Eric Wilkinson is a Ph.D. candidate and Vanier Scholar at McGill University. His research focuses on metaethics, normative ethics, and political philosophy.
What is your favorite thing you’ve written?
A paper called “The Possibility of Multicultural Nationhood.” Despite how central the concepts of “nation” and “nationalism” are to our political discourse, they’re notoriously hard to define. In the paper, I argue that nations are distinguished by their malleability. One implication of this view is that cultural diversity and change don’t threaten a national identity, they are part of what defines the national character. The upshot is a theory of multicultural nationhood, which recognizes that nations are constituted by their internal diversity.
The paper is also more personal than some of my other work. I’m Canadian, and I’ve always been invested in debates over what Canada’s national identity is and what it should be. The implications of the paper are general, but its definitely within that tradition of Canadian philosophers anxiously trying to figure out their own country.
What are you working on right now?
At the moment, I’m working on an argument for logical rationalism, the view that our knowledge of basic logical principles is a priori, non-inferential, and based on those intellectual seemings we philosophers call intuitions. I think logical rationalism is the only account that can explain how we can acquire knowledge of rules of inference without using rules of inference to get that knowledge in a viciously circular way. Epistemology of logic is definitely outside my usual wheelhouse; my work on moral epistemology led me here. I suspect that we acquire moral and logical knowledge in essentially the same way.
Which books have changed your life? In what ways?
The book that has most affected me would have to be Seneca’s On the Shortness of Life. I read the book in high school, and his advice about not frittering away your life on unimportant things, but instead identifying what is important and pursuing that, has stuck with me. I don’t always live up to most of the good advice in that book, but trying to do so has certainly changed the direction of my life.
What are you reading right now? Would you recommend it?
I’m reading a 1954 noir crime novel, I Am Not Guilty, by Frances Shelley Wees. Set in postwar Toronto, a wrongly accused woman sets out to find her husband’s killer and clear her name. I had a laugh when, in one scene, she stops at the pharmacy on the ground floor of the University of Toronto’s Medical Arts Building to use a payphone. Today, the old Medical Arts Building houses the philosophy department, so I’ve been in that pharmacy many times! I’d absolutely recommend it to anyone who likes a good crime novel. It was reissued by Véhicule Press as part of the Ricochet Books line, and they only reissue the best old noir pulps, so the quality of any one of them is good.
Who is your favorite philosopher and why?
Probably John Stuart Mill. I’ve always found his prose very compelling, and he accomplishes that without sacrificing clarity. To my mind, he was also the ideal philosopher. Aside from his groundbreaking philosophical work, he was a consummate public intellectual. Whether it was intervening in current affairs through his newspaper writings, or holding public office, he was at the service of broader society. I’ve always admired philosophers like Mill or Seneca who understand that the end of moral philosophy is ultimately taking action.
What are your goals and aspirations outside work?
I stumbled backwards into philosophy out of an interest in politics. I enjoy the cut and thrust of an election campaign, and would like to do some tangible, palpable good rather than just contemplate it all the time. So, my aspiration would be to hold public office. They call that the lure of Syracuse, after Plato’s ill-fated attempt to enter politics by advising Dionysius of Syracuse. It doesn’t always work for philosophers who get involved in public affairs, but I think we have a duty to try anyways.
If you could have a one-hour conversation with any philosopher or historical figure from any time, who would you pick and what topic would you choose?
I’d talk to the seventeenth-century Wendat statesman Kondiaronk, about his political philosophy. In the Baron de Lahontan’s travelogue, New Voyages to North America, he reports a philosophical discussion with an Indigenous leader identified in a letter as Kondiaronk. It’s debated whether the views expressed in the dialogue are those of the historical Kondiaronk, or just Lahontan’s own. If I could just talk to Kondiaronk that would sure be an easier way of ascertaining his views on things.
If you were a brick in the wall which brick would you be?
I’d like to be a Lego brick, they’re the most fun. You can build anything you’d imagine with them—the sky’s the limit. Also, nobody would dare walk all over me!
What’s your top tip or advice for APA members reading this?
This isn’t really advice, but just a reminder that there is a real appetite for philosophy out there in the wider world. People have questions about logic, metaphysics, or how to live well. A lot of the public appetite for philosophy is being satisfied by charlatans or well-intentioned people who don’t always have the depth of understanding of professional philosophers. It’s incumbent on us to make our knowledge useful and available to everyone. Whether that means communicating our research more effectively, or stepping out of the academy and into public life, you have something to offer.
This section of the APA Blog is designed to get to know our fellow philosophers a little better. We’re including profiles of APA members that spotlight what captures their interest not only inside the office, but also outside of it. We’d love for you to be a part of it, so please contact us via the interview nomination form here to nominate yourself or a friend.
Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall is an editor at the Blog of the APA who currently teaches philosophy, religion, and education courses solely online for Montclair State University, Three Rivers Community College, and St. John’s University.
