PONDERING IN THE PARK JACQUI MORLEY The Blackpool Gazette http://www. blackpoolgazette. co. uk/daily-feature/Pondering-in-the-park. 4165336. jp 09 June 2008 For more information including dates and times of meetings contact Tim Riley in Leisure Services on 07796 994591

Blackpool is one of England's premier sea-side resorts. With its 1867 built tower and 1885 tram system, the world's first electric street tramway, Blackpool is a popular holiday destination. STANLEY Park with its boating lake, bandstand and rose gardens is Blackpool's peaceful parkland haven. The green retreat, opened in 1926, offers visitors and locals a refreshing change from the busy seafront, There is a fine Visitor Centre where information is provided on the ample sports and leisure facilities, including an indoor sports centre with everything from badminton and basketball to five-a-side football and weight training. Outside is a full-size athletics track, all-weather soccer pitches, tennis courts, 'trim trail' and a professional golf course as well as putting for beginners and crazy golf for funsters, crown and flat bowling greens, table tennis, trampolining and netball. Another popular feature is the Blackpool Illuminations. The Illuminations cost approximately £1.8 million to stage, and attract more than 8 million visitors. But there is something else going on in this place of pleasure or inviolable privacy - serious thinking. Blackpool Gazette journalist Jacqui Morley tells us all about it. For more information including dates and times of meetings contact Tim Riley in Leisure Services on 07796 994591

Pondering in the Park

Jacqui Morley writes:

09 June 2008

PHILOSOPHY. The Love of Wisdom.

The Meaning of Life and all that. And the good news is you don't need to have a Greek surname, a penchant for handsome young men, or be immortalised in a bust in a museum, to be one. You just need to know how to have a rational debate armed with facts and an inquiring mind. Most of us, from the outrageous non-PC utterances of the old Alf Garnett-lookalike holding court on his favourite seat at the pub, to the superficial chat of the wannabe celebrities trooping through the Big Brother household, question what life is all about.

So ask a philosopher. First find one. Stanley Park Visitor Centre tomorrow night from 6.30pm seems as good a place as any to start the quest. It's the base of Blackpool's new monthly Philosophy Cafe.

It's the brainchild of resort parks' development officer, and self-styled philosopher, Tim Riley, a man of many words, most of them well chosen, and much musing on the meaning of life. He started the philosophy cafe, not to be confused with the neighbouring art deco cafe (which does better cake) to spark healthy debate on life's big issues.

To get a flavour of what's offered tomorrow night, along with tea and coffee, the first meeting featured a lively debate on euthanasia. Tomorrow's theme "Thou shalt not get high" sees the group getting stuck into philosophical issues related to drug use and arguments for drug legalisation. Tim's into his second year of studies for an honours degree in philosophy at the University of Central Lancashire and set up the "cafe" to challenge conventional thinking. He's pleased with the small but questioning membership to date.

"We're getting more people and of all ages to meetings. Just throwing ideas and ethics around. It's like having a mental workout and great fun - beats staying in watching telly."

Ah, but doesn't telly throw up its share of "armchair" philosophers: from Steptoe, or Del Boy, through to Corrie's Roy Cropper or Father Ted? Monty Python went on to elevate philosophy to entertainment. They knew their market - even made The Meaning of Life a cult movie. Tim adds:

"Telly's an opiate, really. At the philosophy cafe it's all about going out to come in ... and really getting the brain ticking over. If you get into philosophy, you realise how relevant it is today - even the so-called ancient philosophers say stuff pertinent in modern times. Aristotle as good as foretold the school voucher system."

No subject will be taboo at the cafe.

"Hence our drugs debate. Millions who use drugs enjoy the effects and the majority suffer little harm from their use. So why does the Government inflict its most serious sanction on an individual, imprisonment, for something that, most of the time, does not harm others?"

Tim stresses he's playing devil's advocate.

"It's all about challenging people's intrinsic beliefs, pulling the carpet from beneath conventional thought and enriching members' lives through healthy debate."

He's anti-euthanasia, but admits:

"A lively debate took place and we looked at individual autonomy and the right to choose, to the consequences of legalising killing by the state in a peacetime situation."

Other subjects lined up including abortion, animal rights and pornography. Most of us prefer to philosophise over a pint at the pub, even if a half of hemlock proved the death of Socrates, having been accused of corrupting the morals of Athenian youth. Most of the big name philosophers are male. It's not that women "Kant" do philosophy .. it's just they don't call it an "ology". We philosophise everywhere, over lunch, at work, at the gym, and hairdressers. "It would be great to get more women along," Tim admits.

"Most of the women I work with are natural philosophers!"

And while the great thinkers of old, Plato and Aristotle, might not get much of a look-in today, Homer still does.. albeit in the rotund form of one donut-eating cartoon character. Homer Simpson, who memorably declared: "Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try."

Courtesy of the Jacqui Morley The Blackpool Gazette http://www. blackpoolgazette. co. uk/daily-feature/Pondering-in-the-park. 4165336. jp
09 June 2008

For more information including dates and times of meetings contact Tim Riley in Leisure Services on 07796 994591