What We Do
The Great Conversation. The Society aims to get all teenagers to participate in intellectual discussion over a broad area of topics, including politics, literature, history, philosophy, and religion. In the Society, discussions open all sides of an issue in hopes of reaching a conclusion. The goal is to achieve higher-level thinking and firm, confident philosophy produced through reason by individuals. Meanwhile, the dialectical, Socratic process of discussion nourishes and strengthens intellectual capacities.
Activities
The Society opens dialogue among teenagers mainly through four activities:
School clubs. Clubs meet weekly at lunch and are open to all students as philosophy forums. The Society currently has three clubs, one in Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek, one in Foothill High School in Pleasanton, and one in Acalanes High School in Lafayette. Two additional clubs are to be chartered, one in Monte Vista High School in Danville, and one in California High School in San Ramon. The Society is working to expand its club network.
Salon meetings. Salons are the main activity for Society members, and they meet on Sunday afternoons from 2:00-4:00 p.m. at Walnut Creek's Civic Park. The Salon is modeled after the Enlightenment salons, where 18th century philosophes, writers, and other thinkers have met in the past to contemplate the world. As a means of dialogue between students of different high schools, the Salon is open to the most intellectually eager Society members. Members must be invited in order to attend the Salon. Salons are open to the public (i.e. adults) the first Sunday of each even-numbered month.
Online. The website, theyoungthinkers.org, will eventually serve as a major venue of interaction for Society members. Some day, we hope to host some sort of web-based interface that allows youth to participate conveniently in intellectual discussion--something like a modern Republic of Letters. Our now-obsolete forum experienced a vigorous but brief lifespan a few summers back, but we hope to incorporate such vigorous dialogue in our future plans.
The Young Thinkers' Magazine. For two issues, the Society has created and published a quarterly youth journal, The Young Thinkers' Magazine, that featured nonfiction, fiction, and poetry by high school students around the Bay Area. As the founder goes off to college, the Magazine is put on an undefined hiatus. However, we hope to see the Magazine be revived as a national publication in a few years. Visit the Magazine webpage here.
Plans
Other than the website, the Walnut Creek-based Society is currently focused on achieving two immediate goals:
Inter-club activities. The bigger the pool of ideas, the better the discussion. The Society aims to utilize its club network to build a stronger inter-school intellectual community. Shared events such as conventions are on the horizon for the Society.
Public speaker forums. A public speaker forum of guest adult speakers will help publicize the Society and encourage public intellectual discourse.
