public philosophy

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Philosophers On The Russian Attack On Ukraine

On February 24th, Russia began an invasion of Ukraine, starting with missile strikes on several locations, including Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and since then has continued its attack via air and ground warfare, despite near universal international condemnation of its actions. (more…)

When Philosophizing in Public, Remember How Strange We May Seem

Philosophers have a long history of being misunderstood by others. The risk of dangerous misunderstandings have led some philosophers in previous eras to take a variety of strategies—careful phrasings, flattery, literary devices, understatement, pseudonyms, running away—to avoid getting in trouble with the masses or their rulers. (more…)

Winners of the APA’s 2021 Public Philosophy Op-Ed Contest

The American Philosophical Association (APA) has announced the winners of its 2021 Public Philosophy Op-Ed Contest. (more…)

Mintz-Woo Wins 2021 Light Award

The International Society for Environmental Ethics (ISEE) has awarded its 2021 Andrew Light Award for Public Philosophy to Kian Mintz-Woo, permanent lecturer at University College Cork. (more…)

Assigning Public Philosophy Projects to Undergraduates (guest post)

In some of his recent courses, Daniel Munro, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto, has tried assigning something different from the traditional essays and exams: creative public philosophy projects. (more…)

10 Initiatives Win APA Grants

The American Philosophical Association (APA) has announced the winners of its Diversity and Inclusiveness Grants and Small Grants. (more…)

New Philosophy Magazine Releases Inaugural Issue

The first issue of The Raven: A Magazine of Philosophy has been published. (more…)

Amsterdam Synagogue Declares Spinoza Scholar “Persona Non Grata” (updated)

Yitzhak Melamed, professor of philosophy at Johns Hopkins University, has been declared a “persona non grata” by a rabbi of the Portuguese Jewish Synagogue of Amsterdam, following a request to record footage at the synagogue for a project on Baruch Spinoza. (more…)

Sanders Foundation Announces New “Philosophy in the Media” Fellows

The Marc Sanders Foundation has announced the inaugural class of fellows in its recently launched “Philosophy in the Media” program. (more…)

New Series on David Lewis from Hi-Phi Nation (guest post)

The newest season of Hi-Phi Nation, the popular philosophy podcast hosted by Barry Lam (Vassar College), is a four-part series on the work and life of philosopher David Lewis. (more…)

Bringing Philosophy to Those in Need (guest post)

“There are those who are unable to attend formal classes in philosophy because of life situations, i.e., homelessness, re-entry from prison, working several jobs, working a fulltime job, can’t afford to pay for classes, anxious about formal education, caring for others, and of course, most recently, a global pandemic. That’s why we go to these communities and offer ..

Free Online NYU Event to Bring Philosophy to High School Students

The Annual High School Philosophy Conference @ NYU, a free, online event aimed at introducing high school students to philosophy and motivating them to learn more about it, will be taking place on September 18th. (more…)

Sanders Foundation Announces Philosophy in the Media Initiative

The Marc Sanders Foundation has created a new fellowship program that “aims to increase the presence of philosophy in print, audio, and video media by training philosophers to write and produce for the public and by connecting philosophers to editors and commissioners in the media industry.” (more…)

A Philosopher Helps A Former Prisoner Dig Deep Into His Experiences, Thoughts, and Art

“I realized I couldn’t be what the officials were expecting of me. You got to put that in your head so they can’t break you. They want to break you. If you’re not broken, they say you’re crazy.” (more…)

The New York Times Eliminates Dedicated Philosophy Column

The New York Times has instituted several changes to its publication of opinion pieces, and one of them is the discontinuation of The Stone, its dedicated space for publishing philosophy. (more…)

Philosopher Wins Fellowship for Work on Mass Incarceration

The Whiting Foundation has named Michael Burroughs, associate professor of philosophy and director of the Kegley Institute of Ethics at California State University, Bakersfield, as one of its Public Engagement Fellows. (more…)

Surprise! 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…)