"Except that psychology has a lot of the same problems as sociology: there still aren't a set of rules and standards that apply across all cultures. A Western psychologist would likely think someone wanting to commit suicide was exhibiting symptoms of mental illness; but a Japanese psychologist might see it as a reasonable response in the context of that culture or society to some other event. And together, the social and psychological aspects of a society define its underlying philosophy. The philosophy of Bushido was developed in Japan several hundred years ago – but its still such an integral, underlying part of Japanese society that most Japanese don't even recognize it as such any more. And in turn, that philosophy affects their culture, which affects their psychology, which affects their philosophy. It's the same way for every other culture and ethnic group and race on the planet, too."
"The difference is that philosophy is more 'generic' than psychology or sociology – philosophy tries to find answers to questions, rather than explanations for events or situations the way the others do. That's philosophy's greatest strength and weakness at the same time: it's far too easy to find a generic answer without considering how to use that answer in a meaningful way. Without the context provided by sociology and psychology, the answers you find with philosophy can't easily be used to solve actual real-world problems."
"Anyway" I went on, "while I was doing my philosopher schtick, I did a fair amount of thinking about people, too – how we treat each other, and why. I decided that women are people, too" – "Thank you" Edith says, wryly – "and that I shouldn't treat you any differently than I would anyone else. I try to treat women – as individuals – the way they show me they want to be treated. You and Denise, you show me that you want to be treated gently and courteously; and you told me you like for a guy to be considerate – so that's what I try to do. If you'd acted differently, I'd have treated you differently; and if you'd treated me differently, I'd have acted accordingly. I guess the difference between me and most guys is that I'm behaving the way I've already chosen to, and know Why."
Denise comes in with the tray just as Edith asks "You were majoring in Philosophy, and dropped out in your Junior year. Why?"
"Because what they were teaching us was crap. I was reading a book by this guy that everybody else says is the 'father of modern philosophy', like he's the 20th Century Plato or something. Except the book I'm reading, he's going on about how because the word 'water' is an English word, and that the word for water is different in other languages, it doesn't have any meaning – that it's an arbitrary construct that has no value. Except that I knew it did have meaning. The word 'water' is the English symbol for the concept of water – and that even though other languages have different symbols, the concept was still valid. Water is water, whether you call it aqua or l'eau or wasser or anything else. I realized then that if somebody making that kind of silly-ass argument could get the kind of attention and respect he does, then whatever else they were trying to teach me, it wasn't Philosophy. That's when I chucked all the books and other bullshit, and left. I'm still a philosopher, but I'm practicing what I call applied philosophy."
Denise hands each of us a cold bottle and half a sandwich before she asks "Why do you call it 'applied' philosophy?"
"Because I'm applying the lessons I've learned, and my philosophical principles, to my real life."
"How does that work?" she asks.
I tell her "One of my principles is that it's wrong for one person to force another person to do something they don't want to do, or wouldn't do otherwise. With that settled in my mind, it wasn't much more for me to decide that if I saw something like that happening and had what I considered to be a reasonable chance of stopping it, then it was my duty – imposed on me BY me – to put a stop to it if I could. When I was first starting out, there were situations where a pimp was forcing one of his girls to do something; but he was either armed, or enough bigger or meaner than me that for me to try and stop him would have been counterproductive. Tonight, with Edith and that… character, I was able to do something. I did it not because of any hope or expectation of any kind of reward, but because if I was in a similar situation, I'd want someone to do something to help me. Someone that fusses about how much crime there is, but isn't willing to say or do anything to minimize it, is ethically and morally bankrupt on the subject – they have no morals or ethics regarding crime, and all their talk counts for nothing without action to back it up. Similarly, my philosophical outlook on my job is that I owe anybody that gets in my cab my best effort, honestly rendered, and performed in a pleasant manner – simply because they are willingly providing me with the opportunity to earn my livelihood. Sure, sometimes I get someone that has an attitude for one reason or another – when it happens, I try to find out why and see if I can't help them find a way of changing that attitude. Some don't have any interest in changing, and that's up to them – it's their life. Others want to change, but don't know how; they're the ones I can help the most. The rest are just having some temporary 'issues' and will find their own end when it's right for them; all I can do for them is maybe say something to them that'll help it happen sooner. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't; but if I want the world to be a better place, it's up to me to at least TRY to make it that way."
At that point, Edith spoke up, saying "It works, Jim. I think it was about the third or fourth time I was riding home with you, and I was telling you about one of the other people in our office that's always bitching and moaning about things. You looked at me with the mirror and said 'sometimes, you run into somebody that just isn't happy unless they have something to fuss about, no matter how small it is'. At first, I thought it sounded pretty flip, and that you were just being a smart-ass. But you'd never said anything like that to me before, either – so I took a second to really think about it. And I realized that that pretty much described the person I'd been telling you about; I wasn't going to change them, and they didn't seem to have any interest in changing themselves, so there wasn't any point to letting it bother me: IF they were really a problem, I knew how to deal with it. Instead of being upset and distracted by it all night like I'd thought I would, what you said gave me a way to set it aside. By the time I got up here, it was completely out of my mind, and I had a very pleasant evening after all, thanks to you. The next day, I sat down with them and explained how their actions were affecting the rest of us, and gave them the chance to change their ways. They didn't, and I eventually had to transfer them out of my area; but I never brought it home with me again."
I couldn't resist giving her a hug and saying "Thank you. It's nice to know that it works, sometimes."
Denise looks at me speculatively and says "I think you probably have more of an effect on people than you know. Even before you told us you dropped out of college, I figured you were quite a bit smarter than most people. The way you talk – your words, your voice, even your attitude – it makes people listen to what you say. Maybe you don't get the chance to see the results as much as you'd like, but I'd be willing to bet that the things you tell them make a lot of folks start thinking differently about whatever is bothering them, just like it did for her."
Edith tells me "I was real surprised when you said that about sociology and psychology being tied together more than most people realize. After I'd been working in market analysis for a few years, I started wondering why the different segments of the market reacted so differently from each other, but more-or-less consistent individually, so I went back and re-read my Sociology textbook from college. It explained a lot, but not everything; it wasn't until I was watching some Public Broadcasting Station program about how psychology is practiced differently in different countries that I began to understand why I could count on different segments to react in certain ways, within limits. But it took me almost ten years to get that straight in my head, and you figured it out before you got out of college."