Since 1994, International Conferences on Philosophical Practice have been held in different countries of the world. Countries such as Canada (1994), the Netherlands (1996, 2010), USA (1997), Germany (1998), United Kingdom (1999), Norway (2001), Denmark (2004), Spain (2006), Italy (2008), South Korea (2012), Greece (2013), Serbia (2014), Switzerland (2016), Mexico (2018), Rusia (2021) hosted these conferences.
The 17th ICPP propose a new topic:
Sophia, Counseling and Intercultural Philosophical Dialogue
Main topics:
The role of Philosophical Practice in society
Intercultural approaches and perspectives in Philosophical Counseling
Main concepts and tools used in Philosophical Practice
Individual philosophical counseling: method and techniques
Group philosophical counseling: method and techniques
Philosophical consultancy in organizations
Philosophical practice in communities
Philosophical practice in education. Philosophy with children.
Issues in Philosophical Parenting
Philosophical practice versus psychotherapy
Socratic dialogue and critical thinking
Philosophical practice as a way of life
Ethics of philosophical counseling
Organizational activities and marketing promoting philosophical practice
Can be the philosophical counselor a new profession?
The main objective:
In philosophical practice, the “academic” model, centered around the presence of the self-sufficient philosopher as the first reality of philosophy, is relegated to a subsidiary, informing, philosophical level. The modus philosophandi in which inquiry is a solitary contemplative process is replaced with modes of thinking inspired by the pragmatist belief that only in communication philosophy – constituted as co-philosophizing – acquires authentic reality. This relatively recently rediscovered attitude is also deeply rooted in dialectic as defined by Aristotle, which demands the presence of fellow co-inquirers – as lovers of sophia – with whom one establishes the shared points in an argumentation, and understands their community element as a major type of philosophical companionship.
Timisoara is the capital of a region known as one of the most diverse ethnic, religious and cultural melting pots of Europe, a crossroads and a bridging land between Central, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, where nearly 20 ethno-linguistic groups live or lived together peacefully over the centuries. This multiculturalism allowed mutual acceptance and cooperation and laid the groundwork for intercultural dialogue and brought Timisoara the title of European Capital of Culture for 2023. As in philosophical counseling and consultancy meanings do not pre-exist dialogue, we are confident that there are very few places in the world where the century-old heritage diversity can better fuel the philosophical practice debates inspired by interculturality than Timisoara.