The Practicality of Philosophy

Philosophy is sometimes perceived to be an ancient field, dominated by thinkers like Plato and Aristotle. Aaron Abma, Ph.D., sees it differently. In fact, what Abma appreciates most about philosophy is its sheer practicality and relevance in 21st century life. As he has experienced it, philosophy brings some of the world’s most enduring and fundamental questions, about “humanity, the world and the nature of right and wrong,” to the foreground. Ethics, the area of philosophy in which Abma specializes, focuses on, in his words, on “how to live.”

A native of Grand Rapids, Mich., Abma is an assistant professor in Le Moyne’s Department of Philosophy, where he teaches Introduction to Philosophy and Moral Philosophy. He derives joy from sharing a variety of classic texts with his students, from Plato’s Republic to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. These works pose invaluable questions, including what it means to live a flourishing life and what it means to respect the rights of others. However, Abma also takes care to bring modern literature, including novels and short stories, into his classroom discussions. Doing so, he says, “makes some of the issues and questions raised in classic texts less abstract.” 

Many of the conversations in Abma’s classroom center around challenging assumptions about what matters and what doesn’t. By the time his students graduate, he hopes that, whatever professional paths they choose to take, they will be able to engage in careful and rigorous work to address complex realities. He wants them to be prepared to give their lives to something meaningful.