counselling
The aims of philosophical practice reach back to the ancient Greek philosophers who saw philosophy as a way of life, as a practice of care for the soul and of living well in the world with others. Its modern revival began in Europe in the 1980s and has now spread across the world.
Philosophical counselling is characterised not by techniques or theories but by a commitment to consider each person’s life and troubles on their own terms. I think of it as a kind of hostel for travellers in need of shelter, companionship and local knowledge. No doctor, no patient. Just engaged, ongoing conversation about this particular life: what is happening, what is to be done, and what it all means.
This is at once a therapeutic, ethical, educational and political practice. It combines skills of the mind (questioning, discernment, reasoning) with the art of dialogue (speaking and listening with care and attention).
To borrow R.D. Laing’s definition of psychotherapy, it remains an obstinate attempt of two people to recover the wholeness of being human through the relationship between them.