Carlos Fraenkel, “Teaching Plato in Palestine: Philosophy in a Divided World” (Princeton UP, 2015)
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What is the central premise of Teaching Plato in Palestine and how does it redefine philosophy?
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Welcome to the New Books and Philosophy channel of the New Books Network. My name is Robert Talese. I'm professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University. I co host the channel with Carrie Figter. Carrie is associate professor of philosophy at the University of Iowa. Today my guest is Professor Carlos Frankel. His new book is titled Teaching Plato in Palestine by Philosophy in a divided world has just been published by Princeton University Press. Frankel is James McGill professor in the Departments of Philosophy and Jewish Studies at McGill University. We tend to think of philosophy as a professional academic subject. taught in college classes with its own rather specialized problems, vocabularies, and methods.
But we also realize that the discipline has its roots in the Socratic activity of trying to incite debate and critical reflection among our fellow citizens. That is, we acknowledge that, apart from its existence as a technical discipline, philosophy is a kind of civic activity that, we hope, can help us address life's biggest questions even when we find ourselves deeply divided over their answers. In Teaching Plato in Palestine, Carlos Frankel tells the tale of his attempts to recapture philosophy's Socratic dimension. He recounts his adventures in doing philosophy in non standard contacts. with atypical interlocutors and in unfamiliar places. Along the way, we see a hopeful and encouraging vision of philosophy emerge as a collection of rational techniques
and intellectual virtues that can indeed rescue our individual and collective lives from impending incivility. As usual, there's a lot to talk about. So let's turn to the interview. Hello, Carlos Frankel.
Hi Bob.
How are you doing today?
Very well. How are you?
Oh, I'm doing fine. Thank you for joining for New Books in Philosophy.
Thank you for having me and for giving me a chance to talk about the book.
Ren, thank well, that's perfect. Thank you, listener, uh, for checking out the podcast. Today my guest is Carlos Frankel. His new book is titled Teaching Plato in Palestine by Philosophy in a divided world. Um this book is uh fascinating in lots of respects. uh but one of which is um that it's partly a kind of um intellectual travelogue. Um Carlos takes us on a few uh philosophical adventures. where he practices philosophy or teaches philosophy or talks about philosophy um in unexpected places with unexpected uh uh communities. Um But the book also defends uh at the end a and manifests and practices a powerful vision of the role that philosophy can play and perhaps should play in our lives, both locally and interpersonally and globally.
Um teaching Plato in Palestine then is is is really engaging.
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Chapters
3 chapters
1
What is the central premise of Teaching Plato in Palestine and how does it redefine philosophy?
0:00–29:12
2
How does Carlos Fraenkel’s personal biography shape his approach to philosophy in conflict zones?
29:12–55:21
3
What does Fraenkel mean by philosophy as a “deflated activity” rather than a grand theory?
55:21–1:07:40
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from New Books in Philosophy
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