Category: philosophical counseling

• March 31, 2011

  A professor’s life: A picture book

  Here is a picture of a university: Pretty I think. (Princeton, for the curious among you.) Here is a bio–rest assured: it is the abridged version–of a successful academic professional working in what was once referred to as the humanities: As one of the first translators of Jacques Derrida’s work into English, she in effect introduced…
• March 29, 2011

  On drudgery and artistry

  The book I had called up from storage was not on the pick-up shelf. It was 2 hrs. after I had made the initial request, not the 20 min. according to policy. The title of the book is The Life of Eric Gill. Today, Gill is perhaps best known for his clean, modern typefaces and fonts,…
• March 28, 2011

  On smoking

  My toes, I imagine, are wound round the chipped balcony bars. I’m sitting somewhat uncomfortably on the wooden chair painted a Mediterranean yellow and wobbly. I’m trying to be still, this morning time, to take in the scene all at once or in bits, but I’m chilled by the early spring, the sea breeze, the…
• March 26, 2011

  On spiritual exercise

  1 One of my fondest childhood memories is of my father playing catch with me. In my mind’s eye, I can see him showing me how to rotate my glove through a sundial of positions. A basket catch won’t always do. You don’t stab at the ball with pinchers; you let it in. A good…
• March 25, 2011

  On moral guidance, moral expertise, and philosophical counseling

  As a philosophical counselor and moral philosopher, I believe our culture is conceptually muddled about the idea and prospect of self-improvement. On the one hand, we all hunger to be better, more fulfilled, happier persons. The self-help industry feeds this hunger without making us full. (The “Chinese food take-out” problem as Jay Bernstein once put…