Philosophical consultancy, also sometimes called philosophical practice or philosophical counseling or clinical philosophy, is a contemporary movement in

practical philosophy The modern division of philosophy into theoretical philosophy and practical philosophyImmanuel Kant, ''Lectures on Ethics'', Cambridge University Press, 2001, p. 41 ("On Universal Practical Philosophy"). Original text: Immanuel Kant, ''Kant’s Gesa ...

. Developing since the 1980s as a profession but since the 1950s as a practice, practitioners of philosophical counseling ordinarily have a doctorate or minimally a master's degree in philosophy and offer their philosophical counseling or consultation services to clients who look for a philosophical understanding of their lives, social problems, or even mental problems. In the last case, philosophical counseling might be in lieu of, or in conjunction with, psychotherapy. The movement has often been said to be rooted in the Socratic tradition, which viewed philosophy as a search for

the Good In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

and the good life. A life without philosophy was not worth living for Socrates. This led to the philosophy of Stoicism, for example, resulting in Stoic therapy. Philosophical practice has continued to expand and is attractive as an alternative to

counselling Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes. This is a list of co ...

and psychotherapy for those who prefer to avoid a

medicalization Medicalization is the process by which human conditions and problems come to be defined and treated as medical conditions, and thus become the subject of medical study, diagnosis, prevention, or treatment. Medicalization can be driven by new evid ...

of life problems. Numerous philosophical consultants have emerged and there is a strong international interest and a bi-annual international conference.

History

Peter Koestenbaum at San Jose State University in California was an early figure in philosophical counseling. His 1978 book ''The New Image of the Person: The Theory and Practice of Clinical Philosophy'' set out the essential contributions of philosophy to counseling. His own practice was augmented by extensive training of mental health professionals in applications of philosophical principles.

Gerd B. Achenbach Gerd B. Achenbach (born 11 February 1947 in Hameln as ''Gerd Böttcher'') is a German philosopher. He is widely noted for founding the world's first philosophical practice in 1981, a contemporary movement in practical philosophy. He received a doc ...

and Ad Hoogendijk are two German and Dutch philosophers who established themselves as consultant philosophers in the 1980s and led the way to a number of other developments all over the world. They proposed an alternative to psychotherapeutic culture by working exclusively within the field of existential investigation with clients or patients, whom they called 'visitors'. The world's oldest association of philosophical counseling and practice appears to be the German Society for Philosophical Practice and Counseling, which was founded in 1982 by Achenbach. In the United States, the oldest association of philosophical counseling and practice appears to be the National Philosophical Counseling Association (NPCA), formerly called the American Society for Philosophy, Counseling, and Psychotherapy, which was co-founded in 1992 by three American philosophers, Elliot D. Cohen, Paul Sharkey, and Thomas Magnell. The NPCA offers a primary certificate in

logic-based therapy Logic-based therapy (LBT) is a proposed modality of philosophical counseling developed by philosopher Elliot D. Cohen beginning in the mid-1980s. It is a philosophical variant of rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), which was developed by ps ...

(LBT) through the Institute of Critical Thinking. The movement is also connected with and related to

existential therapy Existential psychotherapy is a form of psychotherapy based on the model of human nature and experience developed by the existential tradition of European philosophy. It focuses on concepts that are universally applicable to human existence inclu ...

, which has thrived in the United Kingdom since the establishment of the Society for Existential Analysis (SEA) in London in 1988. This was based on the work of

Emmy van Deurzen Emmy van Deurzen (born 13 December 1951 in The Hague, Netherlands) is an existential therapist. She developed a philosophical therapy based in existential-phenomenology. Biography van Deurzen was born and raised in The Hague, in The Netherlands ...

, also a philosopher who has applied philosophical thinking to the practice of psychotherapy. Philosophical consultancy is often applied to business consultancy as well as to individuals, as it frequently involves a rethinking of values and beliefs and is also a method for rational

conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict and retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information abo ...

. Pierre Grimes founded the Noetic Society in 1967 for the study of dialogue and dialectic. He became the head of the Philosophical Midwifery Program when the Noetic Society was incorporated in 1978. The

American Philosophical Practitioners Association Lou Marinoff is a Canadian-born academic, author, and Commonwealth Scholar. He is Professor of Philosophy and Asian Studies at The City College of New York and founding President of the American Philosophical Practitioners Association. Educa ...

(APPA) was founded in 1998 in New York City by

Lou Marinoff Lou Marinoff is a Canadian-born academic, author, and Commonwealth Scholar. He is Professor of Philosophy and Asian Studies at The City College of New York and founding President of the American Philosophical Practitioners Association. Educati ...

. APPA offers a certification program in client counseling for those with advanced degrees in philosophy who wish to practice philosophical counseling. It also publishes a professional Journal and has a membership list of those certified as philosophical counselors on its website. Marinoff was at the center of a 2004 controversy when his philosophical counseling practice at City College of New York was temporarily shuttered by college officials who feared he was offering mental health advice without proper training and licensing; Marinoff responded by suing for what he described as his freedom of speech being stifled. Philosophical practice has continued to expand and is attractive as an alternative to

and psychotherapy for those who prefer to avoid a

of life problems. Numerous philosophical consultants have emerged and there is a strong international interest and a bi-annual international conference. There are a number of important publications in the field. There are presently a number of professional associations for philosophical counseling throughout the world. In India an academic course in philosophical counselling is offered by the Department of Philosophy,

Panjab University Panjab University (PU) is a collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh, Punjab. Funded through both State and Union governments, it is considered a state university. It traces its origins to the University of the Punjab in Laho ...

, Chandigarh and the University of Kerala. In 2020, a project in philosophical counseling in India was awarded by the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

to the Department of Philosophy, Panjab University, Chandigarh. In 2021, a movement related to philosophical counseling started in Bangladesh too. Bangladeshi philosopher, researcher Morsalin Islam Shouradip began this movement by working as philosophical counselor.

Goals and methods

Philosophical consultancy is a relatively new movement in philosophy that applies philosophical thinking and debating to the resolution of a person's problem. Achenbach argues that it is life that calls to thinking, rather than thinking that informs life. The act of philosophising can, therefore, give direction in its own right, as living precedes thinking and practice precedes theory. According to the Preamble of the NPCA Standards of Practice, :a philosophical practitioner helps clients to clarify, articulate, explore and comprehend philosophical aspects of their belief systems or world views. ... Clients may consult philosophical practitioners for help in exploring philosophical problems related to such matters as mid-life crises, career changes, stress, emotions, assertiveness, physical illness, death and dying, aging, meaning of life, and morality. On the other side philosophical practitioners also initiate projects in common life worlds with various goals that are related to essential problems of life, such as sustainable energy, direct democracy, etc. Activities common to philosophical practice include: # the examination of clients' arguments and justifications # the clarification, analysis, and definition of important terms and concepts # the exposure and examination of underlying assumptions and logical implications # the exposure of conflicts and inconsistencies # the exploration of traditional philosophical theories and their significance for client issues # the initiation of projects for common goods # all other related activities that have historically been identified as philosophical.

Variations

The methods and orientations of philosophical counselors vary greatly. Some practitioners, such as

(Germany),

Michel Weber Michel Weber (born 1963) is a Belgian philosopher. He is best known as an interpreter and advocate of the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead, and has come to prominence as the architect and organizer of an overlapping array of international ...

(Belgium) and Shlomit C. Schuster (Israel) are dialogical and dialective engaged, while confessing to a "beyond method" approach. They hold that philosophical counseling has the aim to empower clients' philosophical abilities, which additionally may have therapeutic implications. Other practitioners are more directive and view philosophical counseling as a form of mental health intervention.Raabe, P. (2001). ''Philosophical Counseling.'' Westport, CT: Praeger. Some philosophical practitioners, notably Louis Marinoff (U.S.) and Guenther Witzany (Austria), view philosophical practice as a separate practice area distinct from mental health practices such as psychology and mental health counseling; while others, notably Elliot D. Cohen (U.S.), think they are necessarily intertwined. Some philosophical counselors draw inspiration from the

anti-psychiatry Anti-psychiatry is a movement based on the view that psychiatric treatment is often more damaging than helpful to patients, highlighting controversies about psychiatry. Objections include the reliability of psychiatric diagnosis, the questionabl ...

movement, arguing that widespread mental health diagnostic criteria as outlined in

DSM IV The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (DSM; latest edition: DSM-5-TR, published in March 2022) is a publication by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for the classification of mental disorders using a common langua ...

have unfairly or inaccurately pathologized humanity.See, e.g., Z. Kotkowicz (1997). ''R.D. Laing and the Paths of Anti-Psychiatry'', NY: Routledge According to a ''New York Times'' article on philosophical counseling, "only Cohen and Marinoff have branded easily comprehended techniques. Cohen's

builds on the work of his mentor

Albert Ellis Albert Ellis (September 27, 1913 – July 24, 2007) was an American psychologist and psychotherapist who founded rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). He held MA and PhD degrees in clinical psychology from Columbia University, and was certi ...

, who invented

rational emotive behavior therapy Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), previously called rational therapy and rational emotive therapy, is an active-directive, philosophically and empirically based psychotherapy, the aim of which is to resolve emotional and behavioral prob ...

History

Goals and methods

Variations

References

Further reading