8.10.07

The subjects

The First Philosophy Festival takes place at Flagey on 17th and 18th November. It wants to make philosophic subjects accessible to the general public. On the 17th of November the central theme of the first day will be Europe and its –literal and figurative- boundaries. And there are not only the geographical frontiers but also the mental ones.

How did it all start with Europe? What old and new myths have determined our way of being and continue doing so today? Where have we got and where are we going? Where does Europe start and end? What is the difference between historical Europe and political Europe today? What is the significance from Brussels for Europe? Do people think differently on the countryside and in the city? What is the influence of architecture on our way of thinking? Where does the European flag come from? Why is Hans Magnus Enzensberger’s poem on the downfall of Titanic also a European poem?


Belgian and international philosophers, authors, journalists, theatre makers and artists will wander through a wide variety of small and big European questions in lectures, causeries and debates. Furthermore there will be programme presenting films from Manuel de Oliveira and Orson Welles, documentaries from Peter Forgacs and Geert Mak and a book fair. A philosophy salon will reflect on the notion of boundaries and limits. A live philosophical dictionary will display key concepts from 25 centuries of thinking. A special children’s programme has been set up to make philosophic ideas accessible even to the youngest visitors. Top of the bill will be a massive closing debate with the Hungarian author Gyorgy Konrad and a Great European Speech by the Belgian writer Koen Peeters: a Belgian with a heart for Brussels and Europe.

The Philosophy Festival not only focusses on a theme, we have also a central figure. This year we have chosen Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592). A symposium will be dedicated to Montaigne, his work and modern essay – which he is the founder of – on Sunday, 18th November.

Thinking is a celebration and thoughts like to be on the move. In this multidiscipline festival there is something for everybody’s liking and every visitor plans his own course and walks freely from one activity to another. Drinks and snacks are continuously available and make the festival into a meeting place.

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