By Shiraz Noorani, Graduate Student Researcher, Center for the Humanities, UC Merced

As part of our Public Humanities Speaker Series, Andrew Fiala, professor of philosophy and founding director of the Ethics Center at California State University, Fresno, gave his talk “700 Words at a Time: Lessons Learned from Doing Philosophy in the Newspaper,“ in our Public Humanities Design Studio at UC Merced last spring.

Professor Fiala has been practicing the art of public philosophy for many years. As a columnist with The Fresno Bee, he has written hundreds of columns on philosophy, ethics, and public discourse. His journey as a public philosopher has been motivating but challenging. Fiala’s talk was on how philosophy can be communicated to the masses through the media, via newspaper columns in particular. He spoke about how to condense and translate profound ethical and philosophical ideas into understandable columns that everyone can relate to.

Writing for a newspaper has helped Fiala learn to clarify complex ideas. He observed that public philosophy has to make people think and not react, and a good article should make people brainstorm, ask questions, and not just agree or disagree. He emphasized that the need for philosophical engagement is still strong, even as we move into a new era of technology. He feels that bringing philosophy to the public calls for passion, effort, and flexibility. Whether through blogs, newspapers, or social media, the task is to make philosophy applicable in everyday life.

To illustrate the work of public philosophy further, Fiala gave some samples of his writings at The Fresno Bee, showing how he has dealt with ethical issues and philosophical questions in ways that ordinary readers can grasp, engaging with real world issues and promoting reflective conversation.

The talk was followed by a Q&A where Fiala discussed the challenge of moving philosophy into new media and emphasized the importance of keeping philosophical conversation relevant in a constantly changing world.