justin weinberg

When engaging in “public philosophy,” is the job of the philosopher to metaphorically lead the people out of Plato’s cave? That’s the idea that Giannis Vassilopoulos entertains in introducing a roundtable discussion that Agnes Callard, Anastasia Berg, and I were invited to take part in at the 4th Panhellenic Undergraduate Philosophy Conference. I began by suggesting an alternative: “The philosopher’s job is to show people that the cave is much bigger than they might have thought.”

This was fun, interesting conversation that touched on a range of questions about what philosophers should be doing, the connection between academic philosophy and the rest of the world, and the nature of philosophy.

The conference was sponsored by the University of Athens, the University of Western Ontario, and the University of St. Andrews.

You can watch our discussion here: