Paper Presentation: Experiential-Practice Model of Philosophical Practice
Abstract: In this session I will present what I refer to as the ‘Experiential-Practice Model of Philosophical Practice’. The model is based on the view that the work done through Philosophical Practice can be substantially enriched when undertaken in the context of the appropriate immersive experience and the appropriate object of practice. The mode of the Philosophical Practice work proposed by the model is group work. It starts with the immersive experience, that functions as an “awakener” of certain parts of the participant that are an integral part of who they are as a human being, but which remains dormant for most of the time in the participant’s daily life. In the presentation I will illustrate the model with an immersive experience relevant to the ethical development of the participant, and in this case, it is the participant’s humanity that is to be awakened by the immersive experience. The immersive experience is followed by group Philosophical Counseling sessions designed specifically to the context of the chosen immersion. Practice is undertaken both at the immersion stage of the model and in its group Philosophical Counseling stage. The key thing for the success of the application of the model, as I will explain in the presentation, is the proper connection between the immersive experience, the chosen object for the practice to be undertaken by participants, and the group Philosophical Counseling sessions that follows.
Affiliation: André de Almeida is professor of Philosophy at Fundação Dom Cabral (Brazil) since 2019, and a Philosophical Counselor certified by the American Philosophical Practitioners Association. André has previously been a Consultant for the United Nations and an Associate-tutor at the University of Sussex (UK) for five years. He has a Ph.D. and a Master’s Degree in Philosophy, and is the author of Agent Particularism: The Ethics of Human Dignity.