How to Philosophize on Truth

The Seminar

You’ll spend two days venturing into Athens, philosophizing on the nature of truth, in search of her true character and identity. Exploring Athens’ truth, you will experience the city like a “true” Athenian and follow the local’s tempo. This means days filled with walking and talking, philosophizing over coffee, connecting whilst overeating, and releasing in the mystique of the city’s nightlife. You will trace the thread that brings her seemingly capricious pieces together. Befriending the process of awareness, inspection and understanding so that once you go home, you can start seeing the truths of your own everyday reality.

THE TOPIC
THE EXPERIENCE
INCLUSION / EXLCUSIONS
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We live in an era where we are bombarded with information, facts and images that seem to explain just about everything. We feel connected with the world, aware of our reality, part of the “bigger picture”. This “bigger picture” influences our perceptions of reality, our aspirations, and expectations of our life, ourselves; from our understanding of an entire culture and our expectations of a holiday, to our definitions of true love. And we find ourselves in conflict between what is held as true and what we feel, what we see as real and what we experience in our everyday life.

So how do we find the truth? Is there such a thing as truth? Unwavering definitive truth? Is it a matter of subjectivity versus objectivity? Theory versus empiricism? Or is it a matter of reasoning? If so, how do we develop a quality of reasoning that brings us closer to the truth? Is our thread of reason long enough to string together all the pieces? To account for difference? To find the whole truth?

This is the Topic examined in our experiential seminar! Hit the “Experience” tab above to read all about the dialectic games and activities that unravel in your day.

Want to read more about this Topic? Here’s our insight on the matter.

Throughout the two days, you will travel from first impressions and immediate perceptions to deeper meanings and clearer conclusions.

You will venture into long investigative walks tracing the interlacing levels of meaning the city has to offer. You will walk through the center’s neighborhoods to witness the co-existence of antitheses and contraries only to unveil their underlying similarities. In the way Psiri’s small handcraft stores meet Kolonaki’s cosmopolitan shops. In the way your footsteps connect ancient with modern, alternative with classic, and casual with refined. You’ll journey through the characteristics that distinguish each neighborhood, but also experience the untouchable qualities that unify them.

You will walk the streets less travelled by and find the neighborhoods where locals hide. Following the lead of Local Mentors, you’ll melt in their plateias (squares, “πλατεία”) to experience their human connection and slowly slurp their bitter coffee to sip away your day’s emotions as they do. Always peering behind the story, connecting to Athenians’ real feelings, discovering their source of inspiration, the meaning of their happiness, and coming closer to discovering their truth. Questioning if the truth you discover is representative of the truth locals experience. Or does your personal library of meanings change the truth you perceive?

Sophia’s Best Dialectic Games will playfully engage you in the thinking processes of uncovering truth. Specifically, photography will be your dialectic method as you capture your observations of the city. A Sophia’s Best Mentor will direct your investigative path and guide your collection of photographic clues. We don’t expect artistic skill, just simple photographs as records of what you noticed in the day. Eyes and mind open, you find the symbols and images that represent the city. Narrow streets tying together markets and coffee shops, nights laced with swirls of cigarette smoke and the liberties of sober dancing, whilst ancient ruins are the stars who guide you in the sea of city buildings. You will zoom in and out, put pictures together and peel back the pixels to understand the real meaning behind the moments you capture.

Evaluating the way you create your understanding of truth. Noticing the way you store information into pre-established ideas, perceive experiences through personal biases or interpret new moments through the learnings of old memories.

You will color your time with dialogues and conversations trying to peel off the surface; trying to piece together the entire mosaic of truth that may be discovered in Athens.

From little old sweet shops to young contemporary restaurants, you will ignite your wonder and humor yourself in dialectics and open conversation. Cluttered with food and wine or dessert and coffee, your table is the perfect arena to let your mind and reasoning run free. You will argue, discuss and analyze your understanding of Athens. How did you construct your ideas and conclusions about the city’s character? How well did your symbols and images reflect reality? What is the relationship between the factors you observe? How do they interact in creating meaning?

Although we philosophize on the nature of truth and often doubt its very existence, it is always there connecting life’s pieces together. As a complete picture living and breathing above the colors that compose it. If only you observe and actively interact with it. Questioning the pieces you see, wondering “why”, reasoning what cause brought it about, evaluating what effect it will have. Always curious if there is more to discover.

Athens is an amalgamation of contradictions, where ancient outlives modern, chaos finds order and neighborhoods live two lives in a day because sunsets turn cafes into bars. Where calm is met with zeal, and the complexity of passions is inspired by the simplicity of a conversation. A place where people cry and laugh in a single breath. It’s up to you to discover the truth that threads its pieces together.

What is Included

The Core

This experiential seminar has been specifically structured and designed in a way that embodies the thinking processes characteristic of the Path “Philosophize”, whilst the Topic “Truth” is at the heart of your experience.
A Sophia’s Best Mentor accompanies you throughout the day to reveal an insight on this Topic as it exists in the environment around you and within you.
Dialectic Games and Activities that work hand-in-hand with the illustrative activities to stimulate your mind and animate the insight as an experience.

Illustrative Activities

The experience runs for two full days in Athens.
Each day is filled with illustrative activities inspired by the people, culture and environment of this program’s location. Each activity serves as an opportunity to gain insight on the Topic and challenge your way of thinking authentically and naturally.
We spend the entire day and evening together. As such, every moment is organized in detail and provided for in full; from activities to food and beverages. We’ve made sure your appetite (intellectually, emotionally and gastronomically) is well taken care of.
Expert locals welcoming you into their homes, trades and crafts
Local practices and activities, include but are not limited to;
- An honest experience of the local lifestyle;
  from the tempo of our day to where we go
- Walk through six different areas of Athens
- Discovery of off-beat, often unseen locations;
  from little plateias and hidden parks to secret spots for sunset talks
- Exploration of local handcraft stores
- Excursion into Athenian nightlife for rooftop wine and underground cocktails
- Immersion into authentic Athenian neighborhoods
- Visit into local neoclassical home

Food & Beverages

Snacks and coffee
Dessert at traditional sweet shop
Two special lunches and two dinners in local restaurants
All meals are authentically Greek made with local, organic produce
Local beverages; including wine

What is not Included

Our original price does not include transportation and accommodation. Excluding these factors from our original price leaves room for flexibility around your personal needs and budget. Perhaps you already have a car or prefer a van? Maybe you enjoy luxury hotels or prefer local homes? It is up to you.

Although we do not provide these services, we collaborate with authentic accommodation and local transportation providers in each region. There are multiple options at hand, so we can decide together upon a choice that respects your personal needs and budget.

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