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Book Review 

 

Intentional Disruption: Expanding Access to Philosophy 
 
Edited by Stephen Kekoa Miller  
Vernon Press, 2021  
173 Pages  
Price: Hardback $64.00, ebook (via Vernon Press) $75.00      

 
 

Review by Susan T. Gardner  
 
 

 
  
s you read this book, which you should, you will be tempted to stand up and clap in 
celebration of the energy, dedication, and passion that these extraordinary people—the 

authors in this edited collection—infuse into their determination to bring the potential life-
transforming influence of philosophy to the general public. While all signal an awareness of 
Philosophy for Children as it was first envisioned by Matthew Lipman, the route that these authors 
take is different. Though they all incorporate the “dialogical mode of learning” that is central to the 
Community of Philosophical Inquiry (CPI), the facilitators that most of these programs use are 
undergraduate and graduate philosophy students rather than school teachers. In so doing, they short 
circuit the worry of “inquiry failure” due to the lack of philosophical sensitivity on the part of non-
philosophically trained teachers, and they reinvigorate the discipline itself, as these university students 
witness firsthand the benefits that accrue to those with whom they have the opportunity to 
philosophically engage.   
 

The generosity exhibited by these authors is also quite breath-taking. Though each article only 
gives a rough outline of the program that each inspired, many also give URL addresses to websites that 
give readers access to the material that they have road-tested in their various programs. For those of us 
who believe, like these authors, that dialogical philosophical interchange can be a life-transforming 
experience, for those who are convinced that humanity has taken a detour in the wrong direction by 
focusing our educational energies too exclusively toward the neoliberal “productivist” vision, for those 
who would like to see philosophy students brimming with pride over the service-learning that their 
department offers the community, buying this book as a celebratory gift for anyone who might think 
likewise would be a way to “pass it forward.” 

   
The collection begins with Stephen Miller, the editor of the collection, who offers invaluable 

advice for answering frequently asked questions from those considering starting a pre-college 
philosophy program. To begin with, he implicitly suggests flexibility in implementation by noting that 

A 



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one might decide to employ the Socratic Method which is more teacher-centered than the more 
traditional Community of Philosophical Inquiry, but that in either case, an unknown destination is 
optimal (p. 4). Following Socrates, Miller suggests that the biggest virtues of this approach “lies in 
disabusing us of false belief” and learning that “learning is social” (p. 4). Among the aims that might 
be adopted by any practitioner are helping participants recognize the difference between an empirical 
claim and a moral claim, nurturing conceptual clarity (p. 5), and cultivating the habit of questioning 
one’s own presuppositions (p. 9). Miller thus reiterates the importance of “unlearning” (p. 10). He 
emphasizes that all of us believe things that are untrue and argues that Socrates has shown us how 
believing something false might cause us to live diminished lives (p. 11). He interestingly warns us, 
though, that if delivered badly, a program that enhanced thinking skills “can make students become 
more biased, selfish and confirmed in their previous understanding” (p. 8). He warns us too that, 
since philosophy is messy and inefficient, if a school’s mission is about information delivery, 
philosophy classes may well be seen as threatening (p. 11). With regard to the question of whether or 
not philosophy can teach students how to live a good life, he reminds us, quoting Laverty, that 
philosophy is not about imparting wisdom, but rather about promoting the kind of philosophical self-
reflection that prompts individuals to reflect on how their actions give expression to the kind of 
individual that they are becoming. As a final note he says that, though philosophy’s reputation as 
being a troublemaker is well-founded, “if inquisitive, thoughtful and engaged students are what a 
school is seeking, pre-college philosophy may be just the right thing (p. 14). 

 
Chapter 2 focuses on the Iowa Lyceum which is a week-long philosophy summer camp hosted at 

the University of Iowa, organized and run entirely by philosophy graduate students for campers aged 
thirteen to eighteen. Lectures are given by graduate students and professors, but the primary format is 
doing philosophy in the form of dialogue and interactive activities (p. 28). Participants themselves have 
the opportunity to create their own presentations that they give to the group at the end of the week. 
The authors (Danielle Colburn, Cassie Finley, and Joe Glover) stress that the overall aim is for 
participants to develop what they refer to as the intellectual virtues of being curious, open-minded, 
intellectually courageous, interested in truth for its own sake and being eager to engage in effective 
inquiry (p. 30) so that ultimately participants “develop a new approach to life” (p. 30). The authors 
also stress that a major benefit that accrues from the camp being run by graduate students is the 
personal and professional development of the graduate students themselves. They not only learn to 
express complicated philosophical ideas in a way that is accessible to non-philosophers (p. 25), they 
also often discover a passion for teaching pre-college philosophy. They note, as well, that it is no small 
benefit that this experience can set a graduate student apart from their peers when moving through a 
highly competitive field going forward (p. 26).  

 
In Chapter 3, Erik Kenyon describes a P4C program that he developed for Rollins College, a 

small liberal arts college near Orlando Florida using Tom Wartenberg’s Big Ideas for Little Kids. 
Initially, the program was designed to send undergraduate philosophy students to teach P4C to a 
gifted class in a nearby elementary school. The program then morphed into teaching 3- and 4-year-olds 
in lab school at the College. For the younger ones, the format was altered so that each lesson opened 
with a game, which was followed by mini-discussions throughout the reading of a picture book, and at 
the end, children were invited to translate some of their thoughts into art (p. 39). So, a lesson on 
bravery might open with a blind-fold game, followed by discussions about Frog and Toad in Dragons 



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and Giants, and end with children being invited to draw an image of when they thought they were 
brave. Speaking of bravery, Keyon provides a number of helpful references for those brave enough to 
explore doing philosophy at the Pre-K level. Keyon also describes a completely different program, one 
in which he tweaked his first-year course to help the Office of Career and Life Planning to create an 
internship that was genuinely exciting for interested graduates. Since internships are becoming 
increasingly necessary for graduation in the US (p. 41), this was a particularly innovative undertaking. 
As well, since studies have found that undergraduates tend to be “unengaged,” or “dabblers,” or 
“unrealistic dreamers” or “motivated but directionless” (p. 43), engaging undergraduates in this sort of 
service learning so that they can do their part in rectifying the decline of civic discourse (p. 37, p. 46) 
would seem to be the prefect medicine for reinvigorating university education.   

 
In Chapter 4, Marisa Diaz-Waian describes her passion for doing public philosophy through her 

institute called “Merlin,” in her native Montana. Merlin’s many atypical forms include Street 
Philosophy (51), Field Philosophy, Popular Philosophy, Activist Philosophy (64), Philosophy Walks (p. 
73), Hayride-Philosophy (p. 77), Philosophy Night School (80) and Think and Drinks (80). All of 
these varying formats are anchored in philosophical dialogue which Diaz-Waian likens to a 
horticultural tool: it is “central to the cultivation and development of ideas, ourselves, and others” (p. 
60). She warns us, though, that “what is often disguised as dialogue may actually be a monologue that 
excludes and dehumanizes others, blocks knowledge production, promotes self-interests, and 
normalizes inaction” (p 60). She argues that philosophical dialogue that is worthy of the name 
requires humility, openness, courage and a certain kind of relinquishment wherein all parties 
experience the “deconstructive and transformative power of the question itself” (p. 60). In 
underscoring the importance of public philosophy, Diaz-Waian speaks to the relevance of this entire 
collection, by quoting Jules Evans who writes that: “Without street philosophy, academic philosophy 
becomes irrelevant. Without academic philosophy, street philosophy becomes incoherent” (pp.6-3). 
She emphasizes, however, that though academic philosophy is critical for public philosophy, unlike 
academic philosophy, public philosophy is not about expanding the knowledge of the history of 
philosophy. It is rather about “Finding Your Way with Philosophy” in the sense that we each are 
required to figure out how to be in this messy world of ours (p. 83). In a lovely complex analogy, she 
writes that philosophy can be considered “a trusty steed, a light house in the storm, and a thing which 
can inspire, and ‘lead out’ what is beautiful in all of us” (p. 84). 

 
Memphis, Tennessee is the Blackest city in the US with a P4wC program. Since this is the 

location of Christian Kronsted and Jonathon Wurtz’ program called Philosophy Horizons (PH), these 
authors speak with authority when they suggest (in Chapter 5) that we may err if we try to Socratize as 
usual when inquiring with students who come face to face with racism on a daily basis. They argue, 
nonetheless, that this kind of dialogical pedagogy is particularly important for these students in order 
to help mitigate the pedagogical deficits of the public school system (p. 93) since such programs help 
develop critical thinking and analytic skills that allow them to formulate positions with clarity, 
precision, and depth and to critically and respectfully evaluate the positions offered by others (pp. 93-
4). As well, these sorts of programs can help underrepresented youth enroll in college by offering 
philosophy classes for college credits. It is of note that, in three years after instituting their program, 
the graduation rate of the high school they serve jumped from 55% to 82% (p. 94). With regard to the 
specific topic of racism, some comments are contentious, e.g., that the racist views of Kant, Hegel, and 



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Heidegger ought to be taken into account when considering the merits of their philosophy (p. 97). As 
well, some may find that they are too quick to jump on the bandwagon of accusing Western 
Philosophy in general, and Lipman in particular, of “white-washing” philosophy. They criticize, for 
instance, the “color-blind” impartiality approach of a CPI since it can quickly “lead to the most 
precarious of our students having to put their life experiences on display for all to scrutinize” (p. 98). 
While few would doubt the truth of this claim, it is not clear that this, in and of itself, is a fault. In my 
own practice of running CPIs in university philosophy classes, I have found that there are very few 
topics that don’t ultimately lead to the most precarious of the participants (with respect to the topic at 
hand) “having to put their life experiences on display for all to scrutinize.” Take the topic of rape, for 
instance—some students have been raped; or the topic of immigration—some students are first 
generation immigrants; or a topic that focuses on attitudes towards China—some students come from 
mainland China; or the topic of abortion—some students have had abortions; or even the topic of 
death—some students have recently lost loved ones. While CPIs around these topics usually begin with 
an exchange of impersonal abstract reasoning, e.g., Kant would view rape as wrong because it is an 
assault on a person’s right to autonomy, as the dialogue moves to, say, comparisons to other forms of 
assault, e.g., one man punching another, it is rare for an inquiry not to circulate to deeper levels when 
individuals recount (often with tears) their own personal experiences of sexual assault “for all to 
scrutinize” in defence of the claim that rape is worse than non-sexual assault.  Yes, these topics are 
intricately tricky, but, more often than not, a genuine sense of solidarity emerges as participants bring 
themselves and their personal experiences to the table. And speaking of solidarity, here too Kronsted 
and Wurtz, in trying to see the “whitewashed” Emperor’s clothes in P4C, fault Lipman whom they 
claim assumes that all CPIs are characterized by solidarity (p. 96, p. 98), something they say that is 
clearly missing if participants are of diverse races. It seems to me, though, that a more generous and 
realistic interpretation of Lipman’s work is that with luck, sensitivity and skill, a CPI may result in a 
sense of solidarity, which is precisely what Kronsted and Wurtz themselves seek (p. 99). Nonetheless 
Kronsted and Wurtz bring up an important point when they suggest that, with regard to difference, 
the gap may be so wide amongst participants, that one ought to at least pause before attempting to 
engage in a CPI. As an example, they relate an instance in which a young black woman asked: “Why 
do Black people believe in Christianity when Christianity was used to enslave Black people?” (p. 104). 
The resulting dialogue was productive for this all-Black group, but one can only imagine that it would 
have been anything but productive had the participants been of diverse races. 

 
In Chapter 6, Sarah Vitale describes a Philosophy Outreach Project (founded in 2015) in which 

university students engage in philosophical dialogue with high school students across Indiana. Vitale’s 
particular concern is that the educational system in general follows what she refers to as a 
“productivist logic” which “values practices that increase productivity and profits and devalues 
practices that fail to do so. It converts all practices to economic ones and prioritizes market exchange 
over all other human interactions” (p. 114). She notes that while school passes itself off as neutral, 
nonetheless “it works to support the capitalist economy, preparing students for their respective roles 
in the economy and then ‘ejecting’ them into the workforce at the appropriate level of preparation” 
(p. 120). It is not surprising then that the space to do philosophy is crowded out when every moment 
must be accounted for and when every activity is subjected to a cost/benefit analysis (pp. 114-5). To 
emphasize the dire situation, she notes that the number of academic positions in philosophy is 
decreasing, and not only are whole philosophy departments shuttering but entire humanities 



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departments are closing down (p. 115). Vitale is fighting back against this productivist tsunami by 
supporting her university, Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, in their effort to provide grants to 
support students engaged in community-based philosophy projects, which they call immersive learning 
or high-impact experiences (p. 123). One particularly innovative event that Outreach puts on is a 
Conference for pre-college Philosophy Engagement (CPPE), a one-day interactive conference for high 
school students held at the end of the spring semester that has numerous breakout sessions including 
“Speed Philosophy.” In “Speed Philosophy,” 5 or 6 high school students are given 5 minutes to 
discuss a question pertaining to a presentation later in the day.  Since 5 minutes is never enough to 
address the question, students become energized for future discussions. All in all, Vitale urges us to 
find ways in which university philosophy students can philosophically engage with high school 
students since it is a win-win that will help in the struggle against the impact of productivism on the 
greater public (p. 128). 

 
Philosophy for the Young (P4Y), a program that was initiated by the University of Pennsylvania, 

is the focus of Chapter 7. In it the authors (Dustin Webster, Stephen Esser and Karen Detlefsen) 
describe the many formats that their project has embodied. In one format, high school students are 
invited to come to campus on Saturdays to engage in philosophical dialogue with undergraduate 
philosophy students. Aside from igniting an interest in philosophy, this has had the added benefit of 
familiarizing high school students with college life (p. 132). In another format, philosophy classes and 
clubs were initiated in schools in Philadelphia (p. 135). Yet another format was the initiation of 
lunchtime, after school and early morning philosophy clubs call Think and Talk clubs. Running 
Middle school Film and Philosophy clubs is yet another format. An intriguing and unusual format 
was P4Y’s collaboration with Mighty Writers which offered students practice in philosophical writing 
which, as it turned out, offered those who might have more trouble with dialogue a chance to shine 
(p. 137). A more formal format was an 8-week course offered to high school students entitled “The 
Philosophy and Ethics of Science” (P. 137) with the view to nurturing literate consumers of scientific 
information. One important point that they stress is that it is essential for everyone to understand the 
difference between empirical and non-empirical claims along with the different kinds of reasoning 
that supports each (pp. 137-8). P4Y is also heavily involved in the Ethics Bowls, an event that, 
importantly, differs from debating in that, rather than being adversarial, the teams are assessed on the 
degree to which they can learn from one another (p. 139). With regard to this format, not only are 
undergraduates trained to be Ethics Bowl coaches, but several weekend workshops are also offered at 
the university campus for any teams or students who want extra preparation and coaching (p. 140). 
This has the added advantage of building strong connections between area high schools and the 
university. P4Y is even in the early stages of creating an Ethics Bowl Coaching manual. And finally, yet 
another intriguing initiative is the establishment of a Graduate Certificate in Public Philosophy that 
creates a formal path for students to develop their capabilities as they engage members of the 
community (p. 143). This certificate reflects P4Y’s belief that philosophical tools and knowledge can 
contribute to improving civic dialogue about contentious issues. Indeed, it reflects the belief that all of 
us who have philosophical training have a moral obligation to help cultivate the knowledge and skills 
needed to effectively engage the public in doing philosophy (p. 143). 

 
In the final chapter, Joseph Murphy describes a full year course in an independent high school 

in New Jersey in which the History of Philosophy is taken in Spanish by those who are philosophically 



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and linguistically fluent. “How odd,” was my first thought as I began to read. And then, to my 
surprise, I learn that there is such a thing as the International Philosophy Olympiad (IPO), for which 
students must write a philosophy essay in one of four languages, but not in their native tongue. So, for 
US students, the essays must be written in German, French, or Spanish, hence the motivation for 
combining Spanish and Philosophy in one course (p. 163). And since Murphy has a degree in 
philosophy from Montclair State University and worked with Mathew Lipman, it is hardly surprising 
that his mode of teaching is dialogical and hence is the perfect format for students to enhance their 
Spanish proficiency while diving into the intricacies of philosophy (Murphy also has a degree in 
Hispanic Studies from a university in Spain). Though preparing students for the IPO has genuine 
power to motivate school administrators to include philosophy in the general curriculum, it is evident, 
when reading this chapter, that Murphy’s prime motivation is not to prepare students for the contest—
amazing though it is, given the opportunities to travel to, among other countries, Norway, Estonia, 
and Italy. His prime motivation seems to be to push back against the rampant idiocy that has infected 
society all the way up to the highest reaches, e.g., alternative facts (p. 157).  How is it possible, one 
wonders, that relatively intelligent students believe that everyone has a right to their own opinion and 
that if you believe something, that is equivalent to it being true (159)? How is it possible, one wonders, 
that most schools include critical thinking as one of their most important goals and yet, in terms of 
actualizing that objective, do little except for sending out the implicit message that critical thinking is 
nothing more than deep reading and careful listening to the teacher to make sure that what the 
teacher is saying is well understood (p. 156)? How is it possible, one wonders, that we live in a world 
in which there are serious issues such as racism and sexism that “scream out for the kind of 
clarification that philosophical and ethical analysis can provide” (pp. 156-7), and yet stand-alone 
philosophy and ethical classes are close to non-existent in high school? How is it possible, one 
wonders, that educators consistently tell our young people that they are the future leaders and yet, at 
the same time, consistently deny them the sort of education that would equip them with the skills 
necessary to make the sort of sound ethical decisions that are integral to any leadership position (p. 
157)? All in all, then, this chapter is about subterfuge: how to get philosophy to young people without 
too much notice. Murphy even suggests that, if getting philosophy into schools continues to be such a 
hard sell, young philosophy graduates ought to consider getting certified in a subject that offers them 
a surreptitious route, e.g., English, History or one of the IPO languages, so that they can remain true 
to their passion for bringing philosophy and critical thinking to school age youngsters (p. 165). 

 
It is fitting that this remarkable collection that focuses on expanding access to philosophy 

should end with this explosion of passion, something that clearly drives all these practitioners. And 
each, in their own way, have offered a roadmap. This extraordinary collection might just be the 
catalyst to popularize doing philosophy with those outside the academy—a movement that would surely 
make this world a significantly better place.  
 
Address Correspondences to:  
Dr. Susan T. Gardner   
Professor of Philosophy, 
Capilano University, North Vancouver, BC, 
Canada, V7J 3H5. 
Email: sgardner@capilanou.ca  

mailto:sgardner@capilanou.ca

