Who Does Public Philosophy?


The American Philosophical Association’s Committee on Public Philosophy is compiling a list of philosophers who have careers doing public philosophy, either exclusively or concurrently with careers in academic philosophy, and can use your help in identifying them.

There are a variety of ways to do public philosophy, so to be more specific, the committee is looking to gather the names of philosophy PhDs (or those substantially along the way towards completing a PhD in philosophy) who meet any one of the following four criteria:

  1. do not work in academia but whose work often involves doing philosophy with or for the public, or promoting philosophy to the public.
  2. have written two or more philosophy essays aimed at non-philosophers which were published in popular non-philosophy periodicals or venues (e.g., websites).
  3. have written at least one philosophy book (or a book with a substantial amount of philosophy in it) largely for a non-philosophically trained audience.
  4. are regularly involved in activities that bring philosophy to the public, including broad promotional activities (e.g., festivals), websites and shows that aim to bring philosophy to a non-philosophical audience, and outreach programs for traditionally philosophically-underserved populations (such as prisoners, the elderly, pre-college students, and the lay community more generally).

Please list people you know of who match any of these descriptions–including yourself. Also include in your comment, if you don’t mind, a description of the work or a link to a description of it. Thank you.

(At some point in the future, the list may be expanded to include philosophers who do not have graduate degrees, but for now, please limit your suggestions to those who do, or who soon will.)

Disclosure: I am a member of the APA’s Committee on Public Philosophy.

 

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Brendan de Kenessey
Brendan de Kenessey
7 years ago

Kieran Setiya’s in-progress book project “Midlife: A Philosophical Guide”
is aimed at a non-academic audience. See http://www.ksetiya.net/.

Ingrid Robeyns
7 years ago

Two questions:

(1) is the search/list limited to philosophers based in the USA (or the Anglophone world), and/or philosophers doing public philosophy in English? (I assume there are philosopher based in the USA or the UK doing public philosophy in another language; and there definitely are philosophers based outside the Anglophone world doing public philosophy in English, e.g. Eric Schliesser, and some of my own public phil contributions. Yet there are also philosophers who definitely qualify as ‘public philosophers’ but do not write that public philosophy in English, e.g. my colleague Rutger Claassen (has written two books in Dutch for a broader audience, and many pieces in newspapers etc.)

(2) Am I right in interpreting blog posts with a philosophical flavour also as public philosophy? That is, with “websites” above you also include blogs? If you include such philosophy bloggers, then the list become very long (e.g. some/much of what is being written by philosophers at e..g Feminist Philosophers or Crooked Timber is also reaching out beyond academia).

Shelley Tremain
Shelley Tremain
7 years ago

Justin,

has your committee approached The Stone about the fact that it has not published work on disability and will not do so?

Shelley Tremain
Shelley Tremain
Reply to  Justin Weinberg
7 years ago

Hmmm. That’s a curious response. Does the committee take some actions or refrain from some actions without the knowledge of some of it members? I can’t imagine the (entire) committee overlooking this sort of state of affairs were it done to work that addresses the situation of any other marginalized group in the profession/any other marginalized identity-based field in the discipline, can you? Suppose the editor of The Stone decided that the column was not the appropriate venue for work in feminist philosophy and feminist philosophers were told to go elsewhere. Would the committee overlook this fact and continue to promote the column? Or how about if philosophy of race were excluded from The Stone and philosophers of race were told to go elsewhere. Would you continue to promote the column on your blog and would some members of your committee continue to write for it? Come to think of it: doesn’t this policy on the part of The Stone violate the APA’s anti-discrimination policy?

Eric J. Silverman
Eric J. Silverman
7 years ago

I assume this is obvious, but just in case it isn’t. Anyone involved in these two book series should qualify based on criteria 2 or 3:

http://www.opencourtbooks.com/categories/pcp.htm

http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-324354.html

jdkbrown
jdkbrown
7 years ago

Peg O’Connor works on (among other things) philosophical issues surrounding addiction. Here’s a link to an abridgement of the introduction to her recent book Life on The Rocks:
http://magazine.wesleyan.edu/2016/04/06/between-the-lines-life-on-the-rocks-finding-meaning-in-addiction-and-recovery/
She has also blogs at Psychology Today and has published several articles in The Stone.

Matt LaVine
Matt LaVine
7 years ago

I’d imagine you’re aware of this, but just in case, the Public Philosophy Network should be able to provide a good number of names (http://publicphilosophynetwork.ning.com/).

Beth
7 years ago

The Forum is a non-profit public philosophy organisation based in the LSE. It’s been running events for over 20 years, and now has a podcast stream and blog too: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/theforum/

Jason Brennan
7 years ago

Jason Brennan does, for better or for worse. For worse, obviously. I mean, here’s his nonsense from just recently

2016 “Epistocracy Defended,” Aeon, September edition.
2016 “Against Democracy,” The National Interest, September edition.
2016, “Can Epistocracy Fix Democracy?,” LA Times, Sunday August 28.
2016 “Politics Makes Us Dumb and Mean,” Emotion Researcher, September edition.
2016 “We Can Blame Old People for Brexit, but We Shouldn’t Take Away Their Votes,” Quartz, July 1.
2016 “The Brexit Vote Has Exposed the Flaws of Referendum Democracy,” Newsweek,
June 25.
2016 “What Brexit Voters Forgot on Their Way to the Polls,” Quartz, June 25. 2016 “Pox Populi,” Chronicle Review. June 19.
2016 “Make Sure Elites and the People Keep Each Other in Check,” Zócalo Public
Square, June 19.

Steven Swartzer
Steven Swartzer
7 years ago

UNC-Chapel Hill’s Philosophy Outreach Program (http://parrcenter.unc.edu/outreach/) leads around 200 community discussions per year for a variety of philosophically-underserved populations. In recent years we have worked extensively with children, high school students, residents in a juvenile detention center, students in a local GED program, and senior citizens. In addition to myself (I am the Outreach Coordinator), we have a large pool of outreach volunteers, and several graduate students participate in outreach work on a frequent basis. Among those who are currently in their 4th+ year of the program (does “substantially along the way toward completing the PhD” include younger graduate students, too?), Kiran Bhardwaj, Joshua Blanchard, Lindsay Brainard, Chris Dorst, Caleb Harrison, and Lauren Townsend are all highly active in this work. Also, among our recent PhDs (in the last two years), Jen Kling (now at Siena Heights University), John Lawless (now at University of Pittsburgh), and Vida Yao (now at Rice) were all regular outreach volunteers.

Tom Morris
Reply to  Steven Swartzer
7 years ago

As a UNC grad (Morhead Cain 74) I’d love to know more about what you do.

Piers Turner
Piers Turner
7 years ago

With colleagues from some other disciplines, Don Hubin and I here at Ohio State have been involved over the last few years in getting an Ohio State Center for Ethics and Human Values up and running. The CEHV aims to connect philosophy with other disciplines needed to solve pressing social issues such as immigration reform and environmental sustainability, and to promote (by example, if possible) informed and constructive democratic deliberation on those issues. Our main program so far is called COMPAS (“Conversations on Morality, Politics, and Society”) — a year-long series on a single topic; this year the topic is “inequality” — but more outreach and educational programs are in the works, thanks to increased funding from our university. For an example of the interdisciplinary nature of the events we are organizing on campus, have a look at our upcoming fall COMPAS conference program: http://cehv.osu.edu/events/fall-compas-conference-1 .

Amitabha Palmer
7 years ago

I’m currently a grad student and public philosophy is my primary career goal.
1. I have a blog directed at the public which is dedicated to applying basic philosophical ideas to current events and explaining fundamental philosophical ideas. http://missiontotransition.blogspot.com/
2. I’m about 1/3 of the way through building a free interactive online critical thinking course. http://criticalthinkingexamples.wikidot.com/system:list-all-pages/p/1

Seamus Bradley
7 years ago

Julian Baggini, Nigel Warburton, and A.C Grayling have all written books on philosophy for a popular audience. All have been professional academics. Some still are, I think.

I don’t know whether any of the following counts, but perhaps at least some of it should.

There are a couple of youtube channels that do stuff on philosophy:

PhilosophyTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/thephilosophytube
Crash Course Philosophy: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8dPuuaLjXtNgK6MZucdYldNkMybYIHKR

I don’t know whether either of these channels are good, I haven’t really watched any of this material.

Then there are people producing podcasts. There’s Peter Adamson’s superb History of Philosophy without any gaps: http://historyofphilosophy.net/

And Myisha Cherry’s UnMute podcast, which is also excellent. http://www.myishacherry.org/the-unmute-podcast/

Logic Prof
Logic Prof
7 years ago

Scott Aikin and Robert Talisse. Their recent book, _Why We Argue (and How We Should)_, is aimed at a non-philosophy audience. I also have my Logic students read a chapter or two at the beginning of each semester to motivate the course material. Aikin and Talisse regularly publish on 3QD as well, which I think counts as public…?

David Livingstone Smith
7 years ago

I do

GS
GS
7 years ago

Is it fair to consider William Craig as a person who does public philosophy? His bajillion debates pertaining to philosophy of religion are attended mostly by general folk.

Bertha Alvarez Manninen
Bertha Alvarez Manninen
7 years ago

I do. Bertha Alvarez Manninen, associate philosophy professor, ASU. Written articles on Huffington Post and Psychology Today. My book on abortion ethics is aimed primarily to a non academic audience: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/university-press/book/9780826519900

Also, Eric Thomas Weber: http://ericthomasweber.org

James Weatherall
7 years ago

Here are some of my colleagues (at UC Irvine) who I think meet the criteria:

Aaron James wrote the book Assholes, which was a NY Times bestseller for a while.

Mark Fiocco has organized a large outreach effort to bring Philosophy into local elementary schools.

Cailin O’Connor has published several articles on game theory and feminist philosophy of science in Slate and Huffington Post.

I have a book (The Physics of Wall Street) on history and methodology in financial modeling, and another (Void) on the concept of “nothing” in physics from the seventeenth century on, both aimed at general audiences and published by trade presses; I have also published articles on philosophy and methodology in physics in newspapers and magazines such as Slate, Popular Science, Boston Globe, and Scientific American.

Perhaps it’s obvious, but there is also Craig Callender at UCSD who has written for Scientific American and has a graphic novel about time.

There may be others who meet the criteria who I am overlooking!

Edouard Machery
7 years ago

Following up on James’s post, philosophers of science have done extensive public philosophy – think of the Dover trial a decade ago, for instance, the sociobiology controversy in the 1980s, etc.

Here is an instance coming from my colleagues in the HPS department at Pitt: Short, easily accessible videos on race, Einstein, and the brain available at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAMdyb5LR0ATvl1NISI-6gQ.

Other videos will be added soon.
I hope the committee will take into account the contributions of philosophy of science.

Dan Hicks
7 years ago

I’m a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow, and (as far as I can tell) the first person with a PhD in philosophy to be a AAAS Policy Fellow since Wendy Parker (who worked as a Congressional staffer in 2004-05, if I remember right). AAAS Policy Fellows are hosted by offices in the US federal government; for the past year I’ve been at the Environmental Protection Agency, and starting next week I’ll spend a year at the National Science Foundation. Most of my work isn’t intended for a general audience, but does engage philosophically with government scientists and regulators. I’ve also done some public talks and podcasts that are intended for a general audience.

Jane Maienschein (ASU), Carl Cranor (UC Riverside), Kristin Shrader-Frechette (Notre Dame), and Hugh Lacey (Swarthmore, emeritus) have all been involved in public policy throughout their careers. Janet Stemwedel (San Jose State) has been blogging and writing public essays for a decade or more, and actually got her blogging to count in her tenure dossier. The Kennedy Institute at Georgetown played a major role in developing institutional bioethics, and its contemporary members (including Rebecca Kukla and Maggie Little) are actively involved in various policy- and general public-facing activities. A number of people at Michigan State have been extremely active public philosophers, including Kyle Whyte, Kristie Dotson, Paul Thompson, Sean Valles, and Kevin Elliott.

Speaking of Jane and Janet, I’d recommend that the APA Committee get in touch with the Joint Caucus for Socially Engaged History and Philosophy of Science [JCSEHPS], which is affiliated with PSA; and the Consortium for Socially Relevant Philosophy of/in Science and Engineering [SRPoiSE]. Many members of both of those groups would count as public philosophers by several of the four criteria.

Madeleine
Madeleine
7 years ago

Carrie Ichikawa Jenkins does both kinds of philosophy, and just won the APA Op Ed contest. Her book on the philosophy of love is out soon – http://www.carriejenkins.net/what-love-is-and-what-it-could-be/ (also for links to other media engagement) – and though I haven’t read it yet I believe it is geared to a broad audience.

sk
sk
7 years ago

David Rodin and other philosophers have established a consultancy for organizational ethics
http://www.principia-advisory.com/

http://www.principia-advisory.com/team.html

Nick Riggle
7 years ago

I do. My forthcoming book on awesomeness and suckiness is keyed for the general public. It’s coming out with Penguin Books, fall 2017. There’s a little road test of the ideas in Aeon: https://aeon.co/essays/how-being-awesome-became-the-great-imperative-of-our-time

Patrick Lin
7 years ago

I may already be on the list, since I won an APA Op-Ed award last year (on robot-car ethics). In technology ethics and policy, I do a lot of media writing, as well as work with US and foreign governments and industry. Here’s my biosketch page: http://philosophy.calpoly.edu/faculty/patrick-lin

Gregg Caruso
7 years ago

I do some public philosophy.

Michael Burroughs
Michael Burroughs
7 years ago

Jana Mohr Lone and Michael Burroughs:

https://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Education-Questioning-Dialogue-Schools/dp/1442234784/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472690704&sr=8-1&keywords=Mohr+Lone

https://www.amazon.com/Philosophical-Child-Jana-Mohr-Lone/dp/1442217332/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1472690704&sr=8-2&keywords=Mohr+Lone

In addition, there are many professional philosophers involved in the Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization, a national non-profit organization that supports philosophy in K-12 schools. See: http://www.plato-philosophy.org. I currently serve as PLATO Vice President and Tom Wartenberg is President.

Carol Hay
7 years ago

I do. I’ve rounded up most of my public stuff here: https://sites.google.com/site/carolhay/public-philosophy

So does my partner, John Kaag. In addition to a whole bunch of op-eds, his forthcoming book, _American Philosophy: A Love Story_ is pitched at a trade audience: https://www.amazon.com/American-Philosophy-Story-John-Kaag/dp/0374154481/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472692294&sr=8-1&keywords=john+kaag

Travis Rieder
Travis Rieder
7 years ago

I do. I’ve written for and done interviews for a bunch of Internet and radio outlets, including NPR, Wired, The Conversation, Huffington Post, and The Adaptors podcast.

Ethan Mills
7 years ago

I’ve contributed chapters to Open Court’s Philosophy and Popular Culture volumes on Stephen Colbert, Philip K. Dick, and Louis C. K. I also maintain a blog aimed at a popular audience called Examined Worlds: Philosophy and Science Fiction (http://examinedworlds.blogspot.com).

Michael Cholbi
Michael Cholbi
7 years ago

Me – I’ve contributed to work on philosophy and pop culture, have a blog at Psychology Today, and am a former member of the APA committee on public philosophy.

(A side note: During my time on that committee, I was struck by the wide variations in views regarding what makes philosophical work ‘public’. Given the rather broad four conditions described in the OP, doesn’t almost every philosopher do public philosophy?)

Raf
Raf
7 years ago

Roger Scruton (for example, his book I Drink Therefore I am; many media appearances).

Kristopher Phillips
Kristopher Phillips
7 years ago

I do. I’ve contributed to pop culture & Philo as well as the Philo for everyone series. In addition I co-founded the Iowa Lyceum (with Dr. Greg Stoutenburg–Idaho) and the Utah Lyceum (with Prof. Kirk Fitzpatrick–SUU). I also serve on the APA’s CPIP.

Utah Lyceum: https://sites.google.com/site/utahlyceum/home

Iowa Lyceum:
https://sites.google.com/site/lyceumiowa/home

R
R
7 years ago

I suggest that the following meet at least one of the criteria, and should therefore be included on the list:

1) Charlene Elsby;
2) Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray;
3) Rob Luzecky.

All have published numerous chapters elaborating on the the value and relevance of certain philosophical concepts through the non-canonical, non-specialist lens of pop culture. The fundamental aim of their
body of work is to introduce philosophical concepts to a lay community.

Bryan Frances
7 years ago

I do. I have six articles either published or forthcoming in *Think*, which is a philosophy journal for the public:

“Why Afterimages are Metaphysically Mysterious”, forthcoming in Think.
​”Why the Vagueness Paradox is Amazing”, forthcoming in Think.
“Justifying a Large Part of Philosophy”, forthcoming in Think.
“The Atheistic Argument from Outrageousness”, forthcoming in Think.
“The Irrationality of Religious Belief”, Think, 15 (2016), 15-33.
“The Rationality of Religious Belief”, Think, 14 (2015), 109-117.

I also have four book manuscripts for a general audience–but I have yet to decide on how to publish them! Here they are:

An Agnostic Defends God
Greatest Mysteries: Meaning, Truth, Knowledge
Greatest Mysteries: Mind, Matter, God
Top Ten Challenges for Science and Philosophy

Maria Sanders
7 years ago

Maria Sanders , an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire, is an Applied Ethicist whose career focus has been on public philosophy. She completely revised the bachelors degree at PSU two years ago, adding 18 new courses and an applied ethics niche. Students participate in community events and activities both on and off campus as a regular part of their education. She hosts a radio program entitled “Philosophy 4 Life” and will be leading a Happiness Quest in the town of Plymouth which will include a television show on the local cable station. More about her work can be found at philosophy4life.com .

Gregg D. Caruso
7 years ago

No particular order, but here are a few that immediately come to mind:
Massimo Pigliucci
Jesse Prinz
Martha Nussbaum
Susan Blackmore
Dan Dennet
Patrica Churchland
Neil Levy
Robert Talisse and Scott Aikin
Julian Baggini
Nigel Warburton
Jason Stanley
Kenneth Taylor
A.C Grayling
Gregg Caruso (Me)
Eddy Nahmias
Al Mele
Lynn Tirrell
Stephen Law
Kate Manne
Galen Strawson
Luciano Floridi
Ray Monk
Peter Singer
David Papineau
Carrie Jenkins
Lisa Bortolotti
Julian Savulescu
Barry C. Smith
David Chalmers
Alva Noe
Angie Hobbs
Kwame Anthony Appiah
Brit Brogaard
Nicole Vincent
Tamler Sommers
Leigh M. Johnson
And many more that I will kick myself for forgetting….

Tim O'Keefe
7 years ago

Socrates

Tom Morris
7 years ago

After a university career of 15 years, I’ve been doing public philosophy exclusively for 21 years. See more at http://www.TomVMorris.com. It’s great fun and very gratifying. PhD Yale.

Nathaniel Goldberg
7 years ago

I do public philosophy:
1. One chapter in Batman, Superman, and Philosophy (Open Court, 2016)
2. One chapter in X-Files and Philosophy (Open Court, forthcoming)
3. One chapter in Wonder Woman and Philosophy (Wiley, forthcoming)
4. One book manuscript, With Great Power: How Superhero Comics Channel and Challenge Philosophy (under review)
(Details here: home.wlu.edu/~goldbergn)

Nathan Nobis
7 years ago

I’ve been wondering this about public philosophy. On the “supply” side, it’s called Public Philosophy. Has anyone though tried to figure out what the “demand” side might call it? I.e., for people who are seeking public philosophy, how do they seek it? I doubt they go out looking for something called “Public Philosophy”! So how do they seek what we hope they will find, or do we just put stuff out there and hope it is found, even though people aren’t really looking for it?
https://www.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=public%20philosophy

Patrick Lin
7 years ago

Hi, Nathan — good question. They most certainly do not call it “public philosophy” outside the discipline. In ethics at least, ethics is sometimes subsumed under “law and policy” or “societal impact”; but it’s hardly ever called “philosophy” unless it’s an academic meeting. “Philosophy” is not a selling point but a negative indicator for many, i.e., “ethicist” is more credible than “philosopher”…

Patrick Lin
7 years ago

Oh, and “responsibility” and “values” are also codespeak for applied ethics, outside of philosophy.

Rachel McKinney
Rachel McKinney
7 years ago

Ian Olasov (CUNY Graduate Center) runs Brooklyn Public Philosophers: http://bkpp.tumblr.com/

Ajay Chaudhary (Columbia) runs the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research: https://thebrooklyninstitute.com/bisr_faculty/ajay-singh-chaudhary/

Hrishikesh Joshi
Hrishikesh Joshi
7 years ago

I do public philosophy. My focus is on the ethics of public policy.

I have written for numerous outlets including: Inside Higher Ed, The Hill, The Diplomat, Counterpunch, and Aeon (forthcoming).

Currently, I’m a Postgraduate Research Fellow in philosophy at Princeton.

Hey Nonny Mouse
Hey Nonny Mouse
7 years ago

It isn’t clear whether the books that bring philosophy to non-professionals by relating philosophical issues to popular culture fall under headings 1-4. If they don’t, we need new headings. The Committee on Public Philosophy, a splendid group that deserves our support, has an unfortunate history of overlooking such work, despite the popularity and success of these series from multiple publishers (Blackwell, Open Court, Rowman and Littlefield, and more). There are too many authors I would like to mention, so let me give a shout-out of praise to some of the editors who have been so successful in bringing philosophy to a mass audience. With apologies to the many I’m overlooking, a round of applaud for:

William Irwin (who kicked the who genre off).
Robert Arp
Kevin Decker
George A. Dunn
Jason T. Eberl
Richard Greene
Jacob M. Held
Courtland Lewis
Nicolas Michaud
Rachel Robison

Hey Nonny Mouse
Hey Nonny Mouse
Reply to  Hey Nonny Mouse
7 years ago

Typo. I meant that William Irwin kicked off the “whole genre” not the “who genre”. The “Who” genre, of course, was kicked off by Pete Townshend.

Ryan Jenkins
7 years ago

You can include me — I have done some public-facing work on emerging ethics, but nowhere near as much as my colleague Pat Lin, mentioned above. My interests include autonomous vehicles and autonomous weapons, cyber war, military ethics, and the ethics of algorithms and AI. You should also include my other colleague, Keith Abney, who does much of the same, plus space ethics and bioethics.

Lynne Tirrell
Lynne Tirrell
7 years ago

HI, I’m that chair of the APA Committee on Public Philosophy. I have just read over all these wonderful posts and am inspired to see so many names, so many kinds of projects, and such good will toward publicly engaged philosophy. We all know that this is not an exhaustive list. We aren’t really trying to be gatekeepers, just trying to get a sense of what’s happening in philosophy beyond the circles we each know. The categories above were spurred by an administrative question we were asked, but the APA Committee on Public Philosophy doesn’t take the position that those 4 categories are the be-all and end-all of who does public philosophy or what counts as doing it. We are aware that there are many people contributing to the growth of philosophy without having gotten a Ph.D. This was just a start. Also, please be aware that the committee gains and loses 1/3 of its members every year, so it is a group with changing views over time. This is healthy and keeps us vital. And although there is an easy connection between ethics and politics to policy issues, we will not forget the philosophers of science, epistemology, and more. Thanks for this helpful start to our developing a better picture of the work being done.

Edward Butler
7 years ago

I believe that I fit your criteria for a “public philosopher”, as that is what I have set out to be since receiving my Ph.D. in Philosophy twelve years ago. Since then I have been publishing in academic journals and edited volumes and giving papers at conferences, on the one hand, while on the other hand being engaged in outreach to a public of non-specialists interested in the specific philosophical issues I deal with, through a number of venues, including my two-year old monthly column Noēseis on Polytheist.com, the independent academic journal of which I am a co-editor and frequent contributor, Walking the Worlds. Information about all aspects of my work is available from my personal website: https://henadology.wordpress.com/

Simon Caney
7 years ago

I have engaged with politicians, policy advisers, trade unions, civil servants, think tanks, international institutions, NGOs and the general public on a number of ethical issues – in particular the ethical dimensions of climate change. This has involved speaking at events and also writing reports for different organizations. I have written commissioned reports for: (i) the World Bank on ‘Ethics and Climate Change’ (for its 2010 World Development Report); (ii) Oxfam America on the issues of justice surrounding the stranding of fossil fuel reserves; (iii) ‘the Mary Robinson Foundation: Climate Justice’ on intergenerational justice and the international negotiations on climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals; and, (iv) the ‘International Council on Human Rights Policy’ on human rights and access to clean technology in the context of climate change. I was also a member of the working party that produced the Nuffield Council on Bioethics report on ‘Biofuels: Ethical issues’ (2011).

Som more information is available at: http://simoncaney.weebly.com/public-engagement.html

Samuel Douglas
7 years ago

Apart from the many good suggestions do far, I’d add Russell Blackford: http://www.russellblackford.com/

Yana Canteloupe
Yana Canteloupe
7 years ago

Professorial Fellow and Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities member, Raimond Gaita: http://law.unimelb.edu.au/about/staff/raimond-gaita

Joshua Miller
7 years ago

Myisha Cherry
Kate Manne
Peter Levine (not in philosophy, at Tufts, but has a Philosophy PhD)
James Stanescu
Leigh Johnson
Chris Lebron
Tamsin Shaw
David Lonvongston Smith
Joseph Trullinger
Hasana Sharp
Rebecca Kukla
Utz McKnight
Lisa Guenther
Lori Gruen

Joshua Miller
Reply to  Joshua Miller
7 years ago

Apologies for the typo:
David Livingston Smith

Sara L. Uckelman
7 years ago

Gregory Sadler has a popular philosophy youtube channel and gives lectures on philosophy and fiction at his local public library.

Jeff Sebo
7 years ago

I work with several nonprofits that engage with the public. For example, I sit on the Board of Directors of Animal Charity Evaluators, the Board of Directors of Minding Animals International, and the Executive Committee of the Animals & Society Institute. I also write and speak for public audiences, e.g. my upcoming book Food, Animals, and the Environment (co-authored with Christopher Schlottmann) is meant for a public audience. And much of my work at the Parr Center for Ethics at UNC-Chapel Hill involves organizing public events and helping with the National High School Ethics Bowl.

Matt LaVine
Matt LaVine
7 years ago

I do some public philosophy as well. I’ve done some publishing which encourages other philosophers to engage in more public philosophizing: “The Relevance of Analytic Philosophy to Personal, Public, and Democratic Life” (Essays in Philosophy) http://commons.pacificu.edu/eip/vol15/iss1/10/ and “Prior’s Thank-Goodness Argument Reconsidered” (Synthese) http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-015-0904-0 . I also work with a number of groups committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice. Part of that has involved giving talks like the following (where I try to use some Gricean analysis to say why we should way prefer “Black Lives Matter” over “all lives matter”): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3NwQR0GwdI .

Benjamin Hippen
Benjamin Hippen
7 years ago

I do public philosophy. I’m a transplant nephrologist in private practice, with a BA in philosophy (Rice U., Trinity College, Cambridge). I write and speak on topics such as organ procurement and organ allocation policy, the definition(s) of death, ethical issues in living donation, and debates about property rights in organs.

If any readers DailyNous have students interested in the health professions, I’m happy to share my personal experience (and considered view) that studying philosophy is excellent preparation for pursuing a rewarding clinical career.

Academia page: https://independent.academia.edu/BenjaminHippen

Tamler Sommers
Tamler Sommers
7 years ago

I’ve done a bunch of public philosophy pieces in media and print. The first edition of my book A Very Bad Wizard: Morality Behind the Curtain was published with McSweeney’s Press. (The 2nd edition, just released, is with Routledge.) The book is a collection of accessible interviews with philosophers and scientists. Both editions are geared toward both philosophical and lay audiences.

I do a podcast with a psychologist Dave Pizarro on topics in moral psychology called Very Bad Wizards. The majority of our listeners are come from non-philosophical backgrounds. I gave a Tedx talk on moral persuasion, and published a bunch of pieces with the TLS, Philosophers Magazine, and The Believer. I’m also slated to give a couple lectures for just released former prisoners. I love to do all of this stuff, easily one of the most rewarding parts of this job.

Jona Vance
Jona Vance
7 years ago

I’ve recently become the director of Philosophy in the Public Interest (PPI) at Northern Arizona University (http://www.nau.edu/ppi/). PPI’s central mission is to bring together community members with academic philosophers to create forums for philosophical discussion and reflection. PPI won the APA and Philosophy Documentation Center award for Excellence and Innovation in Philosophy Programming in 2013 under the previous director Andrea Houchard.

Jean Kazez
Jean Kazez
7 years ago

I’ve done a bunch of public philosophy. I’ve published three books designed to be of interest to philosophers but also accessible to the public. They are about well-being, animal ethics, and parenthood (more info is here: http://kazez.blogspot.com). I am reviews editor, a columnist, and a contributor to The Philosophers’ Magazine. That’s a place where a very wide spectrum of philosophers have done some public philosophy over the last 10+ years–not just people who see themselves as public philosophers. I’ve also published philosophical articles in some other magazines, like Philosophy Now and and Free Inquiry.

Noelle McAfee
7 years ago

Many of us, myself included, and many above, who have been involved in the Public Philosophy Network. Here’s a link to the program from our last conference that was hosted by Ron Sundstrom, who certainly belongs on this list: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vM2b8U-Z7z-vokPfaCaEs8xB7wC5_SSNVYfpjDZHg0Y/edit

My main public philosophy work is editing the Kettering Review for the Kettering Foundation on political thought aimed at an educated but general audience. https://www.kettering.org/library/periodicals/kettering-review

I also blog at gonepublic.net.

Thom Brooks
7 years ago

I’d like to add my name to the long list of colleagues doing public philosophy. My PhD is in Philosophy, but I’m now Head of Durham University’s Law School. I’ve advised the Labour Party on its 2015 general election manifesto and quoted by the Electoral Commission justifying the recommended changed wording for Britain’s referendum on EU membership accepted by the government. My work has been debated in Parliament, I’ve written over 100 columns for newspapers and magazines like the Daily Telegraph, Sunday Express, Fabian Review, New Statesman, International Business Times and many others with over 100 tv and radio interviews over the last year on ABC News 24, BBC News, CNN, ITV News, Sky News, Al Jazeera, France 24 and others. My latest book, ‘Becoming British’, is published by leading current affairs commercial publisher Biteback Publishing — clips, links, etc. are on my website: http://www.thombrooks.info/ And for what it’s worth – as a dual US & UK national originally from New Haven – I’ve been an APA member since I was a graduate student.

Yao Lin
7 years ago

I do public philosophy (and political commentary), but mostly in Chinese: http://blog.sina.com.cn/linsantu

sfm
sfm
7 years ago

From skimming the list, I didn’t see:
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (Duke), who has written several books aimed at a non-academic audience (e.g., Morality without God).
Felipe De Brigard (also Duke) regularly writes columns for Scientific American.
Barry Lam (Vassar) is currently working on a podcast series to present traditional philosophical questions in exciting, relevant ways.
Greg Beabout (Saint Louis) regularly teaches philosophy courses in the Missouri prison system.

Patrick Lin
7 years ago

Happy to see so many public philosophers! But as this list grows and I think about it more, just about every colleague I have at Cal Poly’s philosophy department has done some outreach to the broader public, outside of teaching duties. And the same seems to be true of other departments I know. Maybe not to some stipulated standard, e.g., published 2+ articles aimed at non-philosophers, but they are definitely interested and would if they could.

So, putting aside practical issues, maybe it’d be a shorter list of philosophers who do *not* engage or want to engage with the public or non-philosophy audiences? I suspect every philosophers believe that the discipline is important, not just for its own sake but also to real life; so it wouldn’t be unusual for philosophers to want to connect those dots every now and then, esp. as the connection seems to be largely missing.

Even Plato didn’t retreat into a corner away from the outside world, as he said good philosophers do:

“Those who belong to this small class have tasted how sweet and blessed a possession philosophy is, and have also seen enough of the madness of the multitude; and they know that no politician is honest, nor is there any champion of justice at whose side they may fight and be saved. Such an one may be compared to a man who has fallen among wild beasts –he will not join in the wickedness of his fellows, but neither is he able singly to resist all their fierce natures, and therefore seeing that he would be of no use to the State or to his friends, and reflecting that he would have to throw away his life without doing any good either to himself or others, he holds his peace, and goes his own way. He is like one who, in the storm of dust and sleet which the driving wind hurries along, retires under the shelter of a wall; and seeing the rest of mankind full of wickedness, he is content, if only he can live his own life and be pure from evil or unrighteousness, and depart in peace and good-will, with bright hopes” (The Republic, book 6).

Helen De Cruz
Helen De Cruz
7 years ago

I’ve done some public philosophy (e.g., interviews such as my philosophers who are religious series, blogs, newspaper articles, radio interviews, a competition for philosophical SF).
I’d also like to mention
– Eric Schwitzgebel
– Marcus Arvan
– Jennifer Saul
– Regina Rini
– Rebecca Roache
– Nick Bostrom
… lots of philosophers engage in public philosophy!

SK
SK
7 years ago

I’m not sure if this counts:

https://sites.google.com/site/streetphilosoph/

David Koepsell
7 years ago

I\ve done a bit, 2009 Who Owns You (Wiley) (2d ed., 2015) argued for what the Supreme Court finally did in overturning gene patents and was for a general audience. I’ve published op=eds as well, and done a fair amount of Pop Culture and hilosophy works as well: http://davidkoepsell.com

Lisa Warenski
7 years ago

Joe Biehl (PhD CUNY) runs the Gotham Philosophical Society, an organization dedicated to promoting philosophical dialogue about matters of interest to residents of New York City. Here is the website address for GPS: http://gothamphilosophicalsociety.org/

Adam Hodgkin
Adam Hodgkin
7 years ago

I have a book forthcoming with University of Chicago Press.
Following Searle on Twitter: How words create digital institutions
http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/F/bo25370730.html
I am reviewing the proofs and preparing the index now, so it should be out in Feb 2017. The book, as the title suggests, applies Searle’s theory (especially as set out in Making the Social World) to Twitter, in a systematic way, but it also situates this theory in a naturalistic, evolutionary context by reference especially to Michael Tomasello’s work. If the argument of my book is plausible there is scope for a lot more work on the collective intentionality of digital institutions. Google and Uber have more need of philosophers than they know!

Teri
Teri
7 years ago

Jack Russell Weinstein from North Dakota has been doing the Why Radio podcast for nine years and did a guest post on this blog, among many other things

Andrew D. Chapman
Andrew D. Chapman
7 years ago

I do public philosophy via my editorial work w/ 1000-Word Philosophy, as do all of the individual authors at 1000-WP.

Andrew Eshleman
Andrew Eshleman
7 years ago

I’m excited about the recent proliferation of more public forms of philosophy. In addition to the lovely increase in publications and blogging, I’d love to see more live interactive modes. I’ve found this very rewarding over the years and groups seem very appreciative. Most often, this has taken the form of sessions at local churches. Many church folk are eager to interact with a philosopher on questions about religion(s), ethics, and meaning. I’ve also done a similar thing at a senior center, and I’ve given sessions that serve to provide ongoing educational credit for journalists and several kinds of healthcare workers.

Laura D'Olimpio
Laura D'Olimpio
7 years ago

I do! Here are some links to philosophers engaged in public philosophy:

Academic philosophers writing for Cogito philosophy blog for The Conversation:
https://theconversation.com/columns/cogito-377

Philosophers on Twitter (does this count as adding to the public debate? Many of these are also involved in public philosophy as well):
http://truesciphi.org/phi.html

I’m sure you already have listed the Philosophers writing for New Philosopher and Womankind magazines, as well as Philosophy Now.

Philosophy in Schools Philosophers: Australia, New Zealand and Singapore: http://fapsa.org.au/about-fapsa/fapsa-council/
Europe: http://www.sophianetwork.eu/board-members/
(I see someone has already added the link to PLATO)
The Philosophy Foundation in London, UK: https://www.philosophy-foundation.org/about-the-people
The Ethics Centre in Sydney, Australia: http://www.ethics.org.au/about/our-people
Radio National Philosopher’s Zone guests: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/philosopherszone/

Zoran Kojcic
Zoran Kojcic
7 years ago

Hello, you can consider adding me to your list. I have MA’s in philosophy and Croatian literature and I teach ethics in high schools. I am a PhD student in philosophy in Bulgaria and for 5 years I organize Philosophical Cafes, philosophical walks, philosophical wine events across Croatia and Serbia. I have worked on many EU and local government funded projects on democracy, ethics and philosophy in public life and have been involved with Philosophical Practice movement, offering individual philosophical counselling and workshops for civil society asociations. I’ve published a short piece for Philosophy and Pop Culture Series, “Red Dwarf and the Gift of Life”; and also have published several articles in popular magazines in Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia (all in Croatian language), dealing with questioning academic philosophy and promoting methods of philosophical practice. I am now working on a project Philosophy in the city, which aims in connecting several cities in Croatia with monthly public philosophical events, such as Philosophical Cafes, walks, workshops and counselling. My PhD thesis will also deal with socratic dialogue and philosophical counselling with emphasis on investigating personal relationship toward death.
In 2013 I organized a project of Philosophy for Elders, which lasted for 4 months. I am a member of Petit Philosophy Association, which is the ground organization for Philosophy for children in the region. I have participated in several seminars in philosophical practice and organized Philosophical weekends in Croatia, which are going international in 2017. Also, every year I organize different events for World Philosophy Day in November, which were included in UNESCO’s list of events for the occasion. It is possible that I forgot to mention some activities, but I do hope these would be enough to enter the list.

Philosophy Tube
7 years ago

Hi – I’m Olly, I run the YouTube channel “Philosophy Tube,” which has a global audience of about 86,000 (and growing). I got my MA in Philosophy from the University of St Andrews and when the government decided to triple tuition fees, I decided to give away my degree for free online. So I make 5-10 minute videos about various topics in philosophy. I also teach on Twitter under #TheoryTime.
Here’s a link to the show: https://www.youtube.com/c/thephilosophytube

Amy Leask
7 years ago

Great to hear about so many individuals and organizations working to bring philosophy to as many minds as possible.

I run a media company that produces fun, interactive, multiplatform philosophy materials for children, their parents and their teachers. Our goal is to create space for discussion and critical thought in a way that feels like play.

Public Philosopher
Public Philosopher
7 years ago

I’m curious as to why the APA committee wants to round up these names. To me, it seems like an attempt to bring public philosophers into its fold, which I view with much suspicion. Also, from the comments here, there is much confusion about what constitutes public philosophy. I believe that writing a blog or giving a random public lecture or running a public discussion here and there does not a public philosopher make. I also believe that holding an academic position pretty much disqualifies you (because your focus cannot be in two places or modes of doing philosophy at the same time). It’s a delicate moment for those of us who are doing public philosophy, and being assimilated into a wing of an APA committee should be rejected. Academic philosophy and its institutions (like the APA) have been gatekeeping for an exclusionary tradition for far too long and they are no longer relevant – they just don’t know it yet. Carry on and do the work of philosophy, public philosophers. Ignore this call. My two cents.
P.S. Olly, thanks for your videos, which I totally enjoy!

Rebecca Kukla
Rebecca Kukla
7 years ago

I’d like to be on this list. I have been interviewed on philosophical issues by NPR, CBC, and multiple newspapers. I’ve been in a documentary about miscarriage, talking about philosophical issues around loss, pregnancy, death, etc. I’ve written for various non-academic blogs and newspapers. I also regularly teach philosophy at community events and in prisons. My main ‘public’ topics tend to be issues in reproduction and parenting, gender in the profession, philosophy of technology, and some speech act theory (‘what is a promise?’ and that sort of thing. Thanks!!
Rebecca Kukla

BryanVanNorden
7 years ago

I’d second the inclusion of Eric Schwitzgebel, UC Riverside, who has published a number of excellent works about philosophy intended for the general public, including:

“Like the Oscars, #PhilosophySoWhite” (with Myisha Cherry) — Los Angeles Times, Mar. 6, 2016.
“Will Your Driverless Car Kill You So That Others May Live?” — Los Angeles Times, Dec. 6, 2015.
“We Have Greater Moral Obligations to Robots Than to Humans” — Aeon Opinions, Nov. 12, 2015.
“What’s Missing in College Philosophy Classes? Chinese Philosophers” — Los Angeles Times, Sep. 13, 2015.
“Philosophy Via Facebook? Why Not?” — Los Angeles Times, Jul. 17, 2015.

sandcrab
sandcrab
7 years ago

Jim Holt, author of “Stop Me If You’ve Heard This: A History and Philosophy of Jokes” and “Why Does the World Exist?: An Existential Detective Story”

and

Simon Critchely, editor of The Stone and author of introductory books on all sorts of philosophy

Soazig Le Bihan
7 years ago

I have been on a local radio talk show monthly since January 2015. I set up a debate with one of my colleagues. I have discussed:
– Science and Atheism
– Veganism
– The value of the environment
– Free Speech
– Sex work
– Engaged ethics courses
– Death Penalty
– Racism

Teresa Moss (PhD Candidate)
Teresa Moss (PhD Candidate)
6 years ago

I currently am writing my dissertation entitled “Resurrecting the Agora: The Role of Riversphere Community Action Centers in the Creation of a New Urban Water Narrative and the Revolution of Urban Water Policies. My dissertation focuses on bridging the gap between technological/engineering and philosophical perspectives of water through the facilitation of a broadened cultural imagination of urban water by addressing water policy, planning, supply, and management from a community-based and non-hegemonic decision-making approach. My dissertation provides pragmatic suggestions on how urban water issues can cultivate a 21st century consciousness of water through active community engagement.

Danielle Lake
5 years ago

Danielle lake: public philosophic engagement on “Wicked Problems” (Asst. Professor of Liberal Studies, Grand Valley State University)

https://works.bepress.com/danielle_lake/

Jennifer Hancock
5 years ago

Dan Fincke – he teaches philosophy online to non-philosophers. http://danielfincke.com/

Samantha Noll
5 years ago

Samantha Noll: Genomics Technology, Animal Ethics, and Agricultural Philosophy.

I’m the bioethicist involved with the Genomics Initiative at Washington State University, where I work closely with scientists using Crispr technology to address issues in animal agricultural and medicine. I also discuss animal welfare and ethics with pork producers, farmers, and agricultural scientists.

Sharyn Clough
5 years ago

I have been doing public philosophy through my lab (Phronesis Lab) most recently in the form of curricular outreach to my local School district to include material on peace as a skill set or phronesis -“peace literacy.”
I built this website to promote the project:
http://www.peaceliteracy.org , through which I have also connected with school districts across the country and Canada.
The Peace Literacy project is the brainchild of another public philosopher with whom I’ve been working for the last year: Paul K Chappell, a West Point grad and veteran of the war in Iraq. He has authored 6 books for the public on peace, violence, and the human condition, most recently “Soldiers of Peace” (2017). His site is http://paulkchappell.com
Thanks for doing this!