NetSujit World

World Philosophy Day has been and gone again, and again it seems to have left little trace in the UK. It was apparently celebrated in 80 countries, with the main international event taking place in Istanbul last week, starting with an an opening dinner on Wednesday evening and winding up on Friday lunchtime.

Despite its neglect in the UK, UNESCO World Philosophy Day has by now become a fixture on the third Thursday of November (although confusingly the Istanbul event spanned the fourth). Uprooted from its homeland in Paris where it all started in 2002, it has become an itinerant event, held in Chile in 2005 and Morocco in 2006. Next year it will be Italy’s turn. This time it was co-hosted by UNESCO, the UNESCO National Commission of Turkey and the Philosophical Society of Turkey.

But why a world philosophy day? According to the official blurb, its main aim is “to call public attention to the enlightening role that philosophy can play in public life and in facing world problems.” The terms in which philosophy was commended at the event were even more exalted, the gist being that by promoting dialogue and independent thinking, the teaching of philosophy can significantly contribute to the establishment of world peace and democracy. UNESCO seems to have a very high opinion of the powers of philosophy to change the world.

Fittingly, the “day” consisted mostly of a number of round tables with titles like “the role women philosophers could play in shaping the future of humanity” and “what can philosophy contribute to a more human governance of the world?”. It was a shame therefore that the “round tables”, almost all read presentations, didn’t show much evidence of the dialogue that is supposed to be philosophy’s main tool in the transformation of the world.

I’m sure world philosophy day is a good thing – it brings together philosophers from around the world, it may well raise the profile of philosophy, and create more interest in it in the local community. It did seem to be well attended by students. But as I went from round table to round table I couldn’t help feeling that this faith in the powers of philosophy might be a trifle exaggerated: surely we have a lot of counterexamples? Can philosophy really change the world? And is world philosophy day really the best way of increasing its chances of doing so?