“Even though we fought common enemies, at times the lure of individual solutions made us careless of each other. Sometimes we could not bear the face of each other’s differences because of what we feared those differences might say about ourselves.” — Audre Lorde
On the surface level, a conversation with a philosopher may seem like an odd choice for publication the day after the US presidential elections. But I am confident that fellow soulful revolutionaries will welcome this care-full conversation with Erin Choi, Philosophy of Religion PhD student at the University of Oxford, as a welcome antidote to the frenzied, careless action Audre Lorde described as all too common amongst changemakers. I offer it to you as a kind of sacred pause from the blur of activity around us — a chance to center yourself in your values and discern what is yours to do in the work for justice.
Choi chooses her words with incredible care. She embodies the need she names for thoughtful, reflective pauses in the midst of action for the sake of justice. With humility and in love she offers up practical insights, encouraging us to practice recognizing our limitations and remembering ourselves as part of a whole.
Rooted in the timeless philosophical tradition of dialogue, this episode of A Soulful Revolution is full of fresh insights for soulful revolutionaries today.
About Erin:
Erin Choi is a PhD Candidate at the University of Oxford. She is currently working on virtue ethics – specifically focusing on the virtue of humility within a Platonic framework. Through her work on humility as a moral and epistemic virtue, she envisions applying this virtue in the context of political polarization and the ethics of conversation.
Erin is interested in cultivating virtues such as curiosity, open-mindedness, and attention to other people and affirming the plurality of perspectives and values across different religious and political views. She enjoys learning from interdisciplinary methods and incorporating different cultural and religious traditions. In her free time, she enjoys reading Greek mythology, Russian novels, and Arabic poetry.
Philosophy for a world on fire: Erin Choi on the power of pausing to reflect