9. Not critical thinking but networks of ideas

WHAT IS "PHILOSOPHICAL" IN PHILOSOPHICAL PRACTICE? - string initiated by Ran Lahav

Ran Lahav 20 February 2015

Somebody tells you about a session of philosophical counseling. You listen, and you wonder: But what is “philosophical” in this counseling? Is it philosophical at all?

2. Fulfilling people´s expectations

Carmen Zavala 25 February 2015

If we take into account what most people, whether academics or non-academics, spontaneously regard as “philosophical”, then we could say that whatever approach one uses in a philos...

3. Distinctively philosophical?

Elly Pirocacos 26 February 2015

I suppose that the usual way of responding to this quandary is to talk about what is NOT philosophical, or more precisely what is not philosophical about psychology and the like. ...

4. "Philosophical" counseling versus "Good" counseling

Ran Lahav 27 February 2015

- Tell me please, what is “philosophical” in your counseling? - Well, as a philosophical counselor I don’t impose ideas on my counselees. I don’t express my opinions. A strange a...

5. Dialogical search for wisdom

Zoran Kojcic 02 March 2015

At first, I thought that problem solving was the main goal of philosophical counselling. A few years later, I've encountered this question: “What is philosophical in philosophical ...

6. Philosophy as attitude and content

Stefano Zampieri 04 March 2015

In my opinion, to answer the question “what’s philosophical in philosophical counselling?” we first need to explain what is it, which we call philosophy. The answer has to be a dou...

7. First ingredient: Fundamental issues of human existence

Ran Lahav 06 March 2015

Perhaps we disagree on the definition of “philosophy,” but one thing is clear: Philosophy is the kind of discussions written by Plato and Aristotle, Spinoza, Rousseau, Descartes, H...

8. A shared search for the meaning of life

Laura Capogna 09 March 2015

What is philosophical in Philosophical Practice? My answer is: the philosopher. The way I understand it, more than to philosophical ideas, the adjective "philosophical" is related ...

9. Not critical thinking but networks of ideas

Ran Lahav 16 March 2015

In a previous reflection I said that in order to be "philosophical," a discourse must discuss basic issues of existence. This is a necessary ingredient in any discourse that is phi...

Monday, 16 March 2015 20:00

Written by Ran Lahav

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In a previous reflection I said that in order to be "philosophical," a discourse must discuss basic issues of existence. This is a necessary ingredient in any discourse that is philosophical – but it is not enough. Additional ingredients are needed in order to distinguish philosophy from psychology, theology, etc.

What are these additional ingredients?

Some practitioners believe that what makes a discourse "philosophy" is that it uses logical analysis (or critical thinking). If your counseling analyzes the logic of arguments, or exposes assumptions, or detects logical fallacies – then it is philosophical.

I find this a very strange idea. Is logic the main thing which we learn in a philosophy department? Is critical thinking the main thing we find in books by Plato or Seneca or Kierkegaard or Bergson?

Obviously not. Philosophers do not simply ANALYZE ideas – they CONSTRUCT ideas. Throughout history, philosophers constructed rich and complex theories – theories of knowledge, theories of art, of love, of freedom. These theories help us make sense of life, they inspire us to look in new ways at our world, they help us address basic life-issues.

Of course, sometimes these thinkers use logical analysis, but this is not their main point. Philosophers use critical thinking – but no more than physicists or biologists or psychologists or economists or lawyers. ANYBODY who builds theories or explanations uses critical thinking (logical analysis). There is nothing especially philosophical about it.

This is an important conclusion for philosophical practice. If you do a logical analysis of your counselee's personal problems, then this does not make your counseling "philosophical." If your discussion-group does a logical analysis of a political situation, this is not yet "philosophy." Your counseling, or discussion-group, may be wonderful, but it has no special connection to the historical discourse that is called "philosophy."

Constructing theories about basic life-issues is what all philosophers do. But the words "constructing theories" are too rigid. Some philosophers – think of Bergson, Buber, or Nietzsche – do not build rigid theoretical structures. Rather, they "weave" or "compose" ways of understanding. And what they compose is not exactly "theories," but more generally "networks of ideas."

In summary, let me combine my previous reflection (philosophy deals with basic issues of existence) with the present reflection (philosophy weaves network of ideas): In order to do "philosophy," you must, at the very least, weave networks of ideas which address basic, general issues of existence.

But what exactly is a "network of ideas"? This question deserves a separate reflection.

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Ran Lahav

I am a philosophical practitioner, working with individuals and self-reflection groups. I received my PhD in philosophy and MA in psychology from the University of Michigan in 1989. I then started teaching philosophy at a university in Texas, but was not satisfied with academic philosophy. In 1992 I started practicing philosophical counseling, and a year later started giving at Haifa University (Israel) the first university course in the world about this field, and continued teaching it for 15 years. In 1994 I initiated the First International Conference on Philosophical Counseling, and co-organized it with Lou Marinoff. In 2014 I envisioned the Agora webpage, and launched it together with my friend and colleague Carmen Zavala from Peru.

I now live quietly in rural Vermont (northeast USA), where I write, walk in nature, and teach online at two universities. I also give workshops on philosophical practice around the world. My publications include two novels in Hebrew, an anthology on philosophical practice in English, two books on philosophical practice in Italian, and more than 30 professional articles.

My professional website is PhiloLife.net