Socrates said the un-examined life is not worth living — this is where you can start digging in.
A group of Brooklyn philosophers bent on bringing philosophical discussions out of academia and putting them on a public platform is hosting free, monthly lectures in the Central Library. The cohort’s founder said the talks are meant to help philosophers learn how to present their work to everyday folks.
“We’re giving academics an opportunity to speak to a larger audience,” said Brooklyn Public Philosophers founder Ian Olasov, a doctoral candidate at the City University of New York Graduate Center, who also lectures at Brooklyn College and Medgar Evers. “It’s a chance for philosophers to communicate to the general public what we do and why we do it.”
Olasov, who grew up in Park Slope and now lives in Ditmas Park, said Kings County and the city as a whole are a Mecca of thought and reason, which makes it the perfect place to host such an event.
“In Brooklyn there are a bunch of great schools, plus the schools in the city and surrounding areas,” he said. “There are world-class philosophers doing really interesting things here.”
Nevertheless, he said he was surprised at just how popular the lecture series has proven with non-academics since the group started it a year-and-a-half ago.
“I wouldn’t have thought this many people would be interested in schlepping over to the library to learn about philosophy,” he said.
One previous speaker said she was also impressed by the audience’s response.
“The discussion, once it started, was really among the audience members, not just between me and the audience,” said Anna Gotlib, an assistant professor at Brooklyn College, who gave a lecture on memory manipulation back in November. “That’s something I try to do in my classrooms, too.”
Philosophy often gets a bad rap because people think it deals with issues that do not affect them. But Gotlib said that is simply not true.
“People think of philosophy as useless or too fancy for everyday concerns,” she said. “But philosophers think about things related to everyday life all the time.”
The next lecture, led by Rutgers University associate professor Liz Camp and entitled “Why Metaphors Make Good Insults,” will be on Jan. 26. But no matter what the topic, Gotlib thinks it is worthwhile for people to think through some ideas out loud once in a while.
“People don’t get together just to think about something in a group very often,” she said. “Americans just don’t like to do it.”
“Why Metaphors Make Good Insults” in the Information Commons of the Central Library (10 Grand Army Plaza between Eastern Parkway and Flatbush Avenue in Prospect Heights, www.bkpp.tumblr.com). Jan. 26 at 7 pm. Free.
