Why Philosophy? Céline Leboeuf
How a forced introduction led to my vocation
What is philosophy to you?
Philosophy is the discipline that sets out to answer some of the fundamental questions that stir us as humans: What is the nature of the universe? Is there a god? What am I? How should I live? What do I owe other people? Notice I said, “set out”! Philosophers never settle on anything, at least not definitively. And that’s a good thing: the effort to work out these answers shapes us as individuals. It would be a pity if the questioning could somehow come to an end.
More fundamentally, I consider philosophy to be a way of life—a conception of the field that I was introduced to toward the end of college while reading Pierre Hadot’s scholarship on ancient philosophy. After a few years learning about the philosophy of science (more below), addressing topics in epistemology, and reconstructing historical arguments, I was ready to refashion my understanding of what I was up to. Hadot’s idea that philosophy was not merely a form of inquiry, but a personally transformative exercise, was the insight that launched my career and explains why I’m still going at it, decades later.
How were you first introduced to philosophy?
It was a forced introduction: I had to take philosophy! I spent my teenage years in France, and part of the high school curriculum is a year of philosophy. I was primed for the course in my junior year by reading the first volume of Simone de Beauvoir’s autobiography, Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter. I saw how pivotal studying philosophy was for her, so I couldn’t wait to dive into my first class. In general, the French built the reputation of the philosophy course so much that, even without Beauvoir, I was bursting with anticipation. Over the summer leading up to my senior year, I read René Descartes’s Discourse on Method and Alain de Botton’s popular work The Consolations of Philosophy, which surveys several common life issues (e.g., romantic heartbreak) and offers solutions to them grounded in canonical authors.
I loved philosophy from the start. Plato, Descartes, Kant, Nietzsche—they all dazzled me! However, two texts ended up being decisive. We were assigned excerpts on the nature of scientific reasoning and change: one was from Karl Popper and the other was from Thomas Kuhn. When I came to the U.S. for college, I casually flipped through the course catalog and stumbled on a description of a class called “Philosophy of Science,” which listed readings by Popper, Kuhn, and a few others! That was the end of my aspirations to be a scientist and the beginning of my vocation as a philosopher. In my junior year, I made a last-ditch attempt to become an astrophysicist, but I was too far down the philosophy rabbit hole...
How do you practice philosophy today?
I’m a professor, so I practice philosophy in a fairly conventional way. I primarily research topics in feminist and continental philosophy and teach a wide array of courses, running the gamut from the Philosophy of Death, Existentialism, Phenomenology, and the Philosophy of Gender and Race. My pedagogy is inspired by Hadot’s conception of philosophy as a way of life (see above). That’s why I try, as best I can within the parameters of a traditional college course, to infuse his perspective into my classes. For instance, I assign essays where students must first strive to build an Aristotelian virtue (courage or temperance) before writing about their experience doing so. I also incorporate creative projects, where students craft a piece (a musical composition, painting, short story, etc.) that conveys some aspect of the course content. This task pushes them to step back from readings and channel their understanding of philosophy in a novel way, one far more original than the traditional academic essay.
What is a philosophical issue that is important to you?
I have spent the last ten years thinking about embodiment. The impetus came from my reading of Beauvoir’s The Second Sex and my own struggles with body image issues. Beauvoir describes how, at puberty, girls begin to garner the attention of boys and men and start to internalize their gazes. This self-objectification often disrupts their earlier, uncomplicated, relationships to their bodies. Likewise, beauty standards, such as today’s norm of feminine slenderness, can also distort a positive connection to ourselves as embodied beings. But bodily alienation extends beyond these experiences: the ways we look at those of different races or who have visible disabilities can also distance them from their bodies.
What books, podcasts, or other media have stood out to you as a philosopher?
As you can probably tell, I’m a huge fan of Beauvoir and return again and again to her works. If you’ve never had a look at her memoirs, I recommend those. Start with Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter. Of course, you should also check out The Second Sex and her feminist essays.
In addition, I find inspiration in Stoicism and often reread Epictetus’s Enchiridion and Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations. Their advice is invaluable, in particular, the injunction to focus only on the things within your control!
Lastly, I’ll recommend William James’s “Is Life Worth Living?” — an essay I discovered during an existential crisis. I’m surprised it’s so often overlooked, but it’s a life-altering text!
Céline Leboeuf is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Florida International University. In her research, she tackles important questions about beauty and the body today. How are standards about physical appearance shaped by gender and race? What does it feel like to be perceived as racially ambiguous? To be sexually objectified? Her essays for a general audience have appeared in Medium, the Project Vox blog, and Psyche. You can find out more about her writings at www.ccleboeuf.com.
so awesome!!
"Their advice is invaluable, in particular, the injunction to focus only on the things within your control!" Yes, I so agree.
But.... Exactly how large is that circle? Other than perhaps our pet's food choices, and our bedtimes, what are those things entirely within a person's control?
Thank you for the thought stimulus; your discussion reminded me of Stephen Covey's concentric circles of Concern and Influence. Some people have added a smaller inner circle, the Circle of Control, but I don't believe Covey was a proponent of that. I believe his perception was that we have influence over some things, like our bodies, our choices, etc, but not total control.