café-philo

17:40 Mar 3, 2014 

@Annette you have to do the translation, so obviously it's your choice and I respect that. I am quite happy to notice that wiki and many other (english) sources do not translate at all.
Cafés-philo are not what you say they are. One can call an unformal discussion about philosophy a "café-philo" or whatever they like, it doesn't change the facts. Besides I will be interested in getting references to "café-philo" in an academic context in Lyon, as this is rather incredible to me... Are they open to the general public?

15:38 Mar 3, 2014 

I've gone to several café-philos as I've mentioned before, here in Lyon, in an academic context, and they take place in university classrooms. Sometimes there's isn't even any coffee! Or it's very bad. In any case, the point is the discussion. So the place is the classroom. The word "café" as it's used in English, would give it too much a sense of place, one that's already very dominated in our imaginations by Starbucks and the like :-) Really, café-philos are no more than organised discussions. I love "pow-wow", it strikes a chord immediately with my understanding, but I think "club" captures the temporary nature of this activity well while remaining fairly general. It puts the emphasis on the activity rather than the place. I'll have to keep looking to find the equivalent activities in other English university contexts. Ie. Discussion hours/groups?

11:26 Mar 1, 2014 

@Catharine everybody is entitled to have their own views :-) the fact is the name was given because of the place... un café. There are plenty of other places where people can talk litterature, philosophy, whatever... Club imho goes with "members" and café is an open place, a public place, you don't have to be a member to go there.

10:50 Mar 1, 2014 

Apart from 3 years in Asia I've lived in Reunion (so France) since 1990, so I was around to see the concept of café philos take shape and grow ;-)
IMO the concept of a 'club' in English in this particular context in no way differs from the idea of a convivial forum.
The reference you quote is already present in the references.
P.S. It's Catharine not Catharina ;-)

10:25 Mar 1, 2014 

I just found there is quite an acurate definition of the concept in the english wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Café_Philosophique
"The concept was to bring people together in a public friendly forum where they could discuss ideas. A cafe tended to have this type of atmosphere where people were relaxed drinking coffee and carrying on conversations. This concept ultimately developed into Café Philosophique that he founded"

10:01 Mar 1, 2014 

@Catharina: Le concept "café philo" est né dans les années 90 dans le cadre d'une politique qui consistait a rendre conviviaux, et changer l'image, de certains bars et autres cafés. Je vois que vous êtes à La Reunion en voici un qui se tient dans un restaurant
http://reunion.orange.fr/loisirs/culture-sorties/evenements/...
Certaines asso en organisent dans leurs locaux, mais c'est par extension du concept...

09:49 Mar 1, 2014 

Continuing my reply here as there's no room left below:

The important thing here is the getting together to talk about philosophy, not so much where it takes place. Don't forget that translation also means 'translating' culture as well as words. If she concentrates too much on the 'café' aspect and leaves to one side the philosophy aspect the Asker risks overtranslating.

P.S. I'm a regular member of a 'café littéraire', but that doesn't mean it takes place in a café!

01:50 Mar 1, 2014 

café here is not the drink, it's the place. In french "un café" or "un bar" are the same. In England it would be a pub... The idea behind the concept is to bring "entertainment" into an unformal place like a "bar" or a "café". Make it a "social place" where people meet and talk.. Not necessarily posh....

16:59 Feb 28, 2014 

With all due respect, brown-bag lunch sounds nowhere near as posh as café-philo. This expression is for use in France, after all. ;-)

16:56 Feb 28, 2014 

A "brown-bag lunch" is roughly equivalent but wouldn't be ideal as a translation.

16:42 Feb 28, 2014 

I think "coffee and philosophy" fits the bill perfectly, perhaps followed by "sessions", depending on the context.