October 8, 2015 - 01:59
From the moment we walked into the “Barnes and Noble” cafe, I had reservations about the Socrates Cafe. I had been considering the salons of Paris as a basic idea of what the cafe would be like, so upon seeing the entirely white, seemingly later in life, middle-upper class people gatherered around a conglomeration of tables, I was convinced that the cafe was an elaborate lie; I definitely questioned how productive our conversation would be.
While there were definitely moments in our conversation where that question resurged (namely when Chris tried to turn Rhett’s question about whether those with disabilities can ever be free, as our definitions of freedom up to that point were grounded/centered on each person’s capability to what they so desire), I ended up scolding myself for assuming the cafe would be stagnant. We covered an interesting range of topics within the overall header of freedom- towards the very end, we actually began a discussion on how variable freedom itself is, and how the definitions of freedom would change within other cultures/contexts. I wish that we had started that discussion earlier on, as I think we could have had some interesting thoughts of the role of American individualism within our conceptualizations of freedom.
I will say, while I enjoyed most of the discussion, I’m not sure how I feel about the socratic system. I felt like Chris shaped the form of the conversation too much- he had a tendency of misdirecting people from their trains of thought, especially of interrupting people mid-process. His line of questioning did not expand much within the conversation, and tended to lead us in circles. (i.e. We started with "well part of being free is looking out for others' freedom" and ended with the same exact concept, which was a little frustrating) I would also argue that his involvement tended to keep everything on his own line of thought, and prevented the personal interpretations of the group from being fully expressed. I liked the discussion a lot more once Chris set up camp in his barstool and only offered the occasional suggestion- it felt much more personal that way.