Academic literature on the topic 'Gerd Achenbach'

In this essay, I take up the question of whether Gerd B. Achenbach’s ‘beyond-method’ method provides a suitable approach to counseling for the philosophical counselor. Achenbach maintains that the best method to counseling is one that is beyond any one single system. Many scholars have expressed an increasing dissatisfaction with such a methodology. Although these critiques of Achenbach are helpful, I argue that they do not capture the real problem with his counseling method. After I discuss this additional difficulty, I conclude that it is beyond all dispute that the methods of philosophical counseling should be advanced along different lines.

Being a relatively new practice started by Gerd Achenbach no more than 40 years ago, the methods and techniques implied in philosophical counseling, as well as the qualities a philosophical counsellor should possess are still up for debate. The theme of the current paper revolves around the traits of the philosophical counselor, starting from Roger Paden’s statement that the three characteristics identified by Carl Rogers as being essential for a counsellor are also suitable when it comes to philosophical counsellors as well, with the mention that the approach should nonetheless be modified when it comes to unconditional positive regard, as he believes it to be incompatible with the nature of philosophical counselling. Our thesis is that the two are not incompatible and that, at least in the case of alienation, the philosophical counsellor should also grant the client unconditional positive regard. In support of our thesis, we will bring Rogers’ own ideas, Ran Lahav’s view of philosophical counselling as creating a link between philosophical discourse and everyday life, as well as the perspectives developed in the area of community philosophy.

The concept of spirituality has a long philosophical history. Based on detailed studies of a history of spiritual exercises from Socrates, the Stoics, Epicureanism, to early Christianity, the former catholic priest Pierre Hadot conceives philosophical practice as spiritual exercises in learning how to live a philosophical life. Following this idea, a number of philosophers such as Gerd B. Achenbach started the contemporary movement of philosophical practice in the 1980s, which aimed to apply philosophical theories and methods to discussions about issues people constantly encounter in life, mainly in the forms of philosophical counseling and philosophical therapy. In this paper, after showing that philosophical practice has already become a new frontier in philosophical research, we further argue that philosophical practice as spiritual exercises is an exercise of reason and logos, while certain kinds of religious exercises such as Zen arts can also constitute an important part of philosophical practice. We conclude that in light of the distinct plurality of the methods and modes of philosophical practice and the spiritual exercises involved, philosophical practice can be considered a meaningful and applicable approach to pursuing truth, wisdom, and virtue, which is of great didactic and ethical significance in the post-COVID-19 era.