduced to and trivialised as a self-help tool to find our way in the modern world. The question what philosophy “really” is belongs to philosophy itself! It may well be that philosophy makes our lives more difficult and more questionable, and not more comfortable and easy-going. In this workshop we want to discuss and clarify the meaning of philosophy for us. Everyone is by nature a philosopher and asks questions about life, whether sanctioned by reigning orthodoxies or not. In this Salon we want to discuss, clarify, and cultivate our natural tendency to philosophise.    

Week I:  The Role of Philosophy vis-à-vis Science, Religion, Art, Politics, and Worldview

Week II:  Philosophy as a Way of Life: Stoics, Epicureans, and Cynics

Week III: Reasons, Values, Norms, Feelings – and Relativism  

Week IV: Our historical Situation  

Week V:  The End of Philosophy? Long Live Philosophy!