Below is the audio recording of Philip Kitcher’s John Dewey Lecture, “The Whole Function of Philosophy,” given at the 2021 Eastern Division Meeting, which was held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. The full text is available on the APA website (member sign-in is required) as well as on JSTOR.
The audio of the lecture is available here:
“The Whole Function of Philosophy” by Philip Kitcher
Philip Kitcher is John Dewey Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Columbia University. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy from Princeton University and an honorary doctorate from the Erasmus University, Rotterdam. Prior to joining the faculty at Columbia University, he also taught at the University of California, San Diego, and the University of Minnesota. His research interests are in pragmatism (especially Dewey), science and social issues, naturalistic ethics, and philosophy in literature. His books include The Seasons Alter: How to Save our Planet in Six Acts (with Evelyn Fox Keller; W.W. Norton, 2017), Life After Faith: The Case for Secular Humanism (Yale University Press, 2014), Deaths in Venice: The Cases of Gustav von Aschenbach (Columbia University Press, 2013), and Philosophy of Science: A New Introduction (with Gillian Barker; Oxford University Press, 2013). Kitcher served as president of the APA Eastern Division in 1997–1998.
About this series: The Blog of the APA is pleased to publish the Presidential Addresses and John Dewey Lectures given at the Eastern, Central, and Pacific APA Division Meetings, which communicate the ideas and experiences that the renowned philosophers who delivered them felt are most important for people in the field to know. The Blog wishes to thank the APA leadership and Jeremy Cushing for their support and assistance in making these recordings available.
