Sessions

In Plato's classic dialogue, The Symposium, a group of "fellow drinkers" (sum = "together" + potes = "drinkers") gathered around refreshments to discuss the nature of human longing and desire. At Conversens, symposia (plural) refers to group sessions, gathered also for the purspose of dialogue and mutual enlightenment.

As with individual sessions, there are many reasons for groups to gather with a philosophical practitioner. Perhaps your workplace would benefit from a “think session” for a collaborative project or needs to work through some interpersonal tension. Perhaps as parents you want more open and honest communication with your kids. Perhaps you and your friends would like to explore ideas, talk politics, or strategize for common goals and life together. In our current cultural moment, unfortunately, social conversation has all but broken down. Meaningful and fruitful dialogue in the public square seems almost impossible.  

To be sure, group dialogue done well is not easy. Each person has their own perspectives, thoughts, opinions, convictions. Listening to others is almost always a challenge to oneself. But this challenge is not a reason for avoidance; it is an opportunity for growth. As a philosophical practitioner, my role is to conduct the conversation, ensuring that all participants have opportunity to express themselves in the pursuit of truth. The point of group dialogue is not to guard one’s own or to conquer another’s. Rather, it is to strive in common for a holistic understanding of ourselves, of others, and of reality. 

To put it another way, group dialogue is the pursuit of friendship, where each invites the other to gaze from his own perspective and in return joins the other to gaze from theirs. Importantly, the invitation is not to gaze at “my truth,” but to gaze from my perspective. Then, from the collected perspectives, we may attain to a “togetherness,” to a community (com = “together” + unity). 

Symposia can be conducted in an office at work, or a rented space around town. We could meet at a home around a meal, or out on a patio or porch. It might take place at a coffee shop, or a local brewery. Perhaps around a fire pit with cigars (or—my preference—pipes), or along a nature walk. The duration, place, and topics of the discussion can be worked out ahead of time. 

In an age of the “personalization” of everything, and so of deep loneliness, the observation of Aristotle seems particular resonant: “even if we had all other good things, without friends, no one would choose to live.” And, further, that living together, is not mere “feeding in the same place,” as it is with the cattle. Rather, through conversation, we communicate our very thoughts to one another, and so invite them to share in our pursuit—and join them in theirs—of real life.