public philosophy
TagSurprise: There’s Philosophy About That
If you ask a person on the street what philosophy is about, that person may respond with… (more…)
Concerns about Institutional Credit for Public Philosophy
When it comes to professional advancement, such as tenure and promotion, more and more philosophy departments are giving faculty credit for public philosophy—usually as service, but sometimes, depending on its form, as research or teaching. Does this institutionalizing of public philosophy come with problems? (more…)
Building A Better “Which Philosopher Are You Most Similar To?” Quiz
There are various silly little quizzes across the internet claiming to be able to tell you which famous philosopher you most agree with, but as far as I know, philosophy does not have something like Chris Said’s “Which Famous Economist Are You Most Similar To?” (more…)
How Should Philosophers Talk to Journalists?
“Whenever a journalist interviews me about whether a certain practice is morally right or wrong I always feel like I disappoint…” (more…)
Midgley on Dummett & Strawson on Closing Philosophy Departments
He told me flatly that it was wrong in principle to try to preserve all these provincial academic departments. Philosophy, he said, was a serious and highly technical subject which should only be studied at its own proper level. Any less professional approaches to it were useless and might even do harm. (more…)
Philosophers On Space Exploration
Last week, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) landed its rover, Perserverance, on Mars. It is the latest in a series of human efforts now spanning six decades to physically explore and travel to parts of the the universe beyond our terrestrial home. Scientific and engineering matters tend to dominate public discussion of these efforts, yet..
How Should Departments Credit Faculty for Public Philosophy?
The Department of Philosophy at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), will be considering a proposal about how to recognize the work its faculty do in public philosophy. (more…)
Scottish Newspaper: Philosophy is a “Vaccine” Against Future Trumps
The Scotsman, one of Scotland’s leading newspapers, called for a greater emphasis on philosophy in education, saying “we need to vaccinate ourselves against the virulent lies of people like Trump and the best way to do that is to teach the wisdom of Socrates and co to our children.” (more…)
Support Philosophical Outreach to Those Who Lack Access to Universities
Over the summer, Sophia Stone (Lynn University), creator of Wisdom’s Edge Foundation, asked for help collecting short philosophical sayings–the “golden nuggets” of philosophy. (more…)
New Ethics Blog
Public Ethics is a new philosophy blog providing “expert analysis of ethical issues in the news.” (more…)
On Norms for Public Philosophy
In a recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Anastasia Berg, assistant professor of philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an editor at the ideas magazine The Point, lays out what she thinks good public philosophy will do. (more…)
A Call for Public Philosophy Posts at PEA Soup
PEA Soup—the long-running, excellent “philosophy, ethics, academia” group blog—will be publishing more public philosophy and is looking for contributors. (more…)
A Big List of Philosophy Podcasts (updated)
How many philosophy podcasts are there? (more…)
New Philosophy Podcasts
A couple of new philosophy podcasts have started up recently. (more…)
Philosophy for All Ages for World Philosophy Day (guest post by Emma Worley)
World Philosophy Day is coming up this Thursday. In this guest post*, Emma Worley co-founder and co-CEO of The Philosophy Foundation, shares her organization’s plans to bring philosophy to the public that day. (more…)
Philosophers On the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election
Joseph Biden has defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 U.S. Presidential election. Trump’s 2016 victory was shocking to many, and his administration has been a remarkably continuous assault on normal expectations for presidential leadership, competence, responsibility, and humanity. (more…)
What the Public Thinks of Philosophy and Other Humanities Fields
A new report from Humanities Indicators (a part of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences), based on a survey of over 5,000 U.S. adults, reveals and discusses various beliefs and attitudes the American public has towards the humanities, and includes information specifically about the public’s perception of and engagement with philosophy. (more…)
We Still Have Work To Do
Joseph Biden has defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. (more…)
Coffee Company Donates 20% of Profits to Philosophy Education
A new roaster and seller of coffee beans, A Posteriori Coffee Co., donates 20% of its profits to support philosophy programs for children in kindergarten through high school and to organizations that provide philosophical resources to the public. (more…)
Program to Bring Ethics Bowl to Under-Resourced High Schools
The University of North Carolina’s Parr Center for Ethics has created a new “bridge” program to bring the center’s National High School Ethics Bowl (NHSEB) to new areas of the country, with a focus on under-resourced schools and underserved communities. (more…)
A Pandemic Ethics Book Club with the General Public (guest post by Jesse Hamilton)
“If philosophy is to thrive, it must be sensitive and responsive to the world it is meant to engage with. The non-philosophers in our reading group shed light on a world that may be difficult for us philosophers to see and point out aspects of lived experiences that we may not have access to.” (more…)
Major Philosophy Event for Pre-College Students Held Online This Year
The 2020 Australasian Philosothon—“an event that encourages school students to investigate ethical and philosophical questions in the context of ‘communities of inquiry’”—took place at the end of last month.
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Free Online Philosophy Courses for Spanish Speaking Youth
Philosophy for Children Without Borders (Filosofía Infantil Sin Fronteras), formerly known as Philosophy for Children in the Borderlands (previously), has launched a free, virtual philosophy course for Spanish-speaking youth. (more…)
Closer to Truth & Philosophers (guest post by Robert Lawrence Kuhn) (updated)
“Philosophy has novel opportunities to expand its share of the contemporary zeitgeist…” (more…)
Nonfiction and Narrative Popular Philosophy (guest post by Barry Lam)
“The design features that make for good academic philosophy might make for terrible public philosophy…” (more…)
“Philosophy By Postcard” Questions & Answers
Last year, In Parenthesis launched a public philosophy project with An Post, the Republic of Ireland’s postal service, called Philosophy By Postcard. (more…)
Philosophers Find They Have a New Fan on Social Media: MC Hammer
“Why Science Needs Philosophy,” a multi-authored opinion piece published last year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), got a boost last Friday when rapper MC Hammer shared it with his 3.2 million followers on Twitter. (more…)
Public Philosophy and the News (guest post by Alexis Papazoglou)
Philosophy still can, and should, be done in the service of helping others make sense of our contemporary shadows on the wall: the never-ending news cycle. (more…)