Christopher Phillips

Christopher Phillips, PhD (born July 15, 1959) is a Greek-American author, educator, consultant, lecturer, recognized as a pre-eminent practitioner and scholar of the Socratic Method, and as pro-open society advocate. He likely is best known for his 2001 internationally bestselling book Socrates Café: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy, the first in what would become a 'Socrates trilogy' that includes the bestseller Six Questions of Socrates: A Modern-Day Journey of Discovery through World Philosophy," and "Socrates in Love: Philosophy for a Die-Hard Romantic." Public Radio International called Phillips the "Johnny Appleseed of Philosophy." Phillips's efforts are lauded for their focus on cultivating greater human autonomy, inclusive freedom of speech and expression, including at universities in this era of polarization, in ways that create more participatory societies on myriad scales His outreach over the years has significantly and organically expanded into many far-flung parts of the globe, including Latin America, Brazil, the UK, the Middle East. Phillips's stated aim is to "build intentional bridges between one human soul and society and another, in a time and clime when too many are deliberately trying to build walls between and among us." He also has been a longtime strident advocate for lowering the voting age, so that 'youthkind' and 'childkind' are no longer marginalized and can fully participate and have their voices heeded and heard in the civic-political sphere. Additionally, Phillips has been named the first-ever Philosopher-in-Residence for the Humanity in Deep Space program, and previously was first-ever Senior Education Fellow for the National Constitution Center as well as a Network Ethics Fellow at Harvard University's Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics. Further, Phillips is an Investment Advisor Representative with a specialty in SRI (Sustainable Responsible Impact) Investing and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Investing - taking on this additional role with the conviction that deep Socratic inquiry of the sort he promulgates and engages in can enable each person (and group) to discover their unique path to become healthier, wealthier, and wiser, depending on their singular philosophies and aims on these key existential matters. Phillips's more recent books include A Child at Heart: Unlocking Your Creativity, Curiosity and Reason at Every Age and Stage of Life, which makes the case for how much we can learn from our youngest, and was published in March 2018 (Foreword Reviews and Adam Braun both praised it. His 2022 book, Soul of Goodness: Transform Grievous Hurt, Betrayal, and Setback into Love, Joy, and Compassion, includes a Foreword by the preeminent public intellectual Dr. Cornel West and was penned following the tragically unexpected death of his beloved father, Alexander Phillips, an inspirational figure whose life was, according to Dr. Phillips, "a true Horatio Alger story" and nearly all of whose painstakingly accumulated assets over the course of more than a half century vanished upon his passing. Phillips has also penned several illustrated series of philosophical works for children and youth, including 'Day of Why', which is part of his 'Days of Wonder' series, 'The Philosophers' Club,' now the name of a series of books (which includes 'Worlds of Difference'), 'The Early Morning Princess,' and Finnegan the PhilosoFish Fights Global Warming,' the latter of which is part of his 'PhilosoAnimals' series of philosophical works for children and youth. He also is a published poet (his poems have been featured in the same journals and issues as those of the late Charles Bukowski and Ai, and also publishes whimsical rhyming illustrated works for children and youth, including 'There's a Mammoth in My Hammock!' Phillips has dual U.S.-Greek citizenship and he is focusing increasing effort on reviving the Socratic heritage and rich tradition of philosophical inquiry in Greece, in particular on the island of Nisyros, part of the Dodecanese chain, from which his father's family immigrated to the U.S. over a century ago. (Nisyros was occupied by Italian forces starting in 1911 during the Italo-Turkish War, and then by Mussolini's fascists, prompting his grandparents to leave for the United States, whereupon, once settling in the Tampa Bay Region of Florida, his grandmother, or yiayia, became one of the first teachers of Greek language and culture, and early members of the Hellenic society Daughters of Penelope. In turn, Phillips's father, a beloved role model and inspiration in this and other regards, became a chapter President of the American Hellenic Educational and Progressive Association, or AHEPA, in Phillips's boyhood hometown of Newport News, Virginia -- all of which Phillips recounts in his book 'Soul of Goodness.'