Abstract:

Bel Arabi Falsafa Initiative was the first initiative to spread Philosophical Eduacation in Egypt. It was established in 2017 by Yossra Hamouda (a Philosophy Graduating Senior at The American University in Cairo then) to spread Philosophy and Philosophical thinking among the non-specialized public in Egypt and to alter the negative ideas about Philosophy in the Arab World as elitist and not related to the lived life. Hamouda was joined by MA Graduates of Philosophy in The American University in Cairo and throughout the past two years, Bel Arabi Falsafa managed to gain hundreds of followers and attendees. It started as series of open lectures and discussions at The American University in Cairo given by Philosophy Graduates to non-specialized audience about issues related to public concerns from a Philosophical perspective. After the massive success of its first three workshops, it received an Andrew Mellon Foundation Grant for spreading Humanities in the Global South. It was also invited to other universities in Egypt like Deraya University in Menya and Mansoura University in Mansoura. It became a well-known name in the cultural life in Egypt and received media coverage from acclaimed news websites inside and outside Egypt. The initiative encouraged hundreds of Egyptians to pursue further Philosophical inquiries. This paper tracks the success of Bel Arabi Falsafa’s model for disseminating Philosophical Education and Philosophical Thinking among the non-specialized in Egypt and tries to understand the reasons behind this model’s popularity. The paper also tries to draw lessons from this model’s experience concerning the possibilities of spreading Philosophical Educational in the Global South.

Keywords:

Philosophical Education, Public Philosophy.