Public Philosophy and Outreach
CategoryThe Dress: A Philosophy Problem Gone Viral (a few updates)
Making the rounds yesterday was the dress. Take a look, and figure out which two colors it is:
Some people see the dress as white and gold, others see it as blue and black. Which do you see it as?
The phenomenon is interesting and fun, and there are explanations of it at Wired (more science-minded), Vox (more philosophical), and elsewhere. Millions of peop..
College Credit Philosophy Courses for High School Students
The Alexis de Tocqueville Project in Law, Liberty, and Morality at the University of New Orleans has been offering free for-credit college philosophy courses to local high school students. It sounds great. Chris Surprenant, assistant professor of philosophy at UNO and director of the Tocqueville Project, shared some information about the course:
The overarching f..
Can We Save Philosophy? (Guest Post by Robert Kirkman) (updated)
The following is a guest post* by Robert Kirkman, associate professor in the School of Public Policy at Georgia Tech and director of its Center for Ethics and Technology, in which he takes up the problem of academic philosophy’s seeming irrelevance to others both inside and outside of academia.
 Can We Save Philosophy?
by Robert Kirkman
I write this from the ..
Stock a High School Library with Philosophy Books
Which philosophy books would you recommend for a high school library? That is the question currently being asked by Hallie Liberto (Connecticut), on behalf of her mom:
My mom is currently choosing books for the philosophy section of the high school library at the Overseas School of Colombo. She wants some recommendations—books that would be particularly good fo..
The Philosophy of Philosophical Institutions
Robert Frodeman and Adam Briggle (both of the University of North Texas) have published an essay, “Socrates Untenured,” at Inside Higher Ed that makes a case for what they call “field philosophy” — a “context-driven, problem-focused, and interdisciplinary” approach. Their hope is that “a new philosophical practice, where philosophers work in real time with a variet..
Famous Philosophy Majors Poster (updated with new link)
Catherine Nolan, a philosophy graduate student at SUNY Buffalo, has created a great poster featuring names and photos of well-known people who majored in philosophy, called “Who Has A Degree In Philosophy?” UPDATE: new link here.
She writes: “Some people commonly found in lists of philosophy majors (e.g. Woody Allen, David Duchovny) aren’t on this poster because ..
Journal of Philosophy in Schools
The inaugural issue of Journal of Philosophy in Schools (JPS) is now online. It is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal, based in Australia, which will appear twice a year. Its aim is “to encourage academic reflection and research into the growing field of philosophy in schools with the intention of making such information widely available through the use of an open..
Harry Shearer and Gillian Anderson Voice Philosophy Series
BBC 4 Radio is releasing a series of animations on assorted philosophical topics as a spin-off of its History of Ideas program. Among those doing the voices for the animations are Gillian Anderson (The X-Files) and Harry Shearer (The Simpsons). The episodes were written by Nigel Warburton, who, among other things, interviews philosophers for Philosophy Bites. From T..
World Philosophy Day Plans
This year’s World Philosophy Day is one month away, on November 20th. From the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) website:
In establishing World Philosophy Day in 2005, the General Conference highlighted the importance of this discipline, especially for young people, underlining that “philosophy is a discipline that encourage..
Philosophical Op-Ed Contest
The American Philosophical Association’s Committee on Public Philosophy is seeking nominations for the best opinion pieces or editorials published by philosophers in 2013.
We will honor up to five standout pieces that successfully blend philosophical argumentation with an op-ed writing style. Winning submissions will call public attention, either directly or indi..
Bioethicists on Ebola
We are now experiencing the tragic consequences of failing to appreciate the need to invest more resources, expertise and support in developing countries, including those where the Ebola outbreak is happening. Such investments would have allowed for health systems in those parts of the world to be better equipped to respond to and minimize the unfolding crisis. For ..
Philosophy on Homelessness
The University of Oregon Department of Philosophy has “Community Philosophy Institutes” on various topics, and one of its current projects is “Homelessness and Home.” Organized by Professor Naomi Zack, who is also teaching a course on the subject, Homelessness and Home aims to “support creative, intellectual, and practical address of the problems of homelessness. Th..