Pick up some food for thought!
Savvy shoppers can acquire some locally sourced, artisanally produced philosophy lessons along with organic vegetables and free-range eggs at the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket on April 23. Local sages will set up an “Ask a Philosopher” booth at the outdoor market, and the group’s head thinker hopes it will get people interested in the deep questions surrounding their existence.
“The point is to get people thinking and if they take whatever interaction they have with the booth and export it to the rest of their lives that would be awesome,” said Ian Olasov. The Ditmas Park resident is the founder of the Brooklyn Public Philosophers — a forum for Brooklyn philosophers to share their work with an audience.
Two of the group’s philosophers will man the booth during the market, he said, giving succinct, easy-to-understand responses to some of the world’s most complex questions.
“It’s super important to not throw a bunch of jargon at people and assume that they’ve read every philosophical book or journal article,” he said. “This is all about reaching more people and including more people in philosophical questions.”
And it will not cost a penny for their thoughts — all the answers are on the house.
Olasov is not sure what questions green-minded shoppers will ask, but said a lot of people are interested in learning the best way to live, and how to find happiness. Brooklyn’s gentrification process also raises many queries about what it means for a price to be fair, and what makes for a good city.
And Olasov said he is well-prepared to take on one of the most popular questions in the chin-scratching world: “What is the meaning of life?”
His answer was too long to be contained in a newspaper article.
If all goes well at the group’s first outing in Grand Army Plaza, the philosophers plan to take their booth to other markets throughout the borough.
“Ask a Philosopher” booth at Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket (Union Street between Flatbush Avenue and Prospect Park in Park Slope, bkpp.tumbl
