Philosophical Practice, Philosophical Counseling, Trans-Sophia
What is Philosophical Practice and what is Philosophical Counseling?
Philosophical Practice emerged in the 1980's with the aim of making philosophy directly relevant to our everyday life - our everyday predicaments, dilemmas, experiences, longings. It was born, in part, out of frustration with academic philosophy, which was seen as too abstract and remote from the concrete life of the person in the street.
In everyday life we often face basic life-issues: What does friendship require of me? What is meaningful in life? What does it mean to be free? What is true love? Such issues have been discussed by philosophers throughout the ages, but mainly in an abstract and impersonal way. If philosophy wishes to address those issues in a personal way so as to be relevant to the individual's concerns, then it can no longer be limited to theoretical discussions about general ideas. It should, rather, be a practical activity that weaves philosophical self-examination with everyday personal concerns. It should, in other way, be Philosophical Practice.
Philosophical Practice can be practiced in various frameworks: in a workshop for the general public led by a philosopher, in an egalitarian group of companions who help each other examine themselves philosophically, by an individual philosophical seeker who is on a personal journey, or in the form of counseling sessions with a counselee who wishes to consult a philosopher.
The latter format, probably the most popular nowadays, is called Philosophical Counseling. In Philosophical Counseling a philosophically trained counselor meets counselees for one or more sessions, discusses with them their personal predicaments, and attempts to help them explore philosophically the meaning of their predicaments and ways to address them.
The idea of using philosophy to help individuals address life-issues is of course not new. It can already be found in ancient Greek philosophy. But in its contemporary form it was born in the early eighties, when Gerd Achenbach opened his philosophical practice in Germany and founded the first association devoted to the field. Since then the field has been expanding rapidly. The First International Conference (organized by Ran Lahav and LouMarinoff) was held in Canada in 1994 at the University of British Columbia, and the Eighth International Conference (organized by JoseBarrientos) took place in Sevilla, Spain, in 2006. Numerous groups and associations operate today in countries such as Germany, Holland, Norway, Italy, Spain, Portugal, England, USA, Mexico and Peru, and many individual practitioners operate in additional countries throughout the world. These associations organize discussion groups, workshops, conferences and training courses. There are also several journals devoted to the topic, as well as university courses and programs.
What is the aim of Philosophical Practice, and what are its methods? There is no consensus on these issues. But generally speaking, some philosophical practitioners have a pragmatic orientation - they seek to help the individual address specific problems and solve them: dissatisfaction at work, tensions in the family, low self-esteem, etc. In this respect they are similar to many forms of psychological counseling and psychotherapy, which likewise seek to deal with these issues.
Others regard Philosophical Practice as having more unique goals and methods, and as aimed at developing self-understanding and wisdom (or 'Bildung'). Through a philosophical self-examination individuals gradually learn to go beyond their limited attitudes to life, to open new horizons of life, and develop a broader and deeper understanding of themselves and their world.
The present website is oriented towards the latter approach: Philosophical Practice as a search for wisdom.
What is Trans-Sophia?
According to Plato’s famous allegory, we are like a person sitting in a cave, chained to our chairs, facing the wall. We can see only the shadows dancing in front of us, and therefore imagine that this is reality. In other words, we are enclosed in a narrow worldview that comes from limited and distorted interpretations of ourselves and our world. Our plans and hopes and fears and preferences are usually based on a superficial understanding of human reality, and on simplistic and limited assumptions. Nevertheless, we can go out of our small world, if we are only freed from our chains, if we get up and turn around and step out of the cave, and in this way open ourselves to a broader and fuller reality.
This is the basic vision that motivates spiritual philosophy, or Trans-Sophia: the search for broader horizons of understanding and of life. It is based on the realization that I am enclosed in a limited and limiting world, or what can be called my ‘perimeter’, and on the yearning to go out, to transcend my boundaries, and to take part in greater horizons of reality.
The spiritual-philosophical process is composed of two elements: first, a philosophical self-examination of my perimeter. This stage is very much like a process of philosophical practice or philosophical counseling, in which I expose the worldview in which I am imprisoned, and the ways it shapes my perimeter and limits my world. Here the second element begins, that of seeking to go beyond the boundaries of my narrow perimeter, a movement that is essentially spiritual. Here I seek to awaken parts of me that are beyond my perimeter, and discover that I am more than myself, more than the patterns and mechanisms that I call ‘me’. Correspondingly I discover that reality is bigger than the world I know.
The yearning to go beyond our mundane boundaries towards a greater reality is central to many approaches – philosophical, spiritual, religious - in all cultures and at all times. But usually it is mingled with myths and doctrines, theories, alleged knowledge, laws of religious authorities, rituals and scriptures. Trans-Sophia seeks the pure going beyond, without authorities or sacred truths, without a guru, without formulas. It does not look for an alternative perimeter. Because only at the point of openness, only where we stand with empty hands, only there we can go out of our cave, and out of all caves, to a realm of existence that is bigger and more real.
This process is, then, a personal inquiry that is free and open. No pre-given theory, no ideology, no theory or religious schema, no pre-given knowledge should stand in the way of this inquiry. This is an inquiry that accepts no authority, but seeks to question anything that declares itself to be known and obvious. Here the seeker must start from the very beginning. And precisely because the seeker does not try to capture the world with formulas and methods and theories, he or she is free to take part in a greater reality.
From philosophical practice (and philosophical counseling) to Trans-Sophia
Anybody who has been impressed by the power of philosophical inquiry to help us examine ourselves and our world – but has also encountered the limitations of philosophy, would appreciate Philo-Sophia. Such a person would seek to examine himself or herself philosophically, but would also want to go beyond it, to realms that lay beyond analytic thought.
This is how I, too, arrived at Trans-Sophia. For years I have been practicing philosophical practice and philosophical counseling – I worked as a counselor, led workshops in many countries, organized conferences, taught and lectured in universities, wrote and published articles and books. During those years I came to realize how powerful philosophy is in investigating ourselves. But I also came to realize its boundaries. Philosophical self-examination can expose what Plato calls our ‘cave’, or what I call our ‘perimeter’: the narrow world we construct for ourselves with our rigid patterns of understanding. But from this point onwards philosophy cannot help anymore. In order to step out of our ‘cave’ we need more than philosophical thinking tools, because this is a spiritual step that requires not only thinking differently, but also being differently. It requires that we live from deeper, unfamiliar parts of our being and give them voice in our lives. Philosophical investigation can take us through great insights to its boundaries, but from then on the road continues beyond philosophy, beyond sophia, trans-sophia.
Trans-sophia is based on the realization that I am imprisoned in a narrow and rigid ‘perimeter’, but that I am also capable of going beyond it. I am enclosed in a world constructed by my patterns of thinking and feeling and behaving, but I can also transcend my boundaries. I can be more than myself and take part in broader horizons of reality.
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