Passing through the library entrance between Buildings A and B, you may catch a group discussion called Socrates Café.
Socrates Cafe is a discussion group that meets biweekly in C-120 and is open to students and non-students of Elgin Community College to participate in broad philosophical conversations.
Geoffry Pynn, a Humanities professor, is leading the cafe this semester and aims to facilitate a safe space for these discussions.
“There’s a kind of ethos, which the point is not to debate, but to figure out what’s true through the clash of perspectives,” said Pynn. “[Socrates Café] is an opportunity for students to have a forum to have philosophical discussion with people who are interested in similar questions and explore them in a deep way. It’s really valuable.”
The program steps away from the classroom structure, and allows participants to engage in rigorous debate and discussion of sensitive, ethical, political, or other topics that are suggested and chosen by the participants.
While David Zacker, Humanities professor , founded ECC’s chapter of Socrates Café in 2006, the concept of this forum was founded in 1996 by bestselling author and scholar Christopher Phillips. Phillips had also published a book “Socrates Café: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy” in 2001, sharing the idea and some of the discussions that helped this forum get off the ground.
“I [started Socrates Café] at a time of deep polarization in the U.S.,” said Phillips in an interview with The National Herald in December of last year, “at a time when too much of political ‘leadership’ is forging divisions – Socrates Cafe effectively combats and counteracts that.”
Each meeting is structured by the participants making suggestions for topics to discuss. This is typically in the form of open ended questions. After that, the group votes on what they think would be the most interesting topic to discuss.
While not intended to be centered upon politics, political unrest continues to motivate open and challenging conversations 30 years later.
“A couple weeks ago, there was a discussion which veered into immigration policy,” said Pynn. “We navigated through that in a way that was actually pretty [effective]. It’s not as if we came to a mutual understanding, but I think it was a good natured discussion where people were able to engage with others without needing to become hostile.”
The desire for political and philosophical discussion is apparent in student participation.
“It’s unique to gather in a room with people that I don’t even know and discuss a social issue or political topic together like this,” said Vladyslav Kapush, a second-year student at ECC. “I like that we are open to very difficult topics, like the justification of war, topics that can be very abstract and sensitive. I think this atmosphere and environment is hard to recreate.”
Kapush attended the most recent Socrates Cafe meeting on March 11, in which he and several others participated in a discussion centered upon the question; ‘Can war be justified?’. This discussion allowed participants the space to discuss their opinions on historical and contemporary politics, namely the ongoing conflicts in Iran, Ukraine, and Palestine.
“There were a bunch of political questions that came up,” said Pynn. “But even if we don’t talk about politics, I see it as a political utility, which from my point of view is helping reacquaint people with the idea of [proper] democracy.”
In addition to entering a discussion cultivated towards allowing polarizing topics to be discussed at length, pizza and sodas are provided at each meeting.
The next meeting will take place on March 24 at 12:30-1:45pm. The schedule is biweekly, with the days rotating between Tuesdays at 12:30-1:45pm and Wednesdays at 2-3:15pm. The last meeting of the Spring 2026 semester will take place on May 6.
