CAFÉ Humanite is one of Ilkley’s less well-known societies, despite the fact it has been running for 12 years having been founded in the early 2000s by the late John Martinez, the founder and original owner of Martinez Wines, and Dr Tom McLeish, at that time Professor of Physics at the University of Leeds. They decided Ilkley was the kind of town in which a society devoted to the discussion of philosophical, ethical, historical and literary topics could flourish. And flourish it did. The format established by John, whereby an expert in a field gives a talk, followed by questions and answers, is still adhered to. Now entering his tenth year as chairman, JOE FITZPATRICK, who took over from John, tells us more about Cafe Humanite.

THE best way to indicate what we talk about in Café Humanite is to refer to items from the programmes we have put together over the years.

In literature, we have heard papers on, and discussed such authors as, Chaucer, Dante, Jane Austen, James Joyce and Albert Camus.

Scientific topics have covered ‘Climate Change and Air Quality’, ‘Global Food Security’, ‘Animal Rights’ and the ideas of Gregor Mendel and Charles Darwin, including reference to the latter’s residence in Ilkley when, just prior to the publication of The Origin of Species, he came here to take the ‘water cure’.

A particularly well received recent paper was on ‘Viruses – and what to do about them’. In philosophy we have heard papers on, and discussed the works of, individual philosophers, ranging from Plato and Aristotle to Berkeley and Hume, from medieval philosophers to moderns, such as Wittgenstein, Heidegger and Simone Weil. Other topics, chosen more or less at random, have been renaissance art; law, morality and punishment; The Bible and homosexuality; and the history of workhouses.

A good many of our speakers are residents of Ilkley, a town with a great wealth of talent, and we also enjoy very good relationships with Leeds and Bradford universities; papers have been delivered by professors and lecturers from a variety of university departments.

Dr Greg Radick, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at Leeds, an Ilkley resident, has been invaluable in providing contact details of philosophers and others working at the universities. We are always open to suggestions and the only topics we do not engage with are party politics and religion – though I hasten to add that many of the topics we discuss are political with a small ‘p’ or religious with a small ‘r’ (such as the history of the Quakers or the rise of Islam.) What counts above everything else is the intellectual quality of the papers we hear – hence our contacts with the universities.

Many of our speakers combine erudition with wit and humour. One of the best compliments paid us was the comment following his talk made by one visiting speaker, who said: "Every town should have a Café Humanite."

One regular attendee recently described Café Humanite as providing "a feast of ideas".

Our programme of talks runs from October to May inclusive. Meetings are held in Church House, adjacent to All Saints Church, and usually take place on the third Wednesday of the month. Coffee is served from 7.30pm (hence the ‘Café’ in our title) and talks begin at 8pm. Admission and coffee are free but we could not survive without the donations of our members, as we have to pay a modest sum for the use of the hall and we like to give a book token to our speakers.

Anyone interested in giving a paper or learning more about Café Humanite can contact me. This is the time of year when, with the help of some friends, such as Brian and Judith Sayer, who have been members of Café Humanite since its inception and have helped to keep our society going over all this time, I strive to put together a programme of talks for the coming season.

Contact Joe at via the jo.fitzpatrick@btinternet.com e-mail address.