Israel/Gaza War: Philosophers Wanted
by Bob Schwartz
“This is why people hate moral philosophy professors.”
The Good Place TV series
The Good Place TV series, created by Michael Schur, is probably the only show to even mention moral philosophy professors, let alone feature one as a main character. Or to be expressly about education in moral philosophy.
The show suggests that maybe the antipathy toward moral philosophy professors is because they don’t offer decisive answers—on the one hand, on the other hand, on the third hand.
I suggest a different perspective. People don’t actually hate moral philosophy professors because they don’t actually know any. Also, the moral questions philosophers raise can be troublesome, inconvenient and uncomfortable. Difficult situations are hard enough as practical matters without adding the burden of philosophical investigation.
I have long thought that philosophers should aggressively take a forward position in our popular public conversations. News channels should regularly feature them on their constant panels of experts. Why? Because so many news issues contain an essential moral element—an element that is glossed over or completely ignored.
The latest issue that begs—screams—for that treatment is the current Israel/Gaza war. From the combatants to the those suffering to those cheering or booing from the sidelines, every choice is saturated with undiscussed moral questions. Raising those questions doesn’t mean actions or minds will be changed. It means that those choices will be beneficially couched in a bigger context.
So, philosophers, please answer the call. Push your way into the public conversation, not just in the classroom, not just in your writing, not just in social media posts, but on the biggest platforms you can find. You may not have a network TV show like Michael Schur, but you can find your stage.
Bob Schwartz 
no one in Israel is cheering the deaths of Palestinian civilains.
terroists is different but every Israeli mourns the loss of human life as one of most sacred things in the culture.
Thank you for reading and commenting. I went back to this post from months ago. Nowhere does it say or imply that any Israeli is cheering those deaths. What it does say is that some people were/are urging the war, some were/are opposing it, expressed as “cheering” and “booing”. All this post asked for, all I have been asking for, is for everyone to be thoughtful, rather than reflexive. That’s why my call for philosophers, who are in the business of helping us to think things through, like Michael Walzer. Being true to our tradition involves a lot of painful wrestling (see, for example, Jacob/Israel).