A Companion to Public Philosophy

15Peace Literacy, Public Philosophy, and Peace Activism

CHRISTIAN MATHEIS AND SHARYN CLOUGH

1 Introduction

Public philosophy and activism for peace and justice – understood to include social, procedural, restorative, and transformative justice – share a rich, collaborative history. The contributions that public philosophers have made to research, practice, and activism for peace and justice include a broad range of activities, from protests, demonstrations, and civil disobedience, to lobbying, advocacy, editorials, teach‐ins, and workshops. Peace literacy is a recent approach to this collaboration that highlights the mutually reinforcing relationship between philosophical reasoning, practice, and activism. Modeled on the work of Mahatma Gandhi and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., peace literacy conceives of peace not only as a philosophical goal but also as an activist strategy and skill set that needs to be taught and practiced, just as we teach and practice literacy in reading and writing (Clough 2021). Peace literacy shows why public philosophy and activism for peace and justice are better together while providing a practical framework designed to make the collaboration stronger and more effective. While not all public philosophers would be comfortable playing the part of peace activists, and vice versa, we discuss philosopher/activists whose lives model the strengths of this dual identity, especially in ways that align with a peace literacy framework.

We focus on public ...