Does Politics Need More Philosophy?

Comments

[Maria Antonietta Perna]

Thank you for all the interesting philosophical debates on your web site.

In connection with this particular one, I'd simply like to add that 'politics' has also an important, wider dimension in the context of everyone's everyday life, tha is, in the way power relations are articulated and impinge on how people relate to themselves and others in their family life, with their friends, and in the workplace.

From this perspective, for example, what about politics in philosophy departments?

To what extent, for instance, does philosophy enter into the way power relations are managed within philosophy departments? Has philosophy become the 'habit' of thought, as Baroness Warnock most aptly expressed the concept, among professional philosophers as they deal with Heads of Department, with more vulnerable colleagues, with colleagues in committees of research funding bodies, etc. And does this 'habit' generally favour or hamper the flourishing of their careers?

In short, do trained professional philosophers by and large make a difference when it comes to the politics of their own back yard?