Teaching Plato in Palestine, by Carlos Fraenkel

Fraenkel taught philosophy to Palestinian youth, Muslims in Indonesia, Hasidic Jews in New York, teens in Brazil, and indigenous people in Canada. These locations were chosen deliberately to engage issues of ideological conflict and social and racial division, and the struggles of indigenous peoples with colonialism. Engaging minds across cultural divides gave rise to questions that philosophy traditionally has addressed: Does God exist? Does piety matter? Can violence ever be justified? What is social justice, and how can it be realized? Who should rule, and what does self-determination require? Based on his experience, Fraenkel developed what he calls a culture of debate, which encourages the joint seeking of truth rather than attempts to win an argument.