Philosophy taking to the streets, involving the general public and exciting even the younger generations, with more than one hundred free lectures in some of the most beautiful places on the island of Ischia, from the Renaissance Tower of Guevara to the Aragonese Castle, passing through the Antoniana Library and La Mortella Gardens: from tomorrow to September 24, the International Festival of Philosophy of Ischia returns. The edition, the ninth of its kind, relaunches - with the direction of the Insophia association and the High Patronage of the European Parliament - a proven format and proposes a complex and fascinating theme, summarized in the title "Desire. What Are We Really Missing?" and embellished by the great international appeal, with the participation of thinkers also from Canada, the United States and Asia. Workshops with students, photographic exhibitions, lectio magistralis, musical appointments and public square initiatives embellish an articulated program, which this year proposes a series of collateral initiatives in nearby Procida and addresses a topic that is as topical as ever. "After all, desire and lack, consumerism and identity are constants of a present that appears increasingly unbalanced," explains the festival's scientific director, Raffaele Mirelli. "The phenomenon of massification absorbs us completely, relegating us to comfortable shelves of belonging, defining lifestyles that are increasingly reduced, stereotyped and individualistic. We are like products for sale, plasticized, artificial ready to be consumed. The social world wants it, the society of consumption and passive consent wants it. The challenges imposed by this same present can only be met as a community. Our planet, nature show us the way to a common future. Desire instills courage in the future, even more so it is the 'lack of stars' (etymology of the word desire) that educates us to orientation, to 'consider' new challenges. Without desire we have no references to continue our journey". The festival opens tomorrow with the posting on the streets of the island of 30 aphorisms chosen from the thoughts of students from Ischia and Procida, for the awareness campaign "Stardust. A shared wish".