Philosophy Now Forum

Doesn't the activity of "philosophical counseling" presupposes a "competent philosopher"?

We regularly talk about a competent plumber, physician, psychologist, chemist, et cetera. But is it meaningful to assert that " he or she is a competent philosopher"? Is it possible to specify a criterion of competence for a person to practice "philosophical counseling"?

There is an organisation in the UK which seeks to apply standards to counsellors:

www.society-for-philosophy-in-practice.org

There is however no legal bar to anyone setting up as a philosophical counsellor without becoming a member of this, or any other, organisation.

I would agree that competence in philosophy, in the sense of knowing about various philosophical positions and being able to conduct arguments, would be a pre-requisite for being a competent philosophical counsellor. Perhaps such competence in philosophy could be measured by examination, as used in universities, or by a review of writings, as in the peer review system used by journals.

Neither examinations nor routine peer review will measure real philosophical insight or significance, but I am not sure that philosophical insight or significance would be well-correlated with aptitude for conselling.

To take a few of the really big names, I would happily be counselled by Aristotle, Montaigne or Spinoza, but not by Kant (too judgmental), Kierkegaard (too elusive) or Nietzsche (too Nietzsche).

In the USA we have the American Philosophical Practitioners Association, or APPA. Its website:
http://www.appa.edu/counseling.htm

"Can philosophers help resolve the real problems that people have in their lives?"












Is it possible to specify a criterion of competence for a person to practice "philosophical counseling" ?



tbieter,

I believe that it is possible to specify a criterion of competence for a person to practice philosophical counseling. The problem is who decides that criteria? I think that it would be much akin to religious counseling that helps resolve the real problems that people have in their lives. It would have to be user specific or in other words it would have to be compatible with an individuals own personal belief system in order for it to have any deep and lasting effect.

Maybe the question should be what is the criterion of competence for a person to practice "philosophical counseling, if I am the one seeking that counseling ?

Hi Jack,

It seems that you and Mr. Baron (message above) agree. Richard would seek the counsel of an "Aristotelian philosophical counselor" A prospective counselor could be tested on his or her knowledge of a subject matter, Aristotelian philosophy.

But, regarding a "philosophical counselor", can a person be tested in the subject matter of philosophy in general for the purpose of discerning competence in counseling?

Is there a 'general philosophical content' (knowledge) that all philosophical counselors could use instead of "Aristotelian philosophy", or "Spinozan phiosophy", etc.? A content that even Richard Rorty would accept for the purpose of counseling?

And can a testing agency devise a test that will reliably measure the examinee's knowledge of such content? I say 'no'. A body of knowledge that Richard's counselor could use instead of "Aristotelian philosophy".

If I'm correct, doesn't the "philosophical counselor" then just articulate and practice a skill, i. e., critical thinking, rather than a body of knowledge?

At this point, you might suspect that I am skeptical in principle of the practice of philosophical counseling for money.

Its a scam!

Tom

Hi Tom

Maybe it is a scam, maybe not. I have no experience of it. It would not be the first time that a therapy has been suspected of being a scam.

If however you want to test a skill, you might be able to do that by seeing how candidates handled a range of different philosophical questions, or a range of different philosophies. If someone could demonstrate skill in, say, metaphysics and epistemology and ethics, or in discussing Aristotle and Descartes and Nietzsche, it strikes me as a fair bet that they would have a skill which was transferable to a wide range of philosophical questions or styles. That is, you cannot test the skill in the abstract, but if you test it in enough concrete contexts you can have confidence.

Your suspicion that it might be a scam does suggest a deep-seated unsconsious phobic complex about philosophy. If you send me your credit card number, I will happily listen to everything you have to say and then conclude that your favourite toy was squashed by a falling metaphysics textbook when you were a young child.

Anyone out there read "The Sublime and the Beautiful," by Edmund Burke? It brings philosophy and psychology together.

There was something in there about sublime stuff and beautiful stuff, too... need coffee...

Richard, try televangelism. It appeals to a wider audience -- ask and thee shall receive. Unburden liquid assets, cash, and jewels unto thee. Send me some dark roast while you're at it.

And I almost wet my pants.

In this country it should presuppose that the philosopher has also completed a counselling course.

I wish to speak to the main and most important real life reality of the idea of philosophical counseling that has forever been engaged in going back for thousands of years up to and including the time that we now presently live in.

It takes place every time that you and I pick up a philosophical book by an author of our choosing and engage with it at some higher level then mere human curiosity or some other type of egocentric reason.

Philosophical counseling should only be pursued for the reason that we are aware that there is something wrong but we do not know what it is or how to fix it. It is in this respect that it is much akin to marriage counseling or psychiatric counseling.