In philosophical practice

Those who lead philosophical workshops and do philosophical counseling know that the initial part of the philosophical process—perimeter-exploration—usually develops quickly and productively. In a few sessions the person may discover new insights about himself, learn new ways of self-understanding, and become aware of new aspects of his world. As a result he may develop high expectations: to continue acquiring more and more insights, to learn the hidden secrets of his frustrations, and even to quickly find ways to change himself.

But this is not how the philosophical process goes. Self-learning cannot go on forever in the same pace and the same way. After a period of new insights, the outlines of the perimeter become clearer, and more self-knowledge would not help very much. It is time to stop acquiring knowledge and make a further step. It is time to stop looking at our perimeter and instead look beyond its boundaries. We now need to open ourselves to that which lies beyond our familiar conceptions and attitudes, and to stand open in wonder and perplexity, without knowledge, without solutions, without methods.

This requires a change of attitude. The role of the philosopher is, therefore, to direct the participant to the point of the openness of wonder: How do I continue from here? I don’t know. My perimeter is clearer to me—how do I go beyond it? I wonder.

And the challenge is to resist the temptation to find quick solutions and techniques, because these would only leave us inside the old familiar perimeter. The task is to remain in this openness and appreciate it as an openness.

Example

Peter has always considered himself a judgmental person who likes to criticize and judge. But when he starts attending a weekly philosophical workshop he discovers that this tendency expresses an entire worldview. He realizes that in his world there is a central distinction between the worthwhile and the worthless: watching a movie is a waste of time, but discussing politics is productive; medicine is valuable, while academic philosophy is empty talk; flirting means nothing, but long-term romantic relationships are meaningful.

After a few sessions and philosophical exercises Peter understands that his attitude expresses a theory: Nothing is of any value unless it produces a product that can be acquired and possessed: knowledge, skills, money, power, security. In fact, he even treats his friendships as possessions.

Peter realizes how narrow and limiting his attitude is, and he wants to go beyond it. “From now on I won’t limit myself to productive activity. I’ll watch movies, I’ll chat with friends. I won’t try to possess anything.”

But this proves extremely difficult. He finds that his old attitudes remain with him. ‘Non-productive’ activities bore him, and he doesn’t know how to change this.

Finally he succeeds to enjoy himself at a movie. Still, he is left dissatisfied. “What’s the point of all this,” he says to Linda, the philosophical leader of the workshop. “I once hated movies, and now I am perhaps starting to like them. So what? I simply changed my habits. Nothing came out of it. This isn’t worth the trouble.”

“I think you are saying,” Linda replies, “that replacing one pattern with another pattern is not good enough for you. You want our workshop to give you better results.”

“Exactly,” Peter says. “I want to get something better out of it.”

“You want to get something better… very interesting. Something better versus something worthless.”

Peter reflects on this. “I see what you are saying, Linda: I am still thinking in the same old ways. You are saying that even when I try to get out of my perimeter, I am still the same old Peter.”

Now he is confused. “This is like Catch 22. If I try to get out, it is me who is getting out. This is so confusing. What should I do? I tried many things, but nothing worked. I don’t know where to go from here!”

“Stay where you are,” Linda answers. “You are in a good place. Don’t be afraid of your confusion. Your confusion means that you are already starting to step beyond where you were before—beyond your knowledge of what is valuable and what is worthless.”

Exercise

Observe yourself for several days, focusing on some patterns of your behavior and emotions. Try to look at yourself with new eyes, so to speak, without taking for granted the way you normally feel and behave. One way to do so it to think of how other people would behave differently in similar situations: where you are talkative others might be quiet, where you are offended others might laugh, and so on. Don’t judge yourself, only observe. Your goal is to see your behaviors and attitudes not as natural and obvious as they normally seem, but as containing a measure of strangeness and arbitrariness. Your goal, more accurately, is to experience the inner attitude of wonder when observing yourself.

LESSON 9