Table Of ContentPhilosophical
Practice
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Philosophical Practice
Lou MARINOFF
City College
The City University of New York
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01 02 03 04 05 06 SB 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Where Tao is, equilibrium is. When Tao is lost, out come all the differences of things.
Lao Tzu
It is impossible to believe something which is not the case—one can only believe
what one is experiencing, and this is always true. What is possible, however, in
my opinion, is that someone who is in an unsound mental state and whose beliefs
are cognate with it can be made to think differently
Plato
Men are not disturbed by things, but by the views which they take of things.
Epictetus
Many also (perhaps most men) either through defect of mind, or want of education,
remain unfit during the whole course of their lives; yet have they, infants as well as
those of riper years, a human nature; wherefore man is made fit for society not by nature,
but by education.
Thomas Hohhes
The whole function of philosophy ought to be to find out what definite difference it
will make to you and me, at definite instants of our life, if this world-formula or that
world-formula be the true one.
William James
My purpose is to suggest a cure for the ordinary day-to-day unhappiness from which most
people in civilized countries suffer, and which is all the more unbearable because, having
no obvious external cause, it appears inescapable. I believe this unhappiness to be very
largely due to mistaken views of the world, mistaken ethics, mistaken habits of life.
Bertrand Russell
I do not deny the fact that there is a widely prevalent sense of philosophy's bankruptcy
in the twentieth century. But I would offer a different explanation of it—not that
philosophy is at the end of the road, but that it is on the wrong road, that it is not
dealing with the right problems in the right way The appearance that philosophy gives
of being bankrupt doe s not mean that it is really barren, but only that it is temporarily
insolvent. That is a remediable condition.
Mortimer Adler
Having understood how human lives are diseased, a philosopher worthy of the name—
like a doctor worthy of that name—^will proceed to try to cure them. The whole point of
medical research is cure. So, too, the whole point of philosophy is human flourishing.
Martha Nusshaum
Nemo veritatem regit [Nobody rules truth]
motto of the American Philosophical
Practitioners Association
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments xiii
Foreword
Paul Sharkey xv
Author's Preface xix
PART I
Foundations of Philosophical Practice
1 Stand-Up Philosophy 3
Notes 16
2 Is Philosophy a Way of Life? 21
2.1. What Makes Philosophy Special as a Way of Life? 21
2.2. What Makes Philosophy Special as a Discipline? 26
Notes 34
3 Why Is Philosophy Regaining Popularity? 37
Notes 52
Vll
VUl Contents
PART II
Modes of Philosophical Practice
4 Two Meanings of Meditation 57
Notes 64
5 Client Counseling 67
5.1. Some Formative Names 67
5.2. How I Became a Philosophical Counselor 68
5.3. The Geometry of Philosophical Counseling 72
5.4. The Modality of Dialogue 79
5.5. A Typology of Philosophical Counseling Dialogue 87
5.6. The Golden Triangle 94
Notes 105
6 Philosophy with Groups—and Groupies 109
6.1. Is "Group Philosophy" an Oxymoron? 109
6.2. The Philosopher's Cafe 112
6.3. Nelsonian Socratic Dialogue 125
6.4. Philosophy With Other Groups 136
Notes 137
7 The Corporate Philosopher 139
7.1. Origins of Philosophical Consulting 139
7.2. General Services 153
7.3. Substance, Form, and Artistry 159
Motivational Speaking 160
Ethics Code-Building 161
Ethics Compliance 162
Moral Self-Defense 163
Short Socratic Dialogue 164
Dilemma Training 165
The PEACE Process 167
Leadership and Governance 168
Artistry 168
7.4. The Summit of Practice 170
Notes 172
Contents IX
PART III
Professionalization of Philosophical Practice
8 Pioneering Versus Pedagogy 177
Notes 196
9 The Making of a Profession 199
9.1. Programs of Training at Universities or Institutes
Chartered by the State and Accredited by Professional
Accrediting Bodies 200
9.2. Estabhshed Criteria (Including an Examination)
for Certification of Practitioners 212
APPA Certification Standards 213
Certification Standards for Client Counselors 215
Certification Standards for Group Facilitators 216
Certification Standards for Organizational Consultants 217
9.3. Established Body of Knowledge as Reflected in the
Publication of Reference Books and Professional
Journals and Regularly Scheduled Scientific
[sic: Read "Learned"] Meetings 220
9.4. Established Code of Ethics 221
Standards of Professional Ethical Practice 222
Notes 227
10 Recognition Versus Regulation 229
10.1. The Political Economy of Regulation 229
10.2. Licensure 231
10.3. Certification 239
10.4. Registration 241
10.5. Recognition qua Politics 242
Notes 244
