World Philosophy Day has come and gone and I’m left wondering how most people ended up celebrating it.
I ended up celebrating it with my family albeit the most philosophical question we ended up discussing that day was “Where should we eat?” and a spirited defense from each one on why we should eat at each person’s preferred place (By the way I didn’t win. The kids as always won and we got fried chicken.). It was a day well spent though because though they didn’t know it I decided to practice my philosophy of FAMILY FIRST on World Philosophy Day.
Of course there are other bigger events that went on around the world in celebration of the event from September 16-20, 2009, the biggest of which is of course the international component of World Philosophy Day in Moscow and Saint Petersburg hosted by the Russian Federation that I wrote about last month.
UNESCO’s Director-General, Irina Bokova, also issued a statement about the need for an international cultural dialogue. In Director-General Bokova’s statement she said:
“In the run up to 2010, declared by the United Nations General Assembly the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures, it is more important than ever before to examine the current foundations for the free flow of discourse and practice, out of which world cultural diversity is woven.
Philosophy, along with the other social and human sciences, can help us renew the debate on how to engage in this dialogue, which could be defined as a dynamic chorus of social and cultural relationships and interactions open to the plurality of the world. As societies increasingly learn how to live in multicultural environments, we need to shed light on our joint capacity to bring together individual and collective imaginations.”
Now you may not have engaged in a cultural dialogue but everyday if you choose to appreciate and celebrate the diversity of cultures, whether by learning a bit more about another culture or your own, you will have done a real important thing.
As for those who didn’t get to celebrate the World Philosophy Day, why not declare your own day and do something to share and discussion your philosophies and/or practice your own views.
Originally posted on November 28, 2009 @ 11:17 pm