The Public Life of the Mind

The Public Life of the Mind is an interview series exploring the work of contemporary practitioners of public philosophy, broadly construed, as well as those researching/working in related areas, from inside and out of academia.

New blog! I look at the ideas helping me answer the qu at the heart of my book: what is the space for reflection in our lives today? Featuring: outsourced reflection, structures of feeling, literalization, everyday aesthetics, and public happiness. thepubliclifeofthemind.co.uk/post/the-push-…

"Thinking Together Through Writing" Video is online now! Thomas Wild and Jana Schmidt in conversation with @jana_bacevic How do texts become intermediary objects of thought? bit.ly/3UT8Rqm

First London Public Philosophy Reading Group on 9 March! We'll be discussing @GraceLockrobin's brilliant 'Relocation and Population: Why Community Philosophy Matters' from the collection 'Philosophy and Community: Theories, Practices and Possibilities'. DM if you'd like to join!

Join us next week in London! "Hannah Arendt’s Lessons in Love and Disobedience" @LyndseyStonebri in conversation with @Samantharhill Thurs. 22nd Feb at 7pm at @ConwayHall Tickets are selling fast! Book your place now: bit.ly/3SbLh58

Book blog! On the myriad ways people make space for aesthetic reflection. Featuring: laundry, wind farms, European nudes in oil paintings, Tony Blair (?!), and Ian Breakwell, probably the only artist censored by the then-Dept for Health & Social Security. thepubliclifeofthemind.co.uk/post/some-ways…

Now that I'm well into the book, I've amassed a good chunk of things to read/read recommendations, so I'm tempted to restart a book club on public philosophy. Any takers? IRL London only sorry, prefer a break from screens these days!

I am four chapters into writing a book about what public philosophy tells us about the space of reflection in our lives today. So I thought I'd start to share ideas that are emerging or yet to make their way into the book. Here's my first such blog: thepubliclifeofthemind.co.uk/post/the-prese…

This November, join us online or in person to discuss philosophy in schools, colleges and communities, and the very "future of philosophical education". Early bird tickets here: sapere.org.uk/conference-202… Huge thanks to our partners in this conference, @SOEBristol and @PhilOfEdGB.

"These [philosophy pub] groups [...] would be in pubs just as a normal thing, like a darts team. [...] under the radar as it were, working-class people could [...] have this philosophical understanding, a way of thinking philosophically." thepubliclifeofthemind.co.uk/roblewisandpau…

New interview! Rob Lewis and Paul Doran of the Philosophy in Pubs network: "We've sort of distilled [our purpose] to being the democratisation of philosophy. It's the democratisation of being able to think and engage in a philosophical way." thepubliclifeofthemind.co.uk/roblewisandpau…

"If you are [...] seeing a huge amount of value from doing philosophy yourself, it's kind of natural to want to send it out into the world [...] whether that's formally in classrooms or less formally in public discourse and in public spaces." thepubliclifeofthemind.co.uk/lani-watson

"What I'm now saying I do and saying is an important part of philosophy is reflection on participation. I see my trips as setting people up to participate in ideas." thepubliclifeofthemind.co.uk/alejandro-stro…

New interview with Alejandro Strong of Apeiron Expeditions! An organisation that leads excursions into nature that offer opportunity for philosophical reflection. I spoke to Alejandro to learn about the unique possibilities philosophy in nature allows. thepubliclifeofthemind.co.uk/alejandro-stro…

"The way that these questioning dynamics play out in classrooms, has led me to think about the way they operate in a million other contexts where we are asking questions out in the world, in our day-to-day lives, in work." New interview with @laniwhatison! thepubliclifeofthemind.co.uk/lani-watson

New interview! I spoke with @laniwhatison about researching the philosophy of questions, previously running @scotland_open's public philosophy network and now running The QSM, a consultancy delivering training and development for better questioning. thepubliclifeofthemind.co.uk/lani-watson

New interview up! With Sophia Stone of Wisdom's Edge, a US non-profit that facilitates philosophical inquiry, ​guided by a democratic process, in communities that do not have access to university. thepubliclifeofthemind.co.uk/sophia-stone

Interviews to be uploaded in coming weeks/months: philosophy in workplaces, philosophy hikes, philosophy in communities, philosophy in pubs, philosophy with prisoners, philosophy with different generations. There really is superb public philosophy facilitators everywhere.

"Part of what I seek to do is to make available to as many people as possible, as much of an opportunity as possible to engage in this sort of open-ended curiosity. I think that it is a birth right perhaps, I think it's something that we all deserve." thepubliclifeofthemind.co.uk/jonathon-keats

New interview with philosopher-artist @jonathonkeats! I spoke to Jonathan to hear his thoughts on the relationship between philosophy and art practice, about the place of reflection in public art, and much else. thepubliclifeofthemind.co.uk/jonathon-keats

Just did an absolutely fascinating interview with @ApeironExped for @tplotm, cannot wait to put it up. Continue to be astounded by how much fascinating public philosophy there is out there and how much there is to learn from the people doing it.