Eric Weber

Eric Weber gets outside (of the academy). He writes columns for The Clarion Ledger of Jackson, MS, The Lexington Herald-Leader, and The Prindle Post at the Prindle Institute for Ethics; co-hosts the Philosophy Bakes Bread radio show and podcast on WRFL Lexington, 88.1 FM; and serves as Executive Director of The Society of Philosophers in America (SOPHIA). He currently teaches at the University of Kentucky.

What type(s) of civically engaged or public philosophy work do you do?

I think of civic engagement in terms of content and delivery. In my writing, I address topics of importance to the public—as in my two latest books, Democracy and Leadership and Uniting Mississippi—and I write accessibly for wide audiences. This approach gets better mileage out of technical work. While writing my books, for example, I published several op-eds addressing issues that arose in each book. I then included the pieces in the appendix for each book, demonstrating that the scholarship is not meant only for other scholars. I also became a regular columnist for the major newspaper in my state at the time, Mississippi’s Clarion Ledger, and I’ve had pieces in the USA Today, the Lexington Herald-Leader, and other places. Other ways I work to get mileage: I submit press releases and press kits to local radio stations and television stations. I give interviews on TV news programs, and talks and book-signings at universities, libraries, and bookstores. When you put your work out there, people sometimes pay attention.

Beyond writing, I serve as Executive Director of the Society of Philosophers in America (SOPHIA). SOPHIA’s meetings engage the public in philosophical dialogue, offering continuing education credits to professionals, and addressing topics of import to the public such as symposia on “Ethics at the End of Life” and “Should Everyone Go to College?”

Lately, I’ve joined with a friend and fellow member of SOPHIA to create a philosophy talk radio show and podcast, which is taking off in an exciting way. It’s called Philosophy Bakes Bread, “food for thought about life and leadership.” The show airs on WRFL Lexington, 88.1 FM, and then comes out as a podcast.

Give an example of a successful project.

The latest example is the Philosophy Bakes Bread radio show and podcast. The show has so far aired 35 episodes, 30 that are out so far in the podcast release. We are thrilled to have just hit the 10,000 download mark—from 72 countries—after just 6 months of offering podcasts. We’ve got regular listeners of all stripes in and around Lexington, KY, including weekly listeners in federal prison who’ve written us many times. Topics have ranged from mass incarceration to how to live the deepest human life, with guests like Dr. Danielle Lake of Grand Valley State University and Dr. Martha Nussbaum of the University of Chicago. I team up with a grad school friend and colleague, Dr. Anthony Cashio, who teaches at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. It’s so much fun, which is why we put up with the mountain of work that’s involved.

What motivates you to do this work?

What makes publicly engaged work worthwhile is the very reason I’m in philosophy. I do love puzzles and intellectual challenges, but what matters most to me is not outside of Plato’s cave, but the people left inside. I believe that philosophy is vital for living the good life and for good leadership as well. There are lots of hungry minds being fed Jolly Ranchers and heroine: We need some philosophical bread. Daily. Philosophy can bake bread. Philosophers are critics of culture, and we can and ought to contribute to shaping it for the sake of truth and justice.

In what ways does the work inform your research (or vice-versa)?

It’s a virtuous circle. My research informs my public writing, speaking, and radio programming. It also is influenced by the responses I get from the public. I wrote an op-ed in 2013 calling for an end to corporal punishment in schools in Mississippi. That piece uncovered for me a big community of people who are passionate about the topic. I got an invite to come talk about the subject at Loyola University in Chicago. There, I learned a great deal from activists and scholars, who then informed my research moving forward.

In what ways does the work inform your teaching (or vice-versa)?

Again, it’s a virtuous circle. I teach many of my students not only how to write term-papers, but also op-eds. They have to do the research article first. Then, they are to draw on that research and work on their public voice, using short, simple sentences. The radio show only began this past January, but at this point there’s enough content from it to include some episodes in my courses. We’ve had the episodes transcribed, so they can be used as course texts for those who can listen and those who can’t (examples with transcripts: on Black Male Studies, Philosophy for Children, & Mass Incarceration). Of course, my teaching in turn informs my public work as well. When I was in Mississippi, I had the chance to design a philosophy of leadership course, since I taught in the Public Policy Leadership program. I found such a tragic dearth of contemporary philosophical work on the subject that the course was my inspiration for writing my book on the topic, Democracy and Leadership.

How does your public philosophy work inspire you?

The radio show has moved a lot of people in a short time. We’ve received messages from people in prison in Kentucky, as well as from people in Australia, Spain, Brazil, the U.K., and many other places (see Testimonials). It’s been far more inspirational for others than I could have imagined. That inspires me enormously. People feel welcomed into philosophy. They’ve also really appreciated the way Anthony and I make it personal. We tell our stories, holding little back. The point isn’t about us, but about how philosophy truly runs deep in terms of people’s lives, work, the suffering we’ve endured, as well as the great joys and good fortune that we’ve celebrated. It’s been hugely rewarding, personally, and at least very promising professionally. I hope that the professional reward will meet the level of the personal, eventually. Whether or not it does, I’m so glad we’re doing this work.

What gets you out of bed in the morning? What is your passion?

I love to make things, to build things. I love to create. I also love to talk with people and to think with them about difficult questions. That explains not only why I love to teach philosophy, but also why I love to write and to make the radio show and podcast. It explains why I love building up SOPHIA. It combines my passions—thinking with others, building an organization, and producing content via the Web and radio show that reaches out to our growing community.