Philosophical practice is as varied as the methods and subject matter of philosophy itself, and thus may include approaches that involve analysis of the narrative self employing the methods and materials of philosophy. Empirical research suggests that the coherence of the constellation of the narratives constituting the narrative self is associated with an increased sense of purpose, meaning, and authenticity. In this paper, a practitioner (Daude) and a client (Peters) present the use of a philosophical parable, the Three Metamorphoses of (...) the Spirit,” from Nietzsche's Also Sprach Zarathustra, as a means of effecting greater narrative self-coherence through interpretation and revision. Our aim is to provide a glimpse, from both perspectives, not only into the philosophical methodology of narrative self-analysis but also into particular moments in the genealogy of transformation revealed by this approach. (shrink)

Logic-based therapy (LBT) is an approach to philosophical practice that involves finding philosophical ideas that can serve as “antidotes” to clients’ emotional problems. I examine philosophical arguments from an ancient Chinese text, namely the Zhuangzi, and from four Buddhist texts, namely the Bodhicaryāvatāra, the Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta, and the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. The Bodhicaryāvatāra contains several antidotes to the fallacy known within LBT as “Damnation of Others.” Arguments from the Zhuangzi, the Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta, and the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā may be helpful antidotes to the fallacy (...) of Awfulizing about death. (shrink)

Central to philosophical practice is the application of philosophers' work by philosophical practitioners to inspire, educate, and guide their clients. For example, in Logic-Based Therapy (LBT) philosophical practitioners help their clients to find an uplifting philosophy that promotes guiding virtues that counteract unrealistic and often self-defeating conclusions derived from irrational premises. I will present the argument that Simone de Beauvoir’s existentialist ethics can be applied as an uplifting philosophy as per LBT methodology, and therefore has utility for philosophical practice. Additionally, (...) I will propose that Beauvoir’s existentialist ethics, as an uplifting philosophy, may act as an antidote for ideological obsession and ideology addiction. I will also suggest that LBT may be a suitable intervention when challenging the unrealistic conclusions derived from illogical premises in practical reasoning that contribute to ideological obsession, because it can contest irrational beliefs in a way that could mitigate the fragmentation anxiety that often arise when individuals relinquish maladaptive self-object organizations. (shrink)

I hope to show that mental disorders are not analogous to physiological diseases. I hope to show that a mental disorder like bipolar disorder cannot be located in the brain in the way a physiological disease like cirrhosis can be located in the liver. Mental disorders, unlike physiological diseases, lack a locatable corporeal basis to serve as a visible fulcrum on which to be based. However, I hope to also demonstrate that it is a mistake to infer the inexistence of (...) disorders from such an absence of a locatable corporeal basis. There are countless phenomena including the force fields pointed out by physics that lack such a basis but whose reality isn’t doubted; by the fact of such absence alone, we have no reason to doubt the existence of mental disorders, nor, for that matter, the existence of the minds thatexperience them. (shrink)

The discipline of Mental Health Counseling, referred to in this essay as Counseling, has no substantial philosophy. In the United States, much of Counseling philosophy is rooted in the American Counseling Association’s code of ethics. However, this is a code of material conduct, not a substantial Counseling philosophy, and by this orientation the distinction between doing and the knowledge that informs activity is not understood important. Counseling theories thereby adhere in a third principle that is left to disseminate in foreign (...) powers. This is to say, Counseling is commonly understood as a name for a loose set of theoretical practices bound by ethical standards, that these practices are reckoned to lay apart from one another while all referencing or otherwise answering to psychology. Due to this deferment, the apparent rise of mental health issues could be attributed to a weakening of intentional focus, since psychology, by its own scientific standard, is less a standard of care than an experimental method oriented in discovering and implementing an objective reality through which it then offers corrective protocols. This essay draws upon philosophical efforts more rigorous than a granting of epistemological deferment to propose that Counseling is a practice unto itself, in-itself, of a true substance, concerned, involved with, and related to psychology but not subject to it. (shrink)

Starting from an unorthodox account of conceptual idealism as represented (going backwards historically) by Thomas Hofweber, Nicholas Rescher and Robin George Collingwood (mainly with regard to its potential use in historical understanding), this short study attempts to couple it with the important cognitive finding that emotions inform judgment and regulate thought.1 In my search for a bridge between the cognitive and emotional contents of conceptual understanding, LBT appears to offer the long sought after interfacing, through its take on emotional and (...) behavioral reasoning. Although this study is in its early stages, the idea can gain pace and produce evidence that LBT is not only a beneficiary of academic achievements but also an important provider of solutions to crucial philosophical puzzles such as the nature of understanding in epistemology of history. (shrink)

Bhagwad Gita, also known as the Gita, is an important ancient Indian text, written around the 3rd Century BCE. The Gita appears in the 18th Chapter of the epic, Mahabharata, written by Sage Vyasa. It is set on a war front. The Bhagwad Gita is presented as a dialogue between Arjuna, one of the warriors, and Krishna, his charioteer who was also a king. Arjuna is shown to be confused and conflicted about fighting in the war against his unjust cousins (...) and teachers. Krishna, on the other hand, attempts, through various means, to counsel him about his duty by explaining the workings of mankind and the world. He points out the flawsin Arjuna’s reasoning and helps him clear his clouded judgement. In doing so, Krishna gave away secrets to living a meaningful life. Although the Gita is addressed towards Arjuna, his message applies to each one of us as humans who are at times conflicted, unsure and resentful. It contains eternal wisdom on the best ways to live our lives while also taking into consideration differences in personality and preference. Logic-based therapy is a modality of philosophical counselling developed by Dr. Cohen that suggests that human beings have certain faulty ways or illogical ways of thinking and interpreting life circumstances that manifest in the form of irritation and other day-to-day issues like procrastination, anger, management issues, low self-esteem etc. To solve such issues, which he calls Cardinal Fallacies, it is necessary to think rationally and transgress those illogical thought patterns. Hence, in Logic Based Therapy timeless philosophical ideologies are offered as antidotes by which people can adopt new ways of thinking and solve such everyday problems. This paper attempts to show how different cardinal fallacies can be tackled by using the eternal wisdom presented in the Bhagwad Gita, in the form of uplifting philosophies. (shrink)

The Community of Inquiry is a pragmatic philosophy concept by John Dewey (1916) representing a "social, cognitive and teaching presence" in a process of collaborative research and learning experience. This article is meant to present a case study based on the experience of forming a community of inquiry with students of a Romanian university. The report will include aspects like: the process of group forming and group facilitation to foster collaborative critical thinking, a few philosophical methods that aimed the consolidation (...) of the group as a community of learning and inquiry as well as the training of individual critical thinking, self-reflective posture and openness to otherness. Results reveal students' initial preoccupations with certainty and difficulties in self expression at the beginning of the semester and presented increasingly more attitudes characteristic to collaborative learning and inquiry by the end of the semester, which is probably an effect of deliberately setting up a specific group culture to facilitate this goal. (shrink)

Most businesses in India undergo disproportionate development as their focus is on making more and more profit. They seem to have no concern for the environment, the welfare of their employees or the unethical practices they follow. This has resulted in problems such as an increase in business rivalry, a widening employer–employee gap, a disconnect with environmental concerns as well as a general disinterest in the well-being of the world. The need of the hour therefore is to weave value-based business (...) models for India based on its rich philosophical thought, deep culture and evolved knowledge systems. This paper proposes to meet this need by initiating value-based consultancy based on ancient Indian philosophical thought. It proposes that it should be done with a focus on the human values approach as reflected in the theory of Purusarthas, different dimensions of Yoga and Vedanta philosophy to improve businesses and business practices from a holistic perspective. This philosophical intervention will certainly help businesses to develop more clarity about unethical practices and the ways to control them. (shrink)

Distress and guilt are common aspects of grief. For many, especially those experiencing complicated grief, guilt can often feel overwhelming and be prolonged. Those grieving are often subject to thoughts of the form “If only X” or “I should have done Y.” Fueling these thoughts is the belief that, somehow, a loved one has been harmed by death. Some who are grieving, often experience the thought that they are disappointing those who have passed or, even, harming the memory of those (...) they love. These feelings have little logical support if, as Epicurus suggests, the dead can’t be harmed, and death is not a misfortune to the dead. In this article I will outline the Epicurean view on death with the expectation that it may be useful in philosophical counseling for those experiencing anguish as a part of the process. (shrink)

This paper inspects the relationship between problem analysis—a fundamental part of many therapeutic approaches—and meaning. In the first part, I argue that problem analysis emerges from the representational theory of meaning. I introduce Wittgenstein’s version of this theory as presented in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, and examine its difficulties. Later, I focus on two fundamental themes of late Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations: private language and rule-following. I argue that the rule-following paradox has disproven the representational theory of meaning. I briefly describe the (...) private language argument and rule-following paradox—a sceptical paradox. Then I provide my reading of Kripke’s sceptical solution to it. I present its implications regarding the meaning and how this is relevant to problem analysis and therapeutic conversations in general. (shrink)