Public Philosophy and Outreach
CategoryPhilosophy, Employment, and the Public Good (guest post by Alison Assiter)
“Educating students in philosophy and the humanities is a public good. We need people who think analytically and imaginatively and in unusual ways.” (more…)
The Margins of Philosophy (guest post by Peter Adamson)
“We need to understand the ‘minor figures’ to understand the ‘major figures’ adequately. But that’s not the only reason to be interested in minor figures, or to bring them to the attention of a wider audience. There is also the fact that apparently minor figures are sometimes major figures.” (more…)
An Argument to Move College Students to Follow COVID-19 Guidelines
Though the COVID-19 pandemic is strengthening in parts of the United States, many universities here are planning to reopen their doors in the fall to educate, house, feed, and entertain students. (more…)
The Golden Nuggets of Philosophy
Sophia Stone, a philosopher at Lynn University and the creator of Wisdom’s Edge Foundation, which “promotes critical thinking through philosophical inquiry, guided by a democratic process in communities that do not have access to the university,” could use your assistance. (more…)
Public Philosophy and the Civic Duty of Universities (guest post by Angie Hobbs)
“Like Plato’s Academy, the majority of modern universities should be civic institutions that engage with, learn from, and enhance the well-being of their local communities…. Each philosophy department should contain at least one member engaged in public interaction.” (more…)
Philosophizing Outside of Academia
David Storey (Boston College) interviews people whose work has them doing philosophy outside of traditional academic contexts. (more…)
Popular Philosophy and Populist Philosophy (guest post by Timothy Williamson)
“Philosophy is even harder than it seems; the right response to its difficulty is not to trash all the work already done by thousands of highly gifted and knowledgeable men and women.”
The Philosophy of Popular Philosophy: A Miniseries (guest post by Aaron Wendland)
The following is the first installment of a miniseries on “The Philosophy of Popular Philosophy.” The series is being guest-edited by Aaron James Wendland, assistant professor of philosophy at National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Russia, and philosophy editor at The New Statesman. In the following post, he discusses the relationship bet..
Why Ethicists Advising in Crises Should Take a SEAT (guest post by Per Sandin)
“For academic philosophers, being solution-oriented can be a challenge.”
Philosophy & Public Policy: Lessons from COVID-19 (guest post by James Wilson)
“Ethical advice will not make a difference to practice, unless it is received by the right people at the right time.” (more…)
The Philosophy Museum (guest post by Anna Ichino)
The following is a guest post by Anna Ichino, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Milan. A version of it first appeared at the blog, Imperfect Cognitions. (more…)
Course to Teach University Students to Engage Philosophically with High Schoolers
The University of Pennsylvania is offering a course that will teach undergraduates how to teach philosophy to high school students. (more…)
Free Philosophy Book for Swedish Students
All third-year high school students in Sweden can claim a free copy of Alternative facts: On Knowledge and Its Enemies, by Stockholm University philosophy professor Åsa Wikforss. (more…)
Philosophy of Science Communication: an Introduction & an Interview (guest post)
Philosophy of Science Communication is not just the Philosophy of “Science Communication,” but also the Communication of “Philosophy of Science”. Philosophy of science is not well-known outside of the philosophical discipline. (more…)
Expertise and Public Philosophy
“Call me elitist, if you will. If that means a professional who knows that he knows more than non-professionals, then I’m happy to be an elitist.” (more…)
World Philosophy Day Is November 21
This is just a heads-up that World Philosophy Day this year falls on Thursday, November 21st. (more…)
Philosophical Apps: How To Popularize Philosophy (guest post by Caleb Ontiveros)
The following is a guest post* by Caleb Ontiveros, a former philosophy Ph.D. student who now works as a software engineer. (more…)
2019 Public Philosophy Op-Ed Contest Results
The American Philosophical Association (APA) has announced the winners of its 2019 Public Philosophy Op-Ed Contest.
Publicly Engaged Philosophy: A Dispatch (guest post by Jennifer Morton)
“What I’m suggesting here is… doing philosophy with the public not just because of what we think we can offer with our expertise, but because of what we think the public can offer philosophy.” (more…)
Manifesto for Public Philosophy (guest post by C. Thi Nguyen)
“It’s war, the soul of humanity is at stake, and the discipline that has been in isolation training for 2000 years for this very moment is too busy pointing out tiny errors in each other’s technique to actually join the fight..” (more…)
Philosophers On the Ethics and Politics of Abortion
This year, nine U.S. states have passed legislation that bans early abortions in an attempt to provoke a challenge to the abortion rights protected by the 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision. (more…)
Univ. of Washington Creates Certificate of Mastery in Philosophy for Children
The Center for Philosophy for Children at the University of Washington is now offering a Certificate of Mastery in Philosophy for Children. (more…)
Don’t Roll Your Eyes at the Guy Who Recently “Invented Philosophy”
Philosophers may be forgiven for doing a double take at this headline at The Atlantic: “The New Science of How to Argue—Constructively“. New??? Hello there? Perhaps you’ve heard of… philosophy?
Philosophers Sought For Charming Public Philosophy Project (updated)
In Parenthesis, an initiative directed by philosophers Clare Mac Cumhaill (Durham) and Rachael Wiseman (Liverpool), has teamed up with An Post, the Republic of Ireland’s postal service, to develop a new public philosophy project.
How An Interesting Example of Public Philosophy Happened
This past Sunday’s edition of the Star-Ledger, the leading New Jersey-based newspaper, published five brief proposals to “upgrade democracy” authored by political philosophers and theorists, alongside assessments of their practicality by scholars from Rutgers’ Eagleton Institute of Politics. (more…)
The Variety and Value of Public Philosophy
Readers may recall our discussion last month of the column by Agnes Callard (Chicago) in which she questions whether public philosophy is good. In response, the Executive Committee of the Public Philosophy Network (PPN) has now issued a helpful reply. (more…)
How Is Good Public Philosophy Possible?
“When Aristotle said that the intellectual life is one of serious leisure, I believe he was trying to avoid the Scylla of business and the Charybdis of pleasure. If philosophy offered helpful answers to the questions you were asking anyways, it wouldn’t be leisurely; if it added fun to the life you were living anyways, it wouldn’t be serious.” (more…)
“Philosophy in Plain Arabic” Aims to Bring Philosophy to the Public in the Arabic-Speaking World
Bel Arabi Falsafa (“Philosophy in Plain Arabic”) is a new initiative at the American University in Cairo that aims to “democratize access to philosophy and change popular perceptions of it not just in Egypt, but also in the Arabic-speaking world as a whole.” (more…)