public philosophy
TagNew: The Journal of Sociotechnical Critique
There’s a new, open-access, peer-reviewed scholarly journal focusing on philosophy of technology and related fields, with an emphasis on public engagement. (more…)
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…)
“Night of Philosophy and Ideas” Events This Weekend
Sixty-five cities around the world will host “Night of Philosophy and Ideas” events over the next few days, with some taking place tonight. (more…)
2018 Philosophy Op-Ed Contest Winners Announced
The American Philosophical Association (APA) has announced the winners of its 2018 Public Philosophy Op-Ed Contest. (more…)
Philosophy Breaks Into the Podcast Big League
Hi-Phi Nation, an audio program that takes things of interest to most people and turns them inside out to reveal fascinating philosophical questions and problems, has been picked up by the popular online magazine, Slate. (more…)
Two Win the 2018 Sanders Public Philosophy Award
After declining to select a winner for its 2017 Public Philosophy Award, the Marc Sanders Foundation has named two philosophers the winners of the 2018 contest—one for an unpublished work and one for a previously published one. (more…)
A Way Professors Make a “Real World” Difference
Amidst all the talk about public philosophy, let’s not forget a more traditional way philosophers have an impact on the world: by teaching well, encouraging inquiry and achievement, and helping students develop intellectual virtues. (more…)
Martha Nussbaum Wins $1 Million Berggruen Prize
Martha Nussbaum, Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Philosophy and Law at the University of Chicago, is the winner of the 2018 Berggruen Prize. (more…)
Some Philosophers Are Leaving Twitter
Two philosophers with relatively popular Twitter accounts have quit using the social media service in recent days, both citing the mental tolls their engagement with other Twitter users has taken. (more…)
John Corvino Hopes to Teach the Public to Argue Well
John Corvino, professor of philosophy and dean of the Honors College at Wayne State University—and public philosopher extraordinaire—has created a new series of videos to help people learn to argue well. (more…)
Is Scientific American a Trustworthy Periodical?
Scientific American is a monthly magazine aimed at popularizing scientific and technological findings. But how trustworthy a magazine is it? (more…)
New Journal: “Precollege Philosophy and Public Practice” (corrected)
A new journal, “Precollege Philosophy and Public Practice,” will have its inaugural issue in winter 2019. It will be an annual, interdisciplinary, online and open-access journal. (more…)
An Ethics Bowl Inside San Quentin State Prison
In February, in the chapel of San Quentin State Prison, seven philosophy undergraduates from the University of California, Santa Cruz faced off against a group of prison inmates—in an ethics discussion. (more…)
Mental Health and Philosophy of Mind
A philosopher has recently collaborated with a mental health organization to deliver a series of philosophy of mind workshops for people with an interest in mental health (including those with lived experience, mental health advocates, and service providers). (more…)
All-Night Philosophy Events At Over 120 Locations Worldwide Later This Month
Overnight “philosophy and ideas” events will be taking place all around the world later this month. (more…)
Philosophical Dialogues
J: Hey, whats’ up?
M: Hey. I wanted to tell you that I think it would be great to bring back the philosophical dialogue. (more…)
Why Science Education Needs Philosophy
Many of the young people who attend my classes think that philosophy is a fuzzy discipline that’s concerned only with matters of opinion, whereas science is in the business of discovering facts, delivering proofs, and disseminating objective truths. Furthermore, many of them believe that scientists can answer philosophical questions, but philosophers have no busines..
No Winner of Sanders Public Philosophy Award
The Marc Sanders Foundation offers a number of generous awards in several areas of philosophy and in 2016 launched its Public Philosophy Award. For the 2017 run of this contest, the foundation received 65 entries. However, it made no awards. (more…)
Is the Public Receptive to Public Philosophy?
It is a common refrain: academics need to get out of their ivory towers and start engaging with the general public. It can come from a place of sympathy, worrying that valuable ideas are not reaching the public, or it can come from a place of dismissiveness, implying that academic debates need to change radically to become relevant to the broader populace. But in ei..
Philosophy: “The Las Vegas of Rational Inquiry”
Every society has a population that loves trashy, glittery entertainment; porn; gambling… and it would be foolish to despoil some beautiful area with it. Plunk it in the middle of some otherwise irredeemably inhospitable and infertile desert—concentrate the glitz and sleaze in one place where it can be indulged in with a minimal impact on the rest of the world. ..
New Philosophy TV Show: Ethics Matters
Ethics Matters is a new television show that debuted yesterday on Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s youth-oriented channel, ABC 3. (more…)
Philosophy Time with James Franco (guest post by Eliot Michaelson)
The following is a guest post* by Eliot Michaelson, Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at King’s College London, about Philosophy Time, a series of philosophy videos he created with actor James Franco. (more…)
Philosophy In Germany: Too Popular For Its Own Good?
An article in the current issue of Foreign Policy,“German Philosophy Has Finally Gone Viral. Will That Be Its Undoing?” describes the surge in philosophy’s popularity in Germany and asks whether it comes at too high a cost. (more…)
Philosophical Op-Ed Contest Winners Announced
The American Philosophical Association (APA) has announced the winners of its 2017 Public Philosophy Op-Ed Contest. (more…)
Public Philosophy Via Facebook Check-Ins
Here’s an interesting way of using technology to bring philosophy to the people: