Southern California Socrates Cafe

THE LIST

Last updated: June 2008

This is a list of known Socrates Cafes/Philosophy Cafes meeting in the Southern California region. If you would like me to add your group to the list, drop me an email. Want more information about Socrates Cafe, check the website for Christopher Phillips, author of Socrates Cafe: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy and other works on public discource, at Philosopher.org.

ACTIVE GROUPS

  • Altadena Socrates Cafe: (My regular group). We've been meeting since July 2003 at the Coffee Gallery in Altadena on the 3rd Sunday of each month. We were on hiatus Summer 2007 but have resumed meetings. For regular updates, sign up on Meetup.com at http://socratescafe.meetup.com/128/.
  • Philosophy in LA: This group meets once a month in Santa Monica, usually 3rd Sundays from 5-8pm. For more info, check their website http://philosophy-in-la.tribe.net/.
  • Los Angeles Philosophy Meetup: This group meets 1x month in Eagle Rock at the Yarn Store, 2nd Wed of month, 7-9pm. Click http://philosophy.meetup.com/195/ for more info.
  • OC Philosophy Meetup Group: This group meets 3rd Fridays in Santa Ana, CA. Go to http://philosophynow.meetup.com/1/?gj=sj7 for more info.

OTHER GROUPS

This is a list of similar community discussion groups not necessarily organized around Socrates Cafe.

  • Discussing Spirituality is a group meeting at Home Brew Coffee in San Dimas on 2nd and 4th Thursday from 8-10pm. For info, call Angela at (626) 512-8054.
  • Long Beach Meetup Philosophy Cafe: Chris Bobo of the OC Meetup Philosophy Cafe runs a hardcore philosophy group at the Coffee Bean in Long Beach. For more info, go to http://philosophy.meetup.com/250/
  • Citizen-Thinker Salon is a group run by two Pasadena City College professors aimed toward more citizen activism. They meet either on the PCC campus or at the Borders Bookstore on Lake St. For more info, contact Profs David Uranga or Linda Handelman at Pasadena City College at (626) 585-7406 or email philosopher_citizen@hotmail.com.

DEFUNCT GROUPS

These are groups that used to meet

  • San Dimas/La Verne: I used to run a group at a couple of coffee houses in San Dimas and La Verne in 2004-2005. Never really got the attendance I hoped for and these groups are currently inactive although I'd love to try again.
  • Orange County: For several years, Professor Martin Young has held occasional cafes for his philosophy students in the Orange County area and helped us start the Altadena group in 2003. His website is at Madwizard.com.
  • Laguna Beach: Another Altadena spin-off. This group met Nov 2004-Jun 2005 first in Laguna Beach, then in Dana Point. Currently inactive.
  • Socrates San Diego: This group was formed in 2005. It has been on hiatus since March 2007. Its website is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SocratesSD/.
  • Palm Springs: The Peppertree Bookstore in Palm Springs has held intermittent cafes. I am unclear on their status so you should contact them for more information.