Ask someone what springs to mind when they think of a philosopher, and you’ll typically get one of three answers. First, they may paint a picture of a bearded robe-clad man wandering ancient Greece’s agoras, discussing the nature of politics while eating grapes. Second, they might conjure up the image of a pipe-smoking, tweeded elderly gentleman sitting in a dusty Ivy League university office, pontificating about a seemingly contradictory facet of existence while the world passes by. Finally, they may stare at you, confused, take a moment, and reply, “What’s a philosopher?”
Each response illustrates a fundamental critique that, while not unique to philosophy, is regularly levied against the discipline—that it’s an esoteric academic pursuit, detached from reality, and offers nothing in the way of meaningful solutions to real-world problems. Philosophy’s critics argue that thinking about ideas, concepts, and questions wastes time. Instead of studying philosophy, you could study science, economics, engineering, law, or a myriad of other subjects, which, according to those same critics, provide the qualifications necessary to get a good job, make money, and live a happy life.
I don’t put much stock in this argument (and I suspect, as an APA Blog reader, you don’t either). There’s a reason people have practiced philosophy across millennia and in every corner of the globe—because it offers something. Because philosophy not only helps us formulate arguments, think logically, and clarify concepts, but because it can revolutionize humanity’s relationship to itself and the world around it, and it has. Think of Anaximander of Miletus’ questioning of divine causes, Karl Marx’s socio-economic critiques, Judith Jarvis Thompson’s challenging of the claim to another’s body, or Peter Singer’s championing of effective altruism. Philosophy, when done right, can change our worldly perceptions and, sometimes, the world itself.
Of course, philosophy must engage with the world if it is to change it. The reclusive philosopher, wandering some ancient university’s corridors, contemplating justice’s true meaning, does the world little good if they never apply their knowledge and skills to solving actual injustices. Philosophy is more than an intellectually provocative field of study; it is a tool employed to tackle the world’s problems. However, to do this, it must engage with that world. Failing to do so means its methods and focus can become so abstract as to dissociate from the issues it initially sought to remedy. And the people who practice it, the philosophers, become oddities, replaced in the cultural consciousness by long-dead thinkers, reclusive eccentrics, or by nothing at all.
Featuring short articles by emergent and established academics, this blog series will show how philosophy is more than just an exercise in mental mastication. The series will act as a home for inventive entries that, rather than conducting philosophy exclusively in the abstruse, apply the discipline’s lens to developing and ongoing events. The works in this series will provide innovative and critical analysis of the phenomena we’re exposed to daily and the local, national, and global events we’re currently living through. Topics that submissions in this series might explore, but are certainly not limited to, include breaking news, scientific innovations, political developments, or cultural trends. In short, anything that can be considered a current, unfolding event.
I will ask contributors to this series to write in an accessible style. To avoid the impenetrable walls of text littered with specialized jargon, which, while undoubtedly useful for those immersed in the discourse, make entry into that discussion challenging (to put it mildly). The series aims to highlight works that entice readers to consider events and trends (in which they may very well be immersed) in revolutionary and exciting new ways. I hope the series will encourage philosophers to engage with those beyond academia’s boundaries and show the value philosophy has in not just asking abstract questions but providing concrete answers.
The Current Events Series of Public Philosophy of the APA Blog aims to share philosophical insights about current topics of today. If you would like to contribute to this series, email sabrinamisirhiralall@apaonline.org.
Richard B. Gibson is Editor of the Current Events in Philosophy series. He is a bioethicist with research interests in human enhancement, emergent technologies, novel beings, disability theory, and body modification.
