Booklist
August 19, 1999
Plato! Not Prozac
Reviews
If one is to believe this
New Age self-help book, the answers to most of life's
problems can be found by applying lessons learned from
the classic philosophers. Marinoff advocates "philosophical
counseling" as an improvement over what he considers
the psychiatric industry's tendency to medicate their
patients for any mental malady, major or minor. By following
his "PEACE" process (problem, emotion, analysis,
contemplation, and equilibrium), we can deal rationally
with matters of the heart, business, family discourse,
even face our mortality. Each chapter is sprinkled with
aphorisms from such revered philosophers as Sartre,
Lao Tzu, Machiavelli, and, of course, Plato.
The book includes a primer
on some of history's most critical thinkers as well
as a directory of organizations and practitioners of
philosophical counseling. Would the world be better
off if we took the time to analyze our problems as thoughtfully
as Marinoff suggests? No doubt. Whether readers accept
his theories is the bigger question. Ron Kaplan, Copyright
© 1999, American Library Association. All rights
reserved.
