7/29/2019 9-2 109 Forum - Raabe - Response to Amir

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09http://www.practical-philosophy.org.uk

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Peter Raabes response to Lydia Amirsarticle How can Philosophy Benet from

Philosophical Practice?

I strongly agree with Lydia Amirs thesis: insights gained from PhilosophicalPractice can and should be used to improve academic or theoretical philosophy.But Id like to point out three things she has overlooked that I feel are relevant tothis discussion.

First, Epicurus, among other ancient philosophers, was very critical of what hecalled empty or useless philosophy. I use one of his most famous quotes in my e-

mail signature: Empty is the argument of the philosopher which does not relieveany human suffering. The reason I mention this is to remind readers that this callfrom philosophers themselves to make philosophy relevant to ordinary life is notrecent. Its been going on for centuries, and with little success. The reason for thisis because there has always existed a large association of academic philosophers,whose love is to study books in solitude and to create tidy theories in their ownminds, for whom the idea of dealing with the messiness of everyday humanproblems and issues is simply too distasteful. For them, incorporating mundanelife into lofty theories is unthinkable.

Second, one of the most inuential recent criticisms of useless academic philosophicaltheorising has come from feminism. Feminist philosophers have strongly andcompellingly criticised the male-developed ethical theories, with their idealisticdemands that moral behaviour be based on justice, or on duty, or on equal treatmentfor all. Feminists have argued, and I think rightly so, that its acceptably moral tobase ones behaviour on the love one feels for others, the personal relationshipsone has with others, and the primacy of consideration for the needs of family andfriends over strangers.

Third, Ms Amir has overlooked the criticism levelled against useless academictheorising, and the call to have the experiences of practical philosophers inform

academic philosophy, in my rst two books, Philosophical Counseling: Theory andPractice (Westport CT: Praeger, 2001) and Issues in Philosophical Counseling (WestportCT: Praeger, 2002). In fact I was publicly chastised by one of the foremost promotersof philosophical counselling for, what he felt, was too harsh a criticism of academictheorising - a position which, incidentally, he later adopted in one of his own books.So, while I support Ms Amirs request for input from philosophical practitionerson this issue, I submit that there already exists a very strong voice which she hasoverlooked.

Peter B. Raabe

peter.raabe@ucfv.ca

Practical Philosophy, Vol. 9.2. July 2008

The Forum

PP9.2 Proof1.indd 109 20/6/08 5:21:46 pm