6. The philosopher listens to the participants
Because of a family gathering, we had to arrive late at our philosophical café several weeks ago. A philosopher friend…
2. What philosophical practice and counseling are not
How often are you asked to explain what philosophical practice is? Generally, just after I’ve introduced myself, people wonder what…
9. Is there anything wrong with methods?
Some philosophical practitioners are against methods. This might seem strange. After all, many important philosophers had methods: Aristotle’s syllogistic method,…
4. Emily Dickinson’s Epistolary Poetics and Philosophical Practice
The practice of letter-writing has a long history in philosophy. A key-text of the Hellenistic tradition is Epicure’s famous Letter…
16. Is philosophical practice philosophy or something else?
Let us take a step further starting from what has been said previously and trying to define the core of…
5. “Ideal participants” in philosophical practice
Last evening at the philosophical café we dealt with the issue of time. I decided to change the dynamic in…
3. Philosophy and Poetry
Philosophy and poetry have a common origin: the wonder at the presence of things. Philosophy distinguishes itself from poetry in…
4. The format of companionship groups
Philosophical ideas have a tremendous power to inspire us and awaken us, but they need a space in our hearts…
4. The motivation behind arguments
This evening, the issue at the philosophical café was Heidegger and his Black Notebooks. One participant stated with great passion…
15. The value of practicing
What is philosophy about? And what exactly does “philosophical practice” mean? What purpose or sense does thinking philosophically have? Who…
3. How not to play with ideas
In his essay “Circles,” the 19th century American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson describes inspired conversations: (I am simplifying here his…
8. Methods, but not shared ones
Philosophical counselors have methods such as questioning background assumptions, examining concepts, clarifying the counselee’s thoughts, trying to see familiar situations…