The Plough and Stars, a pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has begun hosting “philosophy nights”, and they’re a hit.
Last month, people piled into the place for food, drink, and a talk by Agustín Rayo (MIT) on math and certainty.
Later this month, Helena de Bres (Wellesley) will be giving a talk there on “What is meaning in life?” and reportedly there are around 120 people on the waitlist to attend.
While there is a high concentration of academic and academic-friendly folks in the Boston area, there are other dining establishments in the world where people go to occasionally listen to or discuss philosophy with philosophers. It would be good to hear about these, what they’re like, and how they’re doing.
So tell us about the public philosophy going on in the bars and restaurants in your neck of the woods.
The philosophy department at UGA (Athens, GA has recently started hosting “Philosophy Cafes” at a local brewery. They’re also a hit!
https://venunite.com/events/philosophy-cafe-with-uga-philosophy-3
https://www.phil.uga.edu/news/stories/2026/philosophy-cafe-continues-strong
I LOVE this.
Not Philosophy, but I used to follow a local writing group that met at a cafe once a month to share drafts of their work. People could volunteer to do public readings.
Excellent idea. Bars in general seem to be underused spaces for public education.
In Dallas there is a similar concept but for Shakespeare. The whole bar is the stage, and whenever an actor forgets their line or otherwise makes a mistake everyone must take a drink.
During the first Czechoslovakian Republic (after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before the Nazi and Soviet invasions) Hradec Králové was known as the Salon of the Republic. In the spring of this year, the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences at the University of Hradec Králové began regular meetings of a Philosophical Salon here. So far, we’ve had discussions about the good life in late-stage modernity, what makes us human, and aesthetic enjoyment, education, and popular culture through the ages. This is the description at our MeetUp page:
We are an informal public gathering for the discussion of topics both historical and contemporary, supported by the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Hradec Králové. We encourage open discussion on a variety of topics, and all are welcome to attend and participate.
https://www.meetup.com/philosophical-salon-of-hradec-kralove/