public philosophy
Tag30 All-Night Philosophy Parties Around The World This Weekend
Thirty French consulates around the world are sponsoring all-night philosophy parties this weekend. The “Night of Ideas” events are free and open to the public, and will feature philosophical discussions and debates, readings, film screenings, musical performances, and more, according to Quartz. (more…)
Why Policy Needs Philosophers As Much As It Needs Science (guest post)
The following is a guest post* by Adam Briggle and Robert Frodeman, both professors of Philosophy at the University of North Texas and co-authors of Socrates Tenured: The Institutions of 21st Century Philosophy. This essay originally appeared in The Guardian and is reposted here with permission of the authors.
What Does The Public Call What We Call “Public Philosophy”?
We are accumulating a large list of philosophers who do public philosophy in the comments to “Who Does Public Philosophy?” It is great to see that so many academics are involved in bringing philosophy to people outside their classrooms and peer groups, and especially heartening to see so many names on that list of people who haven’t been much mentioned before in the..
Who Does Public Philosophy?
The American Philosophical Association’s Committee on Public Philosophy is compiling a list of philosophers who have careers doing public philosophy, either exclusively or concurrently with careers in academic philosophy, and can use your help in identifying them.
There are a variety of ways to do public philosophy, so to be more specific, the committee is lookin..
Winners of the 2016 APA Public Philosophy Op-Ed Contest
The American Philosophical Association (APA) has announced the winners of its 2016 Public Philosophy Op-Ed Contest, sponsored by its Committee on Public Philosophy. The goal of the contest is “to honor five standout pieces that successfully blend philosophical argumentation with an op-ed writing style.” The winners are: (more…)
How To Treat Your Fellow Philosophers In Public
Jason Brennan (Georgetown) thinks that facts about public ignorance haven’t been sufficiently appreciated by political philosophers and political theorists. Such facts should temper our enthusiasm for democracy and make us more sympathetic to epistocracy (rule by the knowledgeable). The self-described “bleeding heart libertarian” recently published a book, Against D..
Philosophy Talk’s Fundraising Troubles
During its last fundraiser, Philosophy Talk, the weekly radio show hosted by Stanford University’s John Perry and Kenneth Taylor, failed to make it more than 4% of the way to its $150,000 goal, according to The Stanford Daily. (more…)
Philosophy For Children on the US/Mexico Border
Local school teachers, professors and students of philosophy at the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP), and several community organizations have teamed up for a bilingual project called Philosophy for Children in the Borderlands: (more…)
Philosophy Now Magazine Wins Russell Award
The Bertrand Russell Society issues an annual award in recognition of individuals or institutions that follow “in the Russellian tradition of encouraging philosophical inquiry in a popular manner.” (more…)
New Funding Source for Public Philosophy Projects
PLATO (Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization) is a national network devoted to promoting pre-college philosophy education. It just created the PLATO Philosophy Fund (PPF), “which will provide funding for a wide range of innovative philosophy programs with the aim of broadening philosophy’s reach,” according to a post by PLATO founding president and PPF chair..
Jennifer Nagel To Do an AMA Session on Reddit Today
There will be an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) session on Reddit today with Jennifer Nagel (Toronto). The session begins at 1pm Eastern Time (US), and you can submit a question ahead of time, check out the other questions, and then follow the discussion this afternoon, here.
The AMA is presented jointly between the moderators of the philosophy subReddit and the folks a..
APA Op-Ed Contest Nominations Due Soon
The American Philosophical Association (APA) holds an annual contest for the best editorial or opinion pieces published by philosophers:
The goal is to honor five standout pieces that successfully blend philosophical argumentation with an op-ed writing style. Winning submissions will call public attention, either directly or indirectly, to the value of philosoph..
First Alain Locke Award for Public Philosophy Awarded to Andrew Light
Public Philosophy Award Update
As reported in December, the Marc Sanders Foundation, which offers several philosophy essay prizes, has created a new award for public philosophy. Barry Maguire (UNC), who has played a large role in creating this prize and in other public philosophy initiatives, informs me that submissions for the award are now welcome, and has more details at his site, including:
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BBC Launches Public Philosophy Program
The BBC has launched a new program called “The Global Philosopher.” Each episode is a public philosophy session led by Michael Sandel (Harvard) with participants video-conferenced in from all over the world. Video footage is then edited, put online at the BBC’s site, and also broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
You can watch the first episode, on immigration and refugees, ..
Philosophy Needs Better Marketing
The plans for growing and diversifying philosophy can’t be a shotgun approach. We need to find places every year where we can advocate and promote philosophical growth with precision because of our limited resources. We can do this through a robust development and advocacy process along with PR and advertising campaigns. There are lots of ways to grow and diversify ..
Funds Available for Public Philosophy Projects
Working on a project in public philosophy? Need some money to help do it? You can apply for funding from the American Philosophical Association’s Berry Fund, administered by the APA’s Committee on Public Philosophy. From a post at the Committee’s blog:
Grants are generally under $1000. Some sample projects that The Berry Fund is supporting:
(1) a philosophy and sc..
NEH Grants Supporting Public Philosophy
At the recent Eastern Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association (APA), in a session organized by the APA’s Committee on Public Philosophy, Peter Fristedt and Mark Silver of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) described various grant programs available to philosophers interested in obtaining support for work in public philosophy. Mr. Fris..
“American Society for the Protection of Philosophers” Proposed
In a comment in the ongoing discussion regarding the reaction to George Yancy’s “Dear White America,” University of Oregon professor of philosophy Naomi Zack puts forward the idea of an “American Society for the Protection of Philosophers.” She volunteers herself for it and asks interested others to contact her:
The American Philosophical Association should expre..
Internet Abuse of Philosophers (2 updates)
A few weeks ago, George Yancy (Emory) published an essay in The New York Times philosophy column, The Stone, called “Dear White America.” In it, he calls for white Americans to acknowledge their racism and their complicity with racist institutions. Yancy asks his readers to “listen with love” to what he has to say. But he knows that what he is saying is bound to pro..
Philosophy and the Internet Public
Though the internet is, in a number of ways, good for philosophy, it isn’t always good to philosophers. The needless hostility, harassment and scary threats, personal insults, bullheadedness, impatient demands, etc., widely broadcast for all to see (and discussed a bit here) can be a deterrent to participation and a nasty “reward” for engaging with the public.
Ex..
NEH & APA Collaboration on Public Philosophy
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Philosophical Association (APA) are collaborating for two events at the APA’s upcoming Eastern Division Meeting next month in Washington, DC. The first is a plenary address by the chairman of the NEH, William “Bro” Adams, at noon on January 7th. Following that, there will be a session “Philosophy for t..
Philosophers Form New “Justice Without Retribution Network”
There’s a new project to bring philosophy to bear on policy issues. In this case it is free will skepticism and criminal justice.
Gregg Caruso (SUNY Corning), Farah Focquaert (Ghent), Derk Pereboom (Cornell), and Elizabeth Shaw (Aberdeen) have formed the Justice Without Retribution Network.
The Justice Without Retribution Network (JWRN) will bring together res..
Columbia Philosophy Outreach Program Wins Award for Excellence & Innovation (updated)
Rethink: A Philosophy Community Outreach Program at Columbia University, has been awarded the 2015 APA/PDC Prize for Excellence and Innovation in Philosophy Programs. The aim of the prize, which has been jointly sponsored by the American Philosophical Association and the Philosophy Documentation Center since 1999, is “to recognize philosophy departments, research ce..
New Public Philosophy Prize
The Marc Sanders Foundation, which already sponsors a number of philosophy prizes, has agreed to sponsor an award for public philosophy: $4500 and publication of the winning essay in Philosophers’ Imprint. Four runners-up will receive honorable mentions. The award committee is chaired by Susan Wolf, and includes Thomas Hofweber, Barry Maguire, and Patricia O’Toole. ..
The Next Celebrity Spokesperson for Philosophy
The series of brief audio clips by John Cleese on the value of philosophy is making the rounds again, this time courtesy of a post at Open Culture. The public service announcements were commissioned by the American Philosophical Association in 2000 in celebration of the organization’s 100th anniversary.
For example, here is Cleese on what philosophers do:
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Today Is World Philosophy Day: What Are Your Plans? (updated)
Happy World Philosophy Day, everyone! The day was created in 2002 by the UN to celebrate philosophy. It is celebrated on the third Thursday of November.
Marking World Philosophy Day, the head of the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) has stressed that sustainability calls for new ways of thinking about ourselves and the planet..
Examples of Public Philosophy
Barry Maguire (UNC) is attempting to get a new prize for public philosophy up and running. By “public philosophy” he means “anything with significant philosophical content or method written by someone with significant philosophical trainining primarily for an audience of non-philosophers.”
He is collecting examples of public philosophy but is having trouble findi..