Philosophy....academic or practical?

I don't see how anyone can think philosophy impractical after thinking about it at all. Every time somebody makes a value judgment, they're doing philosophy, which means that studying some philosophy can help them do it better. Just try to avoid making any value judgments for a whole day, see how practical it is to avoid philosophy.

Just as an example, what is more practical than ethics? What is your idea of a practical subject, chemistry? Do we use knowledge of chemistry more often than judgments about what actions are right or wrong?

Go to a philosophy department, and you're likely to find ten immensely prectical and community-involved people for every one head-in-the-clouds type that people who are not working philosophers assume that working philosophers must be.

Seriously, it's the oldest of all academic disciplines. Why should "academic" be "impractical"? Engineering is an academic discipline, but I don't hear anyone calling it impractical.

What the heck. Your question puzzled me at first glance. Then I realized that it's a false dilemma and you're confused. Academic philosophy IS the practical kind. I completely agree with tuesdaysgreen. Most philosophers at universities are very practical people, I'd even argue more practical that the everyday layman, and they use their knowledge and research to work with the rest of the community. Philosophers of mind can work with computer scientists on problems concerning A.I. Ethicists work with politics, public policy, medical ethics board advisers, etc. Philosophers of science may collaborate with scientists to help solve problems about time and space. I don't know where you get off saying that philosophy is ether academic or practical. That's the problem with many of the people here on Y!A. Pretty much nobody knows a lick of academic philosophy. They might as well call this section "random questions" Hardly any of the questions here actually relate to academic philosophy. Or if they do you have to bend over backwards to make them.

btw. tuesdaysgreen, if you read this. I've seen tons of your answers. You're actually one of the very few people here that I agree with almost every time they answer something related to philosophy. I notice you cite SEP a lot (which is prob why i agree with u so much. you're giving answers from articles written by scholars) I can't tell if you're like an undergrad or a graduate student in philosophy who actually knows a lot, or if you're just really good at doing research with SEP. Either way you actually give real answers. Just wanted to let you know. It's refreshing for this section.

The Stoic philosopher Epictetus wrote, "What is philosophy? Does it not mean making preparation to meet the things that come upon us?"

(Discourses 3.10.6).

If philosophy is not practical - if it cannot help one to understand the world, oneself, one's actions, purpose, suffering - then it serves no purpose. Academic philosophy, to me, is no more than mental masturbation. It's not going to finally do anything meaningful for you.

I've known plenty of people who have read Plato in order to be able to say "I've read Plato" and one would never guess, from their behavior, that they'd ever read anything deeper than the Sunday Comics section. If philosophy doesn't in some way impact, change, help direct your life, help give you perspective in a dark time, it's worthless.

Mainly practical...In order to maintain a certain level of happiness and understanding in my own day to day life, philosophy provides to me a certain level of propriety and morality.

I think it's a combination of natural understanding & knowledge

I base it on logic mostly, so I suppose a combination.

I declare victory.