AAP 2026 CONFERENCE

This is a story of opportunities for field philosophy. Not a paper in the standard sense, more a travelogue of places that philosophers could venture and lend a hand.

Middle managers in the public sector face more philosophical challenges than you might realise. They interface between abstract policy and tangible implementation plans, they decide how the state meets the street, they filter and frame information for policy-making, they decide what matters and how it matters. They may be the enabler or the barrier to hostile actions like ‘robodebt’.

A few philosophers are already working on these challenges. Nancy Cartwright has been working with practitioners on a theory of evidence for evidence-based policy, Anna Alexandrova has worked with social services to co-design concepts of wellbeing with the people who use the service.

There are many ways that Australian philosophers could contribute to better thinking in the public sector through collaboration with middle managers.