AGORA - THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHICAL PRACTICE

Articles on the history of the philosophical practice movement

PHILOSOPHICAL PRACTICE – QUO VADIS?   by  Ran Lahav

Philosophical practice is a movement, born in the 1980s, of philosophers who believe that philosophy can be made relevant to the life of the person in the street. They believe that philosophy can help make life fuller and more meaningful, and it should therefore interest the general public, not just professional philosophers. However, when we look at the present state of the movement, we note that its success among the general public is (still?) quite limited.

To understand the situation of the field, as well as its future potentials, it is important to reflect on its history. I believe that the way we are doing philosophical practice now is largely a product of historical choices we made in the past, and that these were not necessarily the only or the best choices possible.


THE EARLY DAYS OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL PRACTICE MOVEMENT     by  Maria da Venza Tillmanns

The philosophical practice movement started during the early nineteen eighties in Europe as well as in the United States. It seems to be a perfect example of a Zeitgeist phenomenon. The time was ripe, and a number of people with a strong interest in philosophy "suddenly" had the brain wave, why not apply philosophy to everyday life? Why not apply it to the " the malady of the quotidian . . . ?"

Some present-day philosophical practitioners recounted how they wanted to study philosophy precisely for its merits with respect to lived life itself and how disappointed they were to find out that academic philosophy seemed to have stripped philosophy of its application to lived reality.


ФИЛОСОФСКАЯ ПРАКТИКА – QUO VADIS?   by  Ран Лахав

Философская практика – это, родившееся в 1980-х годах, движение тех философов, которые полагают, что философия может быть применима к жизни простого ординарного человека. Они верят, что философия может помочь сделать жизнь более полной и более значимой, и поэтому это должно интересовать широкую публику, а не только философов-профессионалов. Однако при взгляде на текущее состояние дел следует отметить, что успех этого движения среди широкой публики (все еще?) весьма незначительный.

Чтобы понять ситуацию в этой области, а также ее будущие, важно поразмышлять над ее историей. Я полагаю, что способы, которыми мы осуществляем философскую практику теперь, являются в основном продуктом исторического выбора, который мы сделали в прошлом и что эти способы не обязательно были единственными или лучшими из всех возможных.

 

 Call for Papers 

We invite you to publish here papers about any aspect of the history of the philosophical practice movement: about its overall development, about specific stages in its history, about earlier historical precursors to the movement, about the development of your own local association, and so on. Papers should be between 1000-8000 words more or less, written in any major language but preferably in English. Papers which have been previously presented as a lecture, or published elsewhere, areacceptable provided we receive permission for re-publication.

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