Philosophy in Society

Henning Herrestrad, Anders Holt, and Helge Svare (eds)

Oslo: Unipub, 2002 
ISBN 8274771168 (pb) pp. 328, £27.00

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Practical Philosophy  (Book Reviews) Spring 2003 Volume 6.1

Reviewed by: Peter Raabe

This book is a collection of papers presented at the Sixth International Conference on Philosophy in Practice held in Oslo, Norway in 2001. I was personally unable to attend this conference, so I was very happy to read the presentations in the form of a handsomely bound paperback book. 

 

The book is divided into eight parts. The first part consists of two essays which deal with some of the fundamental issues in philosophical practice; the four essays in part two examine new areas for philosophical practice such as consulting with professional athletes, counselling cancer patients, and lifelong learning; part three contains two essays which look at the application of philosophy to organisational development;  part four consists of three essays discussing philosophy with children;  the four essays in the fifth part examine some of the philosophical issues inherent in psychotherapy such as the concept of catharsis;  part six has three essays which take a philosophical look at some key life issues including the relationship between pain and the imagination, and the role of impersonal love in everyday life;  the six essays of part seven once again take a careful look at philosophical counselling, its practical nature, insights from a study of Foucault, and a suggestion that there ought to be an area of study titled ‘the philosophy of dialogue’; and the final part contains just one essay: a thought provoking glimpse into the early history of philosophical discussions in the US. 

 

It took me a little while to figure out what it was that I liked about this book, what was so satisfying compared to previous collections of conference papers I’ve read. But it finally occurred to me: there’s an overall greater maturity. Not only is there a more cogent articulation of the practice of philosophy but there’s an acceptance that this is in fact a legitimate practice and that it doesn’t need to be defended any more. This is very refreshing! It demonstrates to me that there is a deeper appreciation for the practice perhaps coming from a richer experiential base among the presenters. I wonder if this might be due to the fact that there may have been a higher percentage of practitioners among the theoreticians at this conference than there has been in the past. Whatever the reason, this book is a solid read. 

 

Notable among the many good papers in this volume are Geir Jordet and Vegard Moe’s essay titled  ‘Philosophical Consultancy With Professional Athletes’ in which they explain how philosophical practice may be applied to the practice of sport psychology, and Vaughana Feary’s essay  ‘Medicine for the Soul:  Philosophical Counselling with Cancer Patients’ in which she points out that guilt is typically a problematic issue for lung cancer and AIDS groups, while self-identity and self-worth are generally the issues for breast cancer groups. She reminds us that, ‘there is already some hard empirical evidence as the result of clinical research which suggests that cognitive-based counselling [which is very similar in may respects to philosophical counselling], and group counselling, may not only improve the quality of life for cancer patients, but also extend it’ (p. 43). Gareth Matthews also makes a memorable case in the chapter titled ‘Growing Up With Perplexity’ in which he argues that it’s important for adults to allow the children in their care to ask philosophical questions, and that discussing difficult issues with children can in fact be a very rewarding activity for the adults. 

 

One of the most fascinating essays was  ‘Philosophy and Public Schools in Brazil:  An experience of transformations and tensions.’ In it Juliana Lestani takes the reader through the experience of the ‘philosophical awakening’ of one teacher in which the teacher comes to see philosophical practice as bringing into existence ‘a ‘mirror room’ in which one can see oneself’ (p. 137). Also very informative is Emmy van Deurzen’s essay  ‘Predictable Difficulties in Daily Living: Existential Psychotherapy as a Road to Human Understanding.’ This chapter contains insights into the human experience that can be very useful for practitioners. She distinguishes between four dimensions of human existence: the physical, social, personal, and spiritual, and then details what can go wrong in each and how philosophy can help. She ends by explaining that the therapeutic endeavour ‘is in the final analysis a reconstruction or creation of the person, rather than merely a tracing of a past history or a deconstructing of a person’s values and beliefs.  The analysis and the doubting are only the beginning, the synthesis and the creation of meaning have to follow for the therapy to be complete’ (p. 163). This is the sort of clear and informative writing that makes this volume worth having!

 

There are, of course, other essays as good as those I’ve mentioned. Antti Mattila’s essay in which he debunks the myth of catharsis  (or abreaction) was an eye-opener for me; Arne Thorvik’s essay on evil was very thought provoking; James Tuedio’s questioning the meaning of ‘home’ made me see how easy it is to take the familiar for granted; and Lydia Amir had me reconsider the significance of impersonal love in everyday life. But I can’t comment on every single chapter. I’ll leave the rest for the reader to discover!

 

My only disappointment and complaint is the fact that, in this age of miraculously proficient word processing machinery, this volume has no index. True, it seems to be the current fashion in publishing volumes of collected essays not to offer an index, but it’s a fashion I wish was not so slavishly followed by philosophers. 

 

I highly recommend this book to students, practitioners, and anyone else interested in the practice of philosophy. In my opinion it’s the most thoughtful and readable collection of conference papers of all that have been published in the field of philosophical practice to date.

 

 

PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY page last updated 01/07/2003 contact webmaster: David Arnaud http://www.practical-philosophy.org.uk