Page 253 - Contribution To Phenomenology

246 STANFORD M LYMAN & LESTER EMBREE

special disciplines (and multi-disciplines) and the level of philosophy.
Something has ah-eady been intimated in this respect where the generality
of philosophical concepts and the scope of the big picture we try to
outline are concerned. I see two components to the philosophy of Ethnic
Studies. Such a philosophy does not have to be phenomenological in
orientation, but for reasons that this is not the place to get into,
Phenomenology is, I believe, the most fruitful approach here as
elsewhere. One component of phenomenological philosophy has to do
with how another discipline is best approached philosophically and the
other component has to do with what phenomenological philosophy gets
from doing so.
Of course, philosophical phenomenology is also basically an effort at
reflecting and describing. "Basically" does not signify, however, that this
is all that it does, for it is also concerned with a type of explanation that
consists in attempting to justify, and for some phenomenologists it
culminates in action, so that philosophy is a practical discipline. We are
here concerned with Ethnic Studies. This is a multi-discipline and
philosophy, it seems to me, ought to be included in multi-disciplines if
only because of how, being more different, so to speak, than the other
participant disciplines, it can help keep recognition of differences and
limitations in view, although this might not always foster harmony.
Philosophy is different, not only with respect to the generality and scope
of its thinking but also because, on my view, it is not concerned with
exploring race and ethnicity from a different point of view among
specialized points of view, but rather by being obUque and pondering how
such a matter can be approached from many interrelated points of view.
Thus it is reflectively critical as well as general or comprehensive in its
purpose.^
For phenomenological philosophy, that is a philosophical task that can
be performed in Ethnic Studies. But you are now concerned with
phenomenology of Ethnic Studies. That is right. But I want to make a
contrast with what I have just said: The phenomenological philosophy of
Ethnic Studies proceeds from an outside point of view. It can attempt to
observe and describe what it is to be a multi-discipline in contrast to a
uni-discipline and to an inter-discipline, compare Ethnic Studies with
Women's Studies, Environmental Studies, and other multi-disciplines, etc.,
whether or not these reflected upon matters include philosophy. They
should, I would say, but probably often do not, and it can at least be
wondered whether that is a good or bad thing. And just as a third point

^ See Lester Embree, "Methodology is Where Philosophers and Human
Scientists can Meet," Human Studies 3 (1980), 367-373.