CATCH-UP: PHILOSOPHY PLAYTIME
As our first Philosophy Playtime session of the year takes place this Wednesday (14th January), we found some time over the weekend to recap with our good friend and professional philosopher Kathrine Cuccuru about the project.
Philosophy Playtime is our longest standing weekly event, and Kathrine’s dedication to making it a success is nothing short of outstanding. EH9 is here to provide space and opportunity for people to converse and connect and Philosophy Playtime certainly aligns with those objectives!
See below for our short interview:
What is Philosophy Playtime?
It is pretty much what it says on the poster. Philosophy Playtime is ‘where adults come to play with ideas’. It is an opportunity to discuss ideas not only thoughtfully and kindly, but also with joy and silliness.
Why philosophy, and why play?
For years, working as a university philosophy lecturer, I encouraged undergraduates to play with ideas! To realise philosophy can be serious fun, not just serious. Importantly, that child-like curiosity and wonder, joy and silliness, help us gain serious understanding of and genuine care for ideas. And it opens us up to imagining different possibilities and new ways of thinking.
Philosophy Playtime is simply doing that with whoever turns up at EH9 on Wednesday evenings.
Philosophy Playtime has now run around 50 sessions — how has the club evolved since the early days?
Actually we settled into our current format early on, within a couple sessions. Although each playtime is unique and surprising, from the beginning Playtimers (how I like to describe our playtime participants) have made it a generous, thoughtful, joyous community. And they continue to build that community.
Who is Philosophy Playtime for?
People come along for all sorts of reasons, but the common factor is curiosity. Initially, people are curious about philosophy, and curious about combining it with play, or just want to find out what that even means, or they are looking for something a bit different. While all have their own reasons for coming back, the many who do are keen to keep exercising their curiosity, and enjoy the opportunity to do so with others.
What actually happens in a session?
Well, you can expect your complimentary decaf when you arrive!
But it all really begins at the end of the previous week with the ideas box. All playtimers are invited to put an idea (question, thought, whatever they would like to play with) in the box. There are no real limits, and we have had a wild variety! All proving great starting points for play. At the end of each playtime an idea is drawn at random from it (so people can have a think, and we can advertise the idea for the following week).
Before play, I welcome all playtimers, introducing everyone (new, returners and regulars) of our ‘Guide to Good Games’, which is basically summarised as play kindly, play thoughtfully, prepare to have your ideas challenged, aim for understanding not criticism, what counts as permissible language, and mistakes happen—it’s okay—let’s learn from them.
To begin play, after repeating the ‘idea’ for everyone, I put 30 seconds on the timer. During that time Playtimers have a chance to think about the idea. We are for now only interested in our immediate, unreflective responses, which will become our general starting material. We all share our initial responses, from which I usually identify the emerging philosophical claims, puzzles, or worries that we might play with. Then it is entirely up to the Playtimers how it goes. My role as the philosopher is to guide play toward philosophical ways of thinking about things, and (where relevant) share what philosophers (past and present, around the world) have to say about these things. Otherwise, we can and do go wherever our playful thoughts take us.
Are there any discussions, questions, or moments that have really stayed with you?
I am constantly surprised, heartened by, and learn from the way Playtimers think about things, and always humoured by the cheekiness and unexpectedness of the questions. Perhaps, memorably, my own peak silliness was a Playtime where, to illustrate an idea and explore relevant arguments, I used the example of myself being killed by one of the Playtimers. There was much delight in the advent of my death (no matter how fun I make it, like all philosophers with all their annoying questioning and arguments, I still invite imaginings of murder), and great pleasure was had in working out what circumstances it was justified or blameworthy to kill me.
What assumptions do people have about philosophy that Philosophy Playtime gently challenges?
The most important thing that I want to convey is that philosophy (at least the sort I am interested in) is NOT about winning arguments, or being ‘right’ or some special sort of smarts. It is generally about cultivating a careful understanding of our ideas, and hopefully that some of our ideas might turn out to be good, beautiful, true.
My aim is to give Playtimers the opportunity to work out what they really think and to carefully develop their ideas for themselves. I simply offer philosophical ways of thinking them through. Perhaps the most significant realisation that new Playtimers have is that our own ideas and beliefs are regularly not as well-founded or thought through as they initially seem to us. That when we stop trying to defend our views and start exploring them, in our case with thoughtful play, we develop deeper and more compassionate understanding of ourselves and others.
Another important realisation that I hope to convey is that everyone is inclined to and capable of philosophical thinking, we are all (potential) philosophers, with Playtime I provide some guidance on how to do that more skilfully.
Why do you think shared philosophical discussion is important right now?
The world is a frightening place right now, with a lot of frightening ideas being put about, and it is difficult to work out what to think or believe about them.
Lots of places, especially online and social media, but even academic spaces, that purport to offer philosophical, serious, or meaningful discussion about these things have been reduced to aggressive arguing over who is right with little space to develop our understanding of the ideas or each other. They are also ruthlessly unforgiving places, with our mistakes recorded, stored, and replayed. Leading many to feel and become isolated in their thinking. Unfortunately, even the best philosophers, struggle to have any good, beautiful, or true ideas entirely on their own.
For me, then, it is most important to offer a place where people can safely share their ideas with others, where safely does not mean that our ideas go unchallenged but that they are treated with curiosity and care with the shared aim of understanding each other. In turn, with the same curiosity and care, we have the opportunity to safely explore the perspectives and insights of other people from different backgrounds and walks of life. I hope my style of philosophical play helps Playtimers achieve this sort of shared, compassionate understanding.
How does Philosophy Playtime fit into your wider work or thinking?
As mentioned it is born out of my own curious, wonder-filled approach to doing philosophy, my desire for serious fun. For me, playtime keeps my philosophical skills sharp. It is also a privilege to learn from all the Playtimers. Like all experts in a field, I can get stuck, complacent, or dogmatic about how to do and think about things philosophically, but Playtimers come with a vast variety of expertise, experience, and backgrounds that put new light on and even challenge my ways, which makes my professional and academic philosophical work better.
What’s next?
Well, I am excited to see the new and familiar faces of the Playtimers joining us in 2026. I hope I continue to be surprised, heartened, and humoured by them. Although sticking with the tried and tested format, the freedom to play with the ideas however we wish, keeps Philosophy Playtime endlessly exciting.
The Details:
Philosophy Playtime
18.30-20.00, Wednesdays at EH9 | Perth Rd, 248/250 Perth Road, Dundee, DD1 4LL.
£6 cash on door, complimentary decaf coffee
All curious minds welcome.
