What on earth is practical philosophy?

The Philosopher at Delphi, photo by the Author

Since the beginning of this year I have shifted focus significantly in my public writings, moving further away from general philosophy (and even my own specialty, philosophy of science) and toward what I consider practical philosophy. I have been blogging since 2005, first at a site called Rationally Speaking (which actually started as an “syndicated internet column” back in 2000, before there were blogs), then at…