Field philosophy
Last updated: Tuesday, 02 July 2024
Interdisciplinary, applied approach to philosophical inquiry. Unlike “armchair” philosophy, which relies on theoretical reasoning, field philosophy seeks to understand philosophical problems through empirical research and interaction with specific individuals, cultures, and contexts. Field philosophers use methods such as interviews, participant observation, and narrative analysis to uncover the hidden assumptions and values shaping philosophical debates.
Modelled, more or less explicitly, on the idea of field science.
Like a geologist interpreting the ancient historical events that led to the formation of a rock outcrop, field philosophers maintain an awareness of their situatedness in an unfolding problem-solving episode. Field philosophers embed themselves in natural contexts, clarifying goals and values and expanding the decision space for complex problems. — Evelyn Brister and Robert Frodeman, “Digging, Sowing, Building: Philosophy as Activity” (2020)
Often involves being part of a cross-functional or interdisciplinary team, addressing a real-world problem through sustained engagement. Responding to specifics, in real time, rather than approaching the problem through abstraction.
Field philosophy facilitates collaboration between philosophers and practitioners, supporting a reciprocal exchange of knowledge. This collaborative, experiential approach expands the scope of philosophical inquiry, fostering more inclusive frameworks, and generating new questions, concepts, and theories.
Acting as a critical friend, an honest broker? Facilitating exchange, translating between specialist vocabularies, Widening the terms of debate?
Adjusting standards and criteria based on partners/stakeholders, to whom one is responsible. Aim is to make pragmatic interventions; influencing events ‘on the fly’ (Brister and Frodeman 2020)? Outputs in formats other than standard academic publications (artifacts, policies, practices, etc.).
In the wider world people constantly operate under constraints; it’s just the nature of things. Rather than treating these conditions as a burden, field philosophers see them as an opportunity. Like the rules of a game or the structure of a haiku, constraints become opportunities for creativity. The report is due at the end of the month: can you say something useful by then? You have one brief opportunity to make your point: can you make it ring? — Evelyn Brister and Robert Frodeman, “Digging, Sowing, Building: Philosophy as Activity” (2020)
- [?] What constitutes “the field” in field philosophy? Is it a location, a community of people, a set of practices, or some combination of these?
- [?] What are the specific mechanisms by which field immersion shapes philosophical inquiry? Exposure to new perspectives or contradictory evidence, developing empathy and understanding of lived experiences, etc.?
- [?] What models or frameworks exist for understanding interdisciplinary collaboration and integration in field philosophy?
- [?] Why is this way of doing philosophy needed now? What external pressures or forces is it responding to?
Tags: epistemics
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