In what follows I will briefly consider certain ways in which philosophy may be made to become more applicable to practical issues. The problem of applying philosophy is as old as Socrates and as recent as the Institute For Applied Philosophy, of which we here are a part. Philosophy may become more practical in such ways as:
1) Exercising the Socratic gad-fly method.
2) Encouraging professional philosophers to present to the public, in a popular manner, certain philosophic problems and issues.
3) Seeking to establish a method by which to engage in philosophic analysis that bear on practical issues.
4) Focusing on "applied" discipline such as Medical Ethics or Business Ethics.
5) Concentrating on a particular area(s) of philosophy such as Philosophy of Mind and or Philosophy of Language, area that may be useful in shedding light on problems in the area of medicine, pertaining to brain problems.
6) Applying philosophy to the social sciences.
7) Introducing philosophy to the general public.
I. Socrates, Thoreau, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr., among others, were interested in social justice; with philosophic perspectives they regarded themselves as employing philosophy to bring about social changes to advance the cause of justice for the poor and outcast. Their respective philosophies were expressed in the form of gadflies, that is, social-political actions, by which the state and other social institutions were prodded into making greater effort to do right to the oppressed.
II. Charles Peirce (1839-1914), the founder of Pragmatism. In so doing he sought to make philosophy practical. Pragmatism was regarded by Peirce to be a method by which to ascertain the meaning of beliefs -- meaning was to be established by determining the practical bearing that the consequences of a belief have on the environment. Peirce focused on scientific beliefs -- e.g. causality, mass, energy. Peirce was quite technical. William James (1842-1910) popularized Pragmatism by concentrating on the broader areas that included of psychology and religion. He also focused on certain specific metaphysical problems such as free will, determinism, the nature of consciousness and the nature of God. Other Pragmatism applied the method to such areas as law, government, education and economics. James was a Harvard trained physician who turned to psychology and philosophy.
III. Establish a Method. One can attempt to make philosophy practical by establishing a methods by which to engage in philosophic enquiry. In the history of philosophy, two such methods that have broad practical applications stand out; namely, Pragmatism, previously mentioned, and Phenomenology, of which Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) was the founder. Phenomenology provides a means by which to examine descriptively, the essence of things as they appear, that is, the essence of phenomena, without making any commitment about the ontological status of the things in question. Phenomenology seeks to focus on those dimensions of experience such as love, friendship, freedom, caring, anguish and anxiety, among others, that have been ignored by positive science. Many areas in the social sciences e.g. anthropology, history, sociology and psychology have benefited at the practical level from phenomenology. The same is true of the humanities and other disciplines. It is quite ambitious even to entertain the idea of establishing a novel philosophic method. What one can attempt to do is to make us of the existing ones.
IV. Applied Ethics. Within the past few decades now area of enquiry arose that made a greater effort to devote attention to the normative aspects of Medicine, Engineering, Law and Business. Collectively, these considerations came to be know as Professional Ethics, the aim of which was largely to examine the normative principles which underlay the respective disciplines. The principles were intended to address certain pressing dilemma and perplexities that tend to arise within the various professions. The conceptual framework for Professional Ethics is customarily provided by the ethical traditions of Kantianism (e.g. The Critique of Practical Reason, Kant) and Utilitarianism (e.g. Utilitarianism, Mill). A few institutes for applied philosophy have been established around the U.S. dedicated to the above task. (Business Ethics, for example, might find useful Richard T. DeGeorges's Business Ethics, 2nd edition, 1986. Also Ethical Issues in Modern Medicine, by Robert Hunt and John Arras, editors, may be useful for Medical Ethics).
V. Particular Area(s) of Philosophy. The Institute For Applied Philosophy may seek to concentrate on a particular area of philosophy such as Philosophy of Mind or Philosophy of Language. Presently, the philosophy department here at FAU - thanks to Mr. William Dietrich - is seeking to fill an Eminent Scholar's Chair in the area of Philosophy of Mind. That scholar may be a valuable resource to the Institute for Applied Philosophy and the larger public generally. Like William James, such a scholar may be effective in presenting to the public (and brain specialists) certain problems pertaining to Philosophy of Mind. Similar considerations could be given to the Philosophy of Language, since this seems to be a general interest among members of the Institute.
VI. Philosophy and the Social Sciences. Already the social sciences such as sociology, criminal justice, anthropology, history, economics, and ethnic studies, are keyed to practical issues. Often perplexities and difficulties arise pertaining to methodology as well as contents, some of which may be normative, others matter of facts.
Philosophy may be applicable at this practical level in helping to shed light on such difficulties and examining the presuppositions that underlay the various disciplines. In this connection, philosophy may be useful by providing an axiological schema by which the above disciplines may examine their normative assumptions and principles. An axiological schema such as the one provided by Alain Locke or John Dewey may be a means by which the various areas of the social sciences establish unity among themselves. As a practical matter philosophy should have as its goal the search for unity and harmony, within the schema of things. Obviously I prefer this approach to Applied Philosophy.
VII. Philosophy to the general public. What I described above from 1-6 applies mainly to an organization constituted mainly by individuals who have had extensive training in academic philosophy. The very name Institute For Applied Philosophy suggests that such an organization will be constituted by individuals trained in philosophy and are capable of transmitting such knowledge to others, engaging in research and publishing its results. The philosophic organization that we have established here in Fort Lauderdale obviously does not satisfy the above academic criteria, and as I understand it, it was not intended to do so. Now the question is, how can the Institute For Applied Philosophy here in Ft. Lauderdale (and now later in Hendersonville, NC) take philosophy to the general public to the degree to be regarded as applying philosophy? This question in itself is a difficult one. An approach to this may lie in the following: This Institute may wish to re-think its objectives so as to allow them to square with some of the approaches mentioned above in 1-6. Of course, such approaches are not mutually exclusive; and, two or more could be combined, for example. If such a course were adopted, then the Board Members of the Institute would assume primarily an advisory role and profit from the philosophic activities only indirectly by attending lectures and conferences offered by the Institute, which in turn would thrive on the efforts of the professional philosophers associated with the Institute.
An alternative would be to encourage Board Members who are not trained in philosophy to seek to acquaint themselves with certain themes or problems in philosophy and then attempt to impart that knowledge to the public. This latter mentioned course is difficult to pursue effectively, considering the fact that most Board Members are engaged on non-academic vocation, and it requires an extensive period of time to acquire philosophic skills.
One other alternative would be to regard philosophy as a means by which individuals (lay persons) may be enriched intellectually. The Institute could be organized mainly around "reading sessions" and invite selected individuals or representatives form various organizations to attend the reading sessions, which would meet on a regular basis and which would focus on certain themes and problems in philosophy. Greater efforts may be made to invite individuals from a cross-section of the community -- government, religious, educational and business institutions, to attend these reading and discussions. Whichever course we choose, it is imperative that we formulate the objective(s) of this Institute in such a way that the Institute will be perceived as something that is appealing an unique. This Institute has great potential and it has my support.
Johnny Washington,
June 15, 1989
*Formerly Ass't Professor of Philosophy at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL.