Al Mele has a nice piece on drinking, taking responsibility, and self-deception. It was written in the context of a campaign against drunk driving and is therefore very accessible to non-philosophers. The campaign was launched by Pernod Ricard USA. This fact may strike some as odd, but I think that every decent attempt of philosophers to get involved in the public life is commendable, and I applaud the fact that a first-rate philosopher (and Gardener :)) has taken this step.
I don't mean to imply that philosophers in general or Garden-type philosophers in particular have never been involved in public issues -- off the top of my head, I can remember Joel Feinberg's piece on equal punishment for both failed and successful attempts to commit a crime (which, I'm told, is being discussed by Canadian legislators), Bonnie Steinbock's piece in which she argues that deaths caused by drunk drivers should constitute 2nd degree murder and not merely manslaughter, and a couple of pieces by Gary Watson on responsibility and addiction -- but still, the (more or less direct) involvement of philosophers in public issues is less widespread than what I believe would be desirable. It might be interesting to discuss, then, a set of interrelated questions, which I put forth below. (I'm afraid these questions reveal my ignorance rather than setting up the issues in an interesting way, but at least they might trigger some discussion).
1) What are the implications of philosophy in general, and Garden-type philosophy in particular, for public life? (I know, this is a monstrously broad question, but still... Also, I know there's a post, with a long thread of comments, about whether there are any straight implications of Garden-type philosophy for the public life -- or at any rate, for the notion of legal responsibility, if I remember correctly -- but I can't seem to find it now. Pointers?)
2) Are there any institutions that attempt to bridge the gap between academic philosophy and the public life?
3) Related to the last point, In what ways could philosophers get more involved in the public life?
4) What Garden-type philosophers are (more or less directly) involved in the public life?
Some caveats: I'm aware that the expression "Garden-type philosophy" is too broad. One may argue that, for instance, research on the Consequence Argument has no practical implications, whereas research on self-deception and control does. Also, the kind and degree of "involvement in the public life" are left unspecified above. I mentioned Steinbock's paper on drunk driving. But that was a paper published (I think) in Philosophy and Public Affairs. Is that to count as an intervention in "the public life," or should this expression refer to something a bit more tangible (e.g., working with legislators)? One last thing: perhaps this post sounds a bit more skeptical than it should be. I have to acknowledge that, among other things, with the increasing acceptance of experimental philosophy -- alongside increasing Garden-related news in the mainstream media -- perhaps the situation is not as bad as I assume. However, I think that the questions above are still worth discussing.
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