Night of Philosophy: Brooklynites Pull an All-Nighter at Central Library

The Night of Philosophy and Ideas is a 12-hour, all-night marathon of philosophical debate, performances, screenings, and readings. On Saturday, February 2, 2019, the third annual event was held at Central Library. One of our own librarians, Nomi Naeem, held a lecture at 5:30am. Today he shares his thoughts on the international event that has now spread to nine other U.S. cities and what brings thousands of New Yorkers to stay up all night and talk philosophy.

As I prepared to give my talk on “Buddhism and Foucault,” witnessing the passion and diversity of those still gathered at 5:30am with the sun yet to rise on the third installment of Brooklyn Public Library's Night of Philosophy and Ideas, I was reminded of Maya Angelou’s poem, “On the Pulse of Morning”:

There is a true yearning to respond to
The singing River and the wise Rock.
So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the Jew
The African, the Native American, the Sioux
The Catholic, the Muslim, the French, the Greek,
The Irish, the Rabbi, the Priest, the Sheik,
The Gay, the Straight, the Preacher,
The privileged, the homeless, the Teacher.
They hear. They all hear
The speaking of the Tree.
They hear the first and last of every Tree
Speak to humankind today…

Will Durant, one of my favorite philosophers, eloquently defines philosophy as the “attempt of human beings to capture something of that total perspective which in their modest intervals they know that only Infinity can possess; the brave and hopeless inquiry into the first causes of things, and their final significance; the consideration of truth and beauty, of virtue and justice, of ideal human beings and states.” The Night of Philosophy and Ideas attracts everyone who cares for truth and pursues it diligently and on February 2, 2019, the Night gathered almost 8,000 such souls. “It’s obvious that there’s a thirst for this kind of intellectual moment,” says Bénédicte de Montlaur, Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy in the US, who partnered with Brooklyn Public Library to organize the event. “Everywhere we organize it, it works.”

It works perhaps because philosophy is everybody’s business, regardless of race, class, creed, gender, nationality, language, etc., a la Mortimer Adler. For some it could also be Plato’s ‘dear delight’ or a Wittgenstinian “battle against the bewitchment of their intelligence,” or others, like Henry Miller, who realize that “any genuine philosophy leads to action and from action back again to wonder, to the enduring fact of mystery.”

The night began at 7:30pm with a keynote address by Kwame Anthony Appiah, whose books on identity and its complexities are the need of the hour as identity—be it religious, national, ethnic etc.—can often imprison thought if not handled with vigilance. As Rousseau says “take from the philosopher the pleasure of being heard and his desire for knowledge ceases,” and given the universality of the desire to have one’s identity recognized, it is no wonder this year’s lineup of speakers included thinkers from across the world.

I was honored to be part of this night, which started in Paris and has since 2012 become a popular festival devoted to philosophy. My talk on “Buddhism and Foucault” mentioned new work by Robert Wright and Ken Wilber, and discussed connections between Foucault's attitudes towards prevailing power and settled ideas, which seemed to resonate with the packed crowd, many of whom stayed after to ask questions. Perhaps they were as hungry to unite 2,400 years of thought, as they were for the 5am croissant distributed by the French Embassy?