The State of Public Philosophy
John Perry

04 August 2011

Philosophy Talk is devoted to public philosophy. But we mean two different things by that.

Our first aim is to encourage the public - our listeners and participants in our blog - todo哲学，要从事正在进行的活动。这是因为我们认为这是很多人喜欢的事情，它会导致更好的讨论和决定。

我们要做的第二件事是展示过去和现在有影响力的哲学家在思考什么。

后一个目标绝对是次要的。我们最感兴趣的是哲学家在思考什么，因为我们相信我们的观众可能也想思考同样的事情。

So given that, what are we worrying about when we ask about the state of public philosophy?

People sometimes worry that modern-day philosophers don’t have the same impact on the public that philosophers have traditionally had, and continue to have in some other countries.

这是我们的经验告诉我们的。许多公共广播电台和他们的节目导演听到一个关于哲学的节目都很吃惊。他们非常怀疑他们的听众是否会感兴趣。事实上，我们做这个节目的动机之一是让哲学更多地成为公共生活的一部分。

But our experience also points the other way. Many people are very interested in the topics and people we discuss. And you know, just in my lifetime I think I’ve seen an increase in the impact of those in our profession. Think of philosophers like Daniel Dennett, Martha Nussbaum, or Anthony Appiah. They're not only excellent philosophers, but also writers of widely-read books, who appear pretty frequently on radio and TV and in op-ed pages.

I want to make another distinction. There's the wider public, and there's also the narrower public, I'm talking about researchers in other disciplines. I’ve seen the influence of philosophy in this narrower public grow a lot of over the years I’ve been involved. The ideas of thinkers like John Rawls and Michael Bratman are widely discussed and applied in laws schools, for example.

哲学在理论计算机科学、人工智能和认知科学的发展中发挥了重要作用。

But one place that we --- in the sense of American analytical philosophers like you and me --- don’t seem to have as much impact as one might expect, is with our fellow humanists.

我们这类的哲学并没有被证明对我们的文学朋友有多大的启发，尤其是比较文学，文化人类学，以及类似的领域。

European thinkers like Derrida seem to have been of more interest. And since, in a wider sense, all humanists are involved in the great philosophical enterprise, this seems surprising and rather sad.

Our guest today is someone who feels this lack of impact intensely. He's Hans Gumbrecht, from the Comparative Literature Department at Stanford --- which was also the home of Richard Rorty in the latter part of his life.

Gumbrecht is a philosopher and a public intellectual who, like Rorty, is both influenced by and deeply skeptical about the prevailing approach to philosophy in America. I’m really looking forward to thinking through these issues with Zepp, as everyone calls him.

Comments(6)

Guest's picture

Guest

Friday, August 5, 2011 -- 5:00 PM

Well, if Daniel Dennett is a skeptic, that would p

Well, if Daniel Dennett is a skeptic, that would put him in good company I think. Some say Socrates was a doubter. In ordinary parlance, 'doubter' and 'skeptic' have similar connotations. I am not certain if there is anything in the way of a coherent public philosophy, or, if there is one, I fervently wish someone would tell me what it is. In 500 words or less. Convince me and I shall shut up about it. I really must find the time to pursue and read Hitchens. He sounds like the sort of maverick who would challenge my imagination.
I will say this about modern philosophers: they can tend to defeat their best notions and hypotheses by fiercely competing with one another. Anyone remotely interested in philosophy, yet uninitiated, may find the
摩擦分散注意力，说:为什么要这么麻烦?如果有学问的人想让他们的公众接受哲学，他们需要找到更好的方法来求同存异。古尔德已经死了;道金斯仍然和我们在一起，古尔德的死是一个悲剧。
公共哲学?它只是和参与者一样好。这不是战争，也不是职业足球，不是吗?我曾与一位已出版的哲学家/神经学家交谈过，他认为这是正确的。可能还有其他的。
Competition has always been with us. Today, and in recent experience, it becomes more frivolous. There are, it seems, too many people trying to do too few things---a function of over-population? Well, that is a different ocean of fish, isn't it? I am just a carpenter.

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Guest

Saturday, August 6, 2011 -- 5:00 PM

"I am not certain if there is anything in the way

"I am not certain if there is anything in the way of a coherent public philosophy, or, if there is one, I fervently wish someone would tell me what it is. In 500 words or less."
One
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MJA

Guest's picture

Guest

Tuesday, August 9, 2011 -- 5:00 PM

This may be unassociated with the issue under disc

This may be unassociated with the issue under discussion. But, I would like it very much if someone would address the matter of "uptalk." Where did this social artifice come from, and why? When someone speaks in an interrogatory fashion, it means they are a) unsure of themselves and seeking affirmation, or b) they are trying to manipulate a response by appearing innocent. It is a lame expression of an intellectuality that the speaker lacks. I'd like to know what Pinker thinks about this. I expect he thinks something.
I went to Jamaica once and found the people annoying---my introduction to uptalk, I think. And my bad for being a tourist, I guess. Won't go back there.

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Guest

Saturday, August 20, 2011 -- 5:00 PM

我开始思考公共哲学。Since y

我开始思考公共哲学。由于你的文章得到了一些不太热情的评论，我决定提供一些eoo *。在我看来，公共哲学的变化与流行文化大致一致。例子是有序的。多年来，人们避免卷入与自己没有直接关系的争端或事件。他们不会冒险去追捕抢钱包的人和抢劫犯;不干预公开的家庭争吵，也从不试图干预武装抢劫事件。但是，情况正在改变。我们现在甚至有一个电视节目会问这样一个问题:“你会怎么做?”
就在一天前的新闻中，一个非法移民(SKA，非法移民)从绑架中救了一个孩子，甚至可能更糟。他知道他在冒着可计算的风险。但他也知道英雄这个词赋予了某些权利和特权。那么，他为孩子着想的行为，是纯粹的利他行为吗?可能不会。但是，一个经过深思熟虑的风险比一个考虑不周的自我牺牲行为要好得多。流行文化以各种各样的方式影响(并影响)公共政策——其中大多数我们很少有人考虑过。我不确定我们是否了解这件事的全部经过，但我希望在情况允许的情况下能有最好的结果。
我可以继续讨论这些问题，但没有必要。所以你得到了我的2毛钱，而不是2毛钱。让我们看看这是否会引发更多的评论，好吗?
(*OEOs—观察、经验和意见—用于统一。)

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Guest

Sunday, August 28, 2011 -- 5:00 PM

I have gotten to Hitchens, specifically: god is no

I have gotten to Hitchens, specifically: god is not great-How Religion Poisons Everything, chapter one: Putting it Mildly. It is instructive to me that Hitchens is my age---minus one year or so. We all have our paths and those change with the contingencies of time and experiences. Moreover, some brains take more time to develop, for whatever the reasons, cultural, economic or what-have-you.
在我看来，希钦斯是一个更大的科学和哲学整体的一部分——(到目前为止)包括古尔德在内的一群杰出的绅士;道金斯;丹尼特;克里克;Teilhard du夏丹;当然，联盟有很多候选人——我只列出了几个。克里斯托弗·希钦斯给我印象最深的是，他曾经是一名记者，也是一位权威人士。并成功地利用这一职业赢得了哲学思想家的声誉。惊人的,真的。这不可能是运气，对吗? No, probably an example of hard work and historionic effect(?) But, you did not hear that from me...
希钦斯在书的第一章最后的评论中说了很多:“宗教毒害一切。”我很有兴趣将他的书与道金斯的《上帝错觉》(The God Delusion)进行比较。应该是另一种范例——或者类似的。

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Guest

Wednesday, August 31, 2011 -- 5:00 PM

ADDENDUM: Had never heard of Sam Harris. Until I g

ADDENDUM:
Had never heard of Sam Harris. Until I got to page 96 of Hitchens' book*. He may be (or may become) part of The League. In any case, League members seem to be saying much the same about God and religion. They just say what they think, in slightly different ways. Synchronicity or serendipity? Or just a bunch of academics who talk to each other? Or something else...
Good writers, though. All of them.
(*上帝并不伟大…)