Guest Speaker: David Bather Woods

Title: What is the Good of Public Philosophy?

ABSTRACT:

There has been a boom in public philosophy recently, with philosophers taking full advantage of the range of new media as well as continuing with the old. This session is titled ‘What is the good of public philosophy?’ There have been many answers to this question, including enrichment, guidance, self-improvement, entertainment, and citizenry. But as I research this literature, I find few if any linking public philosophy to the goods of university access and participation. In this session, then, I pose a more specific set of question: Does public philosophy support the good of widening participation? Does widening participation need public philosophy? If so, what kind of public philosophy does it need? At first glance, public philosophy does not look essential to widening participation in university philosophy. On further investigation, however, there is a role for philosophers to play in raising awareness of the discipline of philosophy, encouraging and increasing philosophical literacy, and shaping the environment and image of philosophy.