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- Title
Four Positions on the Relationship between Existential Psychotherapy and Philosophical Practice.
- Authors
Pastorino, Matteo
- Abstract
This paper identifies four positions that represent the views of both philosophical practitioners and existential psychotherapists on their disciplines and the nature of the relationship existing between them. These positions are the antagonistic one, claiming that the two disciplines are radically different and should follow different criteria in choosing their clients and methods. The second position is the ancillary one, suggesting that the therapist can also be a philosopher, but the philosophical component of his or her practice is limited to the therapist's theoretical background and the role of the therapist is distinct from that of a philosophical practitioner. The "family resemblance" position suggests that the two disciplines can and should increase the exchanges in terms of methodologies and ideas, since the similarities between them outnumber the differences. The majority of the authors that share this view consider the philosophical practitioners as therapists and vice versa. The merger position falls at the opposite pole from the antagonistic one, for it claims that existential psychotherapy is a form of applied philosophy and that philosophical practice and existential psychotherapy are two labels referring to the same discipline. The conclusion of the first section is that the "family resemblance" position is the most convincing one, for it recognises the distinction between the two disciplines, but it points out that those differences are mostly terminological or determined by misleading stereotypes.
- Subjects
EXISTENTIAL psychotherapy; PSYCHOTHERAPISTS; APPLIED philosophy; HUMAN behavior; AESTHETICS
- Publication
Philosophical Practice: Journal of the American Philosophical Practitioners Association (American Philosophical Practitioners Association), 2019, Vol 14, Issue 2, p2316
- ISSN
1742-8173
- Publication type
Article