Category: philosophical counseling

• January 20, 2011

  Philosophy as the art of consolation

  When you hear the word “philosophy,” what comes to mind? Doubting everything? Useless exchanges that seem to go nowhere? Theoretical investigations of topics divorced from the business of everyday life? These ideas have been around for ages, but the one that Romans and Greeks found most appealing is also the one that’s long been out of circulation. It’s…
• January 19, 2011

  To be happy is to be resilient

  Some people think that happiness means feeling good. For them, happiness is a temporary state of mind, a mood, a “good vibration.” Others believe that happiness means contentment or fulfillment. So, they’d say that, over the long haul, they’ve lived well (or that they’ve wasted their lives). I think there’s another view of happiness that’s…
• January 18, 2011

  On being a skeptic for a day

  Pyrrhonian skeptics were quite unique among their ancient Greek and Roman contemporaries. Unlike other schools that had gained popularity at the time (most notably, the Epicurean and Stoical schools), this group of skeptics didn’t advocate any programs nor did they lobby for any policy nor did they prescribe any recipes for human well-being. In a…
• January 17, 2011

  On finding hair in the bathtub

  “She always leaves her hair in the bathtub.” “Always?” “Well, most of the time.” “So what?” “So, it’s disgusting, and I have to pick it up. Otherwise, I’ll be standing in my own filth because the water won’t drain.” “I take it the world’s not the way you want it to be.” “That’s a nice…
• January 16, 2011

  Senecan meditations

  Premeditation In the morning, imagine the worst thing that can happen to you today. It may seem as if doing so would lead you to dwell on bad fortune, to morbid thinking, to panic and anxiety. In truth, Stoical premeditation has the opposite effect: it focuses your attention (a) on accepting what’s beyond your control…