This is a reply to six "Theory and Research in Education" commentators on views I expressed in a 2013 "Theory and Research in Education" piece about priorities in philosophy of education today. The first section is about a concession to my critics; the second, about various misconceptions in their views. The third section restates my central thesis in favour of a more practical conception of philosophy of education than is now common. The argument is set against the background of historical changes in the subject over the past half century.