Philo Café began life in 2013, meeting monthly at different local cafes around Byron Shire, with people making new friends over a meal and discussing a large range of thought-provoking topics. Through our various connections we found outside speakers – mostly academics – who were happy to talk to the group about their topics of expertise and to then open the meetings up to table discussions by the audience. Through this format we managed to maintain high attendance rates, and to nurture a group cohesiveness.

We varied the usual monthly meetings with experiments such as Philo Slams – short punchy talks by several members on a set topic which became popular and regular end-of-year events. Another successful event was a play written by one of our members about Socrates’ life and teaching.

These fertile and fun years were brought to an end by Covid shutdowns, but we have managed to pick up the threads of our musings and now meet occasionally. In 2025 we introduced a philosophy trivia quiz night. We have drawn up a list of topics from which individual members might choose to present to  the group – and to newcomers!

Past Events

The following is a list of our past events: where they were held, topics and speakers:

SUCCULENT CAFE

2013

  • Consume, Be Silent, Die: is this our destiny? – Jim Beatson and Richard Jones
  • Men and Women in the Age of Women – Christine Willmot
  • Leadership – what does it mean in a democracy?
  • What is Art? – Matthew Del Nevo
  • Life in the Space Age – Paul Davies

LUSCIOUS FOODS

2014

  • Experiencing Cinema: Psychological and philosophical implications – Peter Thompson
  • Legal Ethics: what lawyers can get away with – John Bailey
  • Life, Death and Art: an artist’s exploration of the transformative experience – Alyssa Simone
  • The Philosophers of Plumwood Mountain on Life, Death and Predation – Dominic Hyde
  • Beliefs and Truth – Richard Jones
  • Putting the Brakes on Rationalism – James Cowan
  • Journalism, Philosophy and Ethics – Jim Beatson

2015

  • The Solar Revolution – Giles Parkinson
  • What is Time? – Mark Weber
  • Frontier Wars: talking about our history – Robert Ørsted-Jensen
  • Knowledge of Nature, Nature of Knowledge – Mary Gardner

HERITAGE HOUSE

2015

  • Some Things are Just Wrong: the issue of ethical relativism – Christine Willmot
  • The Philosophical and Political Implications of Sexuality and Identity – Victor Marsh
  • Harmonizing three Worlds – Matthew Delnevo
  • Living without God – Russell Blackford
  • Living in the Anthropocene: crash or crash though – Ken McLeod
  • Two Cultures Revisited – Gavin Greenoak

2016

  • Reframing the Way we Think about the Future – Ken Wilber
  • Thoughts on Human Bondage – John Bailey
  • Food For Thought – Gay Bilson
  • Novalis the First Ecologist – Margaret Stoljar
  • The Gadfly of Athens – Christine Willmot
  • The Ethics and Limits of Scientific Freedom – Andrew Crowden

2017

  • Welcome to a Transhuman World – Mark Weblin
  • Why are women air-brushed from science – Melissa Ashley
  • In the Realm of Silence – Peter Shenstone
  • The Story of Black Elk & Native American Spirituality – Harry Oldmeadow

2018

  • Primordial Landscape & Sacred Knowledge – Arthur Versluis
  • A Return to Bricolage – Robert King

2019

  • The Mysteries of the Dreaming – James Cowan
  • Now Everyone Can Fly – Sating the Global Wanderlust – Carl Cleves
  • Beauty’s Only Skin Deep – Mandy Nolan
  • The Idiotocratic Age. Why we need to understand stupidity – Mark Weblin

2021

  • Facing our liminal ghosts – Richard Hil

ANZAC ROOM – BYRON BAY SERVICES CLUB

2021

  • Do You Know Who You Really Are – Peter Wallman
  • The Future of Work – Margot Cairnes

2022

  • How to Live an Authentic Life – David Heilpern
  • What is Western Civilization – Christine Willmot
  • Philosophy and Sex – Sam Jones
  • Understanding Death: The Philosophy and the Reality – Zenith Virago
  • Navigating the Age of Alienation – Art Burroughes
  • Why the Insatiable Focus on Economic Growth – Donnie Maclurcan

2023

  • Matter of Fairness – Kerry O’Brien
  • Rapid Discontinuous Change – Margot Cairnes
  • What Do We Mean by a Good Life – Alison Crook

2024

  • Artificial Intelligence – Salvation or Scourge – Kerrie Stubbs
  • Plato Revisited – John Wilson
  • Humour as Healing – Jean-Paul Bell
  • John Bailey Tribute – Christine Willmont, Paul Davies, Jo Green, Suzanne Holt & Peter Gough

2025

  • Refugees and the ‘Right to Have Rights’ – Marilyn Leeks
  • Sovereign Citizens – a Cult, a Movement, or a Suicide Pact? – David Heilpern
  • Is It Possible To Know Ourselves? – Trevor Rollins

2026