London Evening Standard
Friday, 23 January 1998
Diana Blamires
I think therefore I am
feeling better
How philosophy has a new
role in the world of modern therapy
WORRIED about money, marriage
or mortgages? What you need is a dose of philosophy.
Therapists are tossing Jung and Freud aside in favor
of Socrates and Sartre and finding a thinker for every
ill. "Philosophical counseling" is intended
to develop self-understanding and help people deal with
experiences such as mid-life crises, problems in relationships
and occupational worries.
So, if you are having arguments
with your family, Aristotle has the answer: pursue reason
and moderation in all things. The work of Immanuel Kant
pops up on relation to marital counseling while Soren
Kierkegaard can bring solace when coping with death.
Drug addicts might find the roots of their problems
explained in the socratic dialogues.
The idea that Plato is better
than Prozac was first founded in Germany in 1981. It
has taken off in New York and now London is being targeted
by a growing band of philosophical counselors who could
make psychiatrists obsolete.
Philosophy professor Lou
Marinoff of the City College of New York, has come to
London to persuade the British that philosophy rather
than psychiatry can solve their deepest problems. His
appearance alone might be convincing enough. Right down
to the last hair on his bushy philosopher's beard he
looks just like a modern Socrates.
The professor is president
of the American Society for Philosophy, Counseling and
Psychotherapy and an architect of the international
philosophical counseling movement. For 63 pounds a session
Professor Marinoff, 46, tackles everything from general
feelings of meaninglessness to specific problems such
as divorce and suicidal tendencies.
He said: "Woody Allen
has done a lot to make people think Americans are running
from one shrink to another. I have a lot of refugees
from psychiatry and psychotherapy because I am offering
dialogue rather than diagnosis. Freud supposed that
the roots of all our problems are sexual. You can't
take people, as Freud did, and shoehorn them all into
a condition.
"We don't do that. We
tell people it is normal to have problems, I don't believe
anyone who says they don't. That is their problem --
that they don't think they have any problems."
He cited the example of the
man who recently went to see him. "He was an ordinary
sort of Joe, from Wall Street, with money, brains and
confidence, but whose foundations were shaken when he
discovered his wife was having an affair.
"Our approach is a process
of questioning, not of finding answers. When this man
came to me and said, 'What should I do?' I threw the
question back at him, 'What would you like to do? Presumably
you don't want her to commit adultery any more. Do you
want to preserve the marriage? He did, so he we worked
with certain philosophers, like Kant, who talks about
the principles of forgiveness and compassion, as well
as the ethics of duty."
In a bid to convert the shrink-shy
British therapy, Prof Marinoff is giving a lecture on
philosophical practice at king's college tonight.
He said: "The subject
matter should interest philosophers, non-philosophical
counselors and lay persons alike.
"I have had an enormous
number of letters from counselors in England who have
a background in philosophy and would like to use their
skills for therapy. There has also been a lot of media
interest in Britain. Americans are without reserve and
they will try anything. They are looking for a quick
fix. This country errs on the side of repressing emotion
so the idea of intellectualism it is appealing.
"America is a young
country and does not have rich history of philosophers
but the contribution of British philosophers to the
western tradition is invaluable."
Although Prof Marinoff is
confident that the growing number of people will be
buying books instead of popping pills he hopes that
psychiatrists and philosophers will eventually get along
together. As the philosopher and economist John Stewart
Mill once wrote: "The greatest happiness of the
greatest number."
Tonight's lecture is
at 5:30pm for 6pm at room 2C, Main Building, King's
College, The Strand. Professor Marinoff can be E-mailed
on marinoff@cnct.com.
