Christopher Phillips Explained

Christopher Phillips
Birth Date:15 July 1959
Birth Place:Newport News, Virginia
Occupation:Author, educator, pro-democracy advocate
Alma Mater:College of William & Mary (B.A.) Montclair State University(MEd) Edith Cowan University (PhD)
Period:1996–present
Subject:Socratic dialogue, philosophy, democracy, constitution
Notableworks:Socrates Café

Christopher Phillips (born July 15, 1959) is an American author, educator, consultant, lecturer, and pro-democracy advocate.[1] He is best known for his 2001 book Socrates Café.[2] Public Radio International called Phillips the "Johnny Appleseed of Philosophy."[3]

Phillips's latest book 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]

Early life and education

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.[10]

Cafés

Phillips was a school teacher and newspaper reporter, then editorial consultant and freelancer for national magazines, before starting Socrates cafes, Socratic discussion meetings in a variety of venues such as cafés, nursing homes, churches, schools (where the gatherings are sometimes called Philosophers' Club, also the name of his first children's book), and prisons.[11] Phillips' idea of having open-invitation meetings in cafes to discuss philosophy 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 teaching in the Mississippi Delta.[13] In his penultimate book "Constitution Café", Phillips details a journey across the US promoting discussions with a version of the Socratic Method that he developed for the Socrates Cafés,[14] combined with the Jeffersonian idea of democratic freedom and inclusiveness.[15] He has since worked on the Declaration Project, a comprehensive collection of declarations of independence, causes, rights, and principles from across the ages and continents,[16] as well as the Constitutional Cafe[17] and the Democracy Cafe[18] initiatives that discuss constitutional changes in the United States. Phillips also founded a for-profit consulting service, Socrates Group.

Academic career

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 blogs the SocratesCafe.com site and writes occasionally for the Zocalo Public Square.[24]

Published works

Books

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

Papers

Phillips wrote, among many others, the following papers:

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Lyceum Agency - Speakers - Christopher Phillips . June 27, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151220060350/http://www.lyceumagency.com/christopher+phillips.aspx . December 20, 2015 . dead .
  2. http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0326/p13s01-lecs.html Find the deeper meaning at 'Socrates Cafe' / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com
  3. News: IN PERSON; Socrates' New Disciple . The New York Times . Vicki . Vasilopoulos . June 13, 2004.
  4. Web site: Review of The Philosophy of Childing . May 27, 2016 . . October 30, 2018 . en.
  5. https://archive.today/20130121075459/http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-nws-christopher-phillips-1023-20111024,0,3520468.story Williamsburg man challenges people to think about the Constitution – dailypress.com
  6. http://www.montclair.edu/news/article.php?ArticleID=508 Montclair State University, "The 'Johnny Appleseed of Philosophy' Returns to Montclair"
  7. http://www.csudh.edu/HUX/testim-phillips.html Russell Hudson, "Alum Updates Socrates’ Philosophy, Captures International Attention", 2005, CSUDH website, accessed 5 March 2014.
  8. http://www.deltastate.edu/news-and-events/socrates-philosopher-to-lead-events-at-delta-state "‘Socrates’ Philosopher to lead events at Delta State"
  9. http://www.trawna.ca/exarticles.php?aid=4763&id=246 "Coffee talk: Are Socrates cafes the antidote to modern life?"
  10. http://www.lectures.iastate.edu/lecture/25425 Upcoming Lectures
  11. Phillips, Christopher, Socrates Café New York: W.W. Norton, 2001, p. 5.
  12. Web site: Parting the Ivy – HILOBROW.
  13. [Montclair State University]
  14. http://www.philosopher.org/Socratic_Method.html
  15. Phillips, Christopher Constitution Café New York: W.W. Norton, 2011, pp. 11.
  16. Web site: Home . DeclarationProject.org.
  17. Web site: 'We the People': Reconstituting the Constitution. NPR.
  18. http://news.wgbh.org/2017/11/10/politics-government/democracy-cafe-comes-boston Democracy Cafe
  19. http://www.nctc.edu/News/newsdetail/12-03-26/NCTC_Honors_Programs_hosts_leadership_conference.aspx{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
  20. Web site: Phillips. Christopher. Home.
  21. Web site: Penn News | Christopher Phillips Brings His Socrates Cafés and Constitution Cafés to University of Pennsylvania . June 18, 2015 . June 18, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150618075228/http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/news/christopher-phillips-brings-his-socrates-caf-s-and-constitution-caf-s-university-pennsylvania . dead .
  22. Web site: Christopher Phillips - National Constitution Center . June 18, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150530082004/http://constitutioncenter.org/press-room/expert-sources/christopher-phillips . May 30, 2015 . dead .
  23. Web site: Christopher Phillips.
  24. News: Christopher Phillips. Huffington Post . Christopher . Phillips .

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