We all know that midtowners are stylish, liberal and artistic, but did you know they were philosophical as well? For the last three months now, midtowners of all sorts have been getting together once a week to talk about life, love, and the pursuit of happiness, at midtown’s own Philosophy Night. The philosophy night takes place every Thursday evening at Weatherstone Cafe and offers locals a chance to get together and bounce ideas off one another in the hopes of finding a few kernels of wisdom in the process.
      Hannah Gladstone, one of the weekly gang at philosophy night says, “It’s one of those things in Sac you just stumble upon. It’s comfortable, everyone gets along, and it gives you a chance to share your ideas and consider new ones as well.”
The creator of the event, Sacramento native Stuart Campbell, says of the idea, “If you spend time at cafés and restaurants around town, you’ll overhear all sorts of interesting conversations. People around here are very philosophical by nature, but there was really no venue for us to get together and share ideas”. So he put up flyers and people started to show up, fast. At the second meeting there were twelve seats full on the back patio of Weatherstone. At first, Stuart recalls, “People seemed to be a little intimidated by the word ‘philosophy’. They seemed to think they needed specialized knowledge to pitch in. But philosophy is nothing more than the study of life, and often, the less educated someone is in an academic sense, the more in tune they are with their own experience, which can actually be an advantage”.
      Each Philosophy Night starts with a question or an opinion on some life-related issue. One night, perhaps someone will get the conversation rolling with “what does it mean to be a student of life?” or “ what is the meaning of true friendship?” Another night might begin with an opinion on sex or desire, work life, or fashion.
Wherever the discussion leads, however, the founder is emphatic about one thing, “The subjects we talk about must relate to the way in which we live our lives on a day-to-day basis. We try to keep it practical, and avoid wandering off into intellectual la-la land”.
      After having graduated with his degree in philosophy in 2006 from Arizona State University, Stuart had the opportunity to travel abroad to Thailand, India, and Nepal. When asked about his own philosophy, and how traveling has helped to form it Stuart recalls, “Although it certainly was interesting to see how people live in different places, I wouldn’t say it was anymore inspiring to me philosophically than an average day around here. I actually feel as though I’ve grown far more over the last few months in Sacramento, living a normal life and working in a restaurant, than I did from travel to exotic places.”
     Drop in on Midtown’s weekly Philosophy Night Thursdays at 7:30 pm. All are welcome and if nothing else, it should make for an interesting time.