In August of 2013, I participated in an interview with Swedish National TV News service, SVT Nyheter, on the subject of corporal punishment in Mississippi schools. If you click on the video here above, you’ll see their piece from the start. You can also jump to my interview, 2 min’s in (the rest of the piece is in Swedish). SVT’s news article is online in Swedish here. I’ve made an imperfect Google Translate version in English, which you can open as a PDF file here.
I am an alumnus of SIUC’s Ph.D. program in philosophy. I am writing to urge you to continue full support for the Center for Dewey Studies. I understand that the center has been asked to prepare a budgetary plan for a reduction of its support by 50 percent. Were that reduction to be applied, it would incapacitate the center. That would be a truly terrible mistake.
The Center for Dewey Studies is one of the jewels of SIUC. As I said in a recent interview with the Daily Egyptian, it is simply the best resource in the world of its kind. John Dewey’s work remains deeply important. Presently, Penguin Books is in contract negotiations with me to release a collection of Dewey’s public writings, in part because of help I received from the center, its director, and its relationship with the SIU Press. Dewey was America’s greatest public philosopher, and next year marks the 100th anniversary of his master work, Democracy and Education. There is also a burgeoning movement in public philosophy for which Dewey is the exemplar to whom people will be looking with increasing interest. This is not the time to cut support for the center, but to increase it.
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I have had some pretty remarkable experiences at the University of Mississippi, as well as some wonderful students to work with (Yes, I end sometimes with a preposition). It’s deeply meaningful to see one’s students so honored and successful.
The group was from Dallas’s ‘s Uplift Education charter schools. We met in Bryant Hall, where we talked a little bit about my field, philosophy. I explained the major branches of philosophy, and then we talked about how practical philosophy is or can be. To illustrate that, we covered a controversial case in medical ethics, concerning euthanasia. The young men and women were very bright and a lot of fun to engage in discussion.
“‘Coping with Uncertainty,’ Ep3 of Philosophy Bakes Bread”
by Eric Thomas Weber
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Check out the nice brochure that the University Press of Mississippi designed for Uniting Mississippi. Here’s the printable, two-sided PDF file:
Presentation “On Culture and Self-Respect”
2013 Philosophy Born of Struggle conference, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
This is the video of a short talk I gave at the 2013 Philosophy Born of Struggle conference at Purdue University in West LaFayette, IN. The talk is called “On Culture and Self-Respect,” and it represents an early stage in the development of my book in progress, called A Culture of Justice. I got some invaluable feedback at that conference that has helped to sharpen my thesis for this paper and for the book.
If you’re interested in having me come speak with your group, visit my Speaking page.
The June 2015 murders in Charleston, South Carolina, have prompted a remarkable cultural shift in the American South. States around the region are removing or are voting to remove Confederate symbols of various kinds from public spaces. South Carolina and Alabama have made significant moves, and in Mississippi, the Speaker of the House and both U.S. Senators have called for changing the state flag, which presently features the Confederate Battle Flag.
I have argued recently that some heritage can do harm and that denying that Mississippi’s secession had to do with slavery is ignorance, not love, of heritage. For those who acknowledge our troubled history, an important question remains: Why is there such a push to get rid of the flag all of a sudden? What does it have to do with the Charleston murders or justice?
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This piece is the culmination of years of researching and thinking about public philosophy. If you know me, you know that “America’s Public Philosopher” was John Dewey. Elements of this piece will show up in my introduction for a collection of Dewey’s public writings that I am finishing up.
Abstract
This article argues for a definition of public philosophy inspired by John Dewey’s understanding of the “supreme intellectual obligation.” The first section examines five strong reasons why more public philosophy is needed and why the growing movement in public philosophy should be encouraged. The second section begins with a review of common understandings of public philosophy as well as some initial challenges that call for widening our conception of the practice. Then, it applies Dewey’s argument in “The Supreme Intellectual Obligation” to public philosophy, which must not be seen simply as a one-way street from intellectuals to the masses but, rather, as the task of fostering the scientific attitude and intellectual habits of mind in all citizens.
Read the paper on Academia.edu
Citation
Weber, Eric Thomas. “Lessons from America’s Public Philosopher.” The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, no. 1 (2015): 118-135.
iTunes has it updated there too, though for some reason presently out of order. I’ll look into that.
“Coping with Uncertainty”
This episode focuses on challenges for live and work that concern uncertainty and fear of the unknown. Philosophical ideas about the nature of knowledge can be of help, as well as some conceptual and practical tools for addressing or overcoming our worries.
The transcript for the episode is here.
If you haven’t already, check out the first two episodes of Philosophy Bakes Bread on the podcast site.
Finally, if you’d prefer to “watch” the podcast on YouTube, here it is:
If you prefer that format, here’s a playlist of the podcast episodes on my YouTube channel.