Socrates Cafe: Asking Life’s Big Questions

Since 2006, ECC’s Socrates Cafe has been an ongoing discussion between students and community members about life’s big questions. Questions like: What is happiness? What is success? What is truth? Does religion matter? 

Professor David Zacker started the philosophical group after being inspired by the book “Socrates Cafe” by author Christopher Phillips. 

“He (Phillips) started it as a way to get people talking about philosophical concepts,” Zacker said. “He started by doing this in cafes, and he’d meet with people and start a philosophical conversation.”

The group meets on Tuesdays at 2 pm this fall 2025 semester in Building C, Room 120, also known as the Fish Bowl. In prior years, Zacker said the conversation has seen as many as 40 and as few as two individuals. 

The group will meet again this semester on October 7 and 22, November 4 and 11, and December 2. 

In a group discussion on September 9, students voted on a variety of questions, but the question that garnered the most votes was: “Does religion matter?” 

Zacker started the discussion by asking students to define religion. Some students said it’s a set of practices. Zacker also asked the group if atheists can be religious. The conversation led to some students discussing how they thought the word “religion” was a verb. One student said, “I took my medicine regularly,” and that's why they believed the word religion meant “a set of practices.”

Towards the end of the chat, Zacker said to the group: ”Listening and learning is important, thinking through things helps to push your own boundaries.”

He added that he was proud of the students for respecting each other’s opinions. 

“We’re going to work through this together and realize that each one is going to realize we might be wrong,” Zacker said about the club. “We've got to treat it as such.”

More information on Socrates Cafe can be found at elgin.edu/calendar/socrates-cafe.php.