Table Of ContentPracticing Philosophy
Practicing Philosophy
Edited by
Aleksandar Fatić and Lydia Amir
Practicing Philosophy
Edited by Aleksandar Fatić and Lydia Amir
This book first published 2015
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Copyright © 2015 by Aleksandar Fatić, Lydia Amir and contributors
All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior permission of the copyright owner.
ISBN (10): 1-4438-8104-X
ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-8104-3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ................................................................................................. 1
I .................................................................................................................... 3
Ancient Philosophical Reflections on Two Conceptions of Happiness
Dimitrios Dentsoras
II ................................................................................................................ 22
The Philosophical Practitioner as a Co-Researcher
Finn Thorbjøn Hansen
III ............................................................................................................... 42
The Meaningfulness of and Satisfaction from Dialogues in Philosophical
Practice: Considerations of Content and Methodology
Anders Lindseth
IV ............................................................................................................... 57
A Practical Philosophy of Vulnerability, Fallibility, and Finitude
Lydia Amir
V ................................................................................................................ 65
Philosophy Revalued in Mental Healthcare
Peter B. Raabe
VI ............................................................................................................... 81
Philosophical Practice from Feminist Perspectives
Vaughana Feary
VII ........................................................................................................... 102
Philosophical and Cultural Pluralism
Ora Gruengard
VIII .......................................................................................................... 127
Philosophical Counseling and Contradictions
Esther Ramharter and Donata Romizi
vi Table of Contents
IX ............................................................................................................. 147
Philosophical Practice through the Lens of Post-Metaphysical Thought
Marjan Ivkovi(cid:252)
X .............................................................................................................. 163
But Is It Philosophy? Critical Reflections on Social Reasoning and Café
Philosophy
Michael Picard
XI ............................................................................................................. 182
Philosophical Practice in Japan
Tetsuya Kono
XII ........................................................................................................... 203
Intention, Narrative, and Philosophical Practice
Young E. Rhee
XIII .......................................................................................................... 220
Women: As Victims, As Healers
Dena Hurst
XIV .......................................................................................................... 233
A Woman’s Life and Loves: Archetypal Psychology, the Myth of Eros
and Psyche and the Seven Goddesses of Greek Mythology—A Tale
for Our Time
Martha C. Beck
XV ........................................................................................................... 254
What Does the ‘Sublation’ of Moral Consciousness Mean
for Philosophical Practice? On the Institutional Dimension
of Therapy in Hegel’s Philosophy
Rastko Jovanov
XVI .......................................................................................................... 269
Should Philosophical Practice Concern Itself with Genocide?
The Institution of Group(s) and Genocidal Acts
Petar Bojani(cid:252)
XVII ........................................................................................................ 280
Experiential Philosophical Practice
Jose Barrientos-Rastrojo
Practicing Philosophy vii
XVIII ....................................................................................................... 303
The Transactional Aspect of Philosophical Counseling
Aleksandar Fati(cid:252)
Contributors ............................................................................................. 315
INTRODUCTION
The idea for this book arose from a conversation with Sam Baker,
Cambridge Scholars Publishing editor, in the offing of the 13th
International Conference on Philosophical Practice, which was held in
August 2014, in Belgrade. Indicatively, the title for the conference was
‘Philosophical Practice as a New Paradigm in Philosophy’. Indeed, as soon
as the idea for the book was broached, it became clear that the
contributions would present the breath of philosophical practice so as to
illustrate the limits of the new paradigm, rather than focusing on a single
stream of philosophical practice. Thus the present book brings together
contributions dealing with a wide array of fields of philosophical practice,
ranging from philosophical counseling to philosophical cafés to teaching
to corporate and even judicial consultancy. The obvious advantage of such
an approach is that it stimulates thought on the many fields in which
philosophical practice holds promise; the obvious disadvantage is two-
fold: first, the present collection cannot delve into any of the specific fields
of philosophical practice in-depth, and second, it inevitably brings views
which, while relevant to philosophical practice, are not necessarily shared
by the editors. With both advantages and disadvantages in mind, the reader
can hopefully appreciate the potential of practicing philosophy
professionally outside academia for an array of practical fields of human
life and professional work.
The editors have worked on this book through some trying times in their
personal lives, as well as in the development of the philosophical practice
movement. The latter has faced directional challenges, which is part of the
evolution of most fields, and an expansion in the sense that parts of the
academia, especially in Great Britain, have started to focus on philosophical
practice independently of the philosophical practice movement itself. Both
latter developments are welcome: they hold promise for the development
of the field which will both test and improve its current quality and engage
a broader array of professional philosophers in it.
The preparation of this book was conducted in Serbia and in Israel, for the
most part. The Editors are grateful to all the colleagues who have
contributed their authoritative views on their fields. Special gratitude is
2 Introduction
due to Ms. Bojana Simeunovi(cid:252), a young philosopher, who has contributed
to the preparation of this volume in both substantive and technical respects
more than can be acknowledged in an introduction to a volume.
Belgrade and Tel Aviv, 13 June 2015.
