Does it depend on your philosophy?

Corigliano d'Otranto, a small town in Southern Italy, thinks it does.  It has created the position of Municipal Philosopher and hired Graziella Lupo to fill it.   She is in attendance Fridays from 3 to 7 pm.  She is also the Philosophical Consultant at Ca 'Foscari University of Venice.  Surprisingly to me, her graduate degree is a Masters in Management and Human Resource Development from the University of Pisa.  The fact that the mayor, Ada Fiore, is supposed to be a philosophy teacher may have had something to do with it.

Besides hiring a Municipal Philosopher the town has tried to sell the concept in a number of ways: put up ceramic plaques with quotations from the likes of Saint Augustine; given out postcards for distribution in bars and shops that ask existential questions, such as "Why were you born?"; invited distinguished foreign philosophers to seminars in the town.  Thus far, 500 of the townsfolk have consulted with Professore Lupo.

Now the town is at work creating a "multimedia philosophy park" in the old quarter. An announcement promising "trees that talk, walls that light up and images that flow" has been posted on the council website above a notice about sorting rubbish.

All in all, if this picture is reflective of the town, it is a pretty place.