Paper presentation: The Art of Philosophical Practice through Socratic maieutic

Abstract: Philosophical practice is primarily an exercise for oneself, that usually has some effect in the way we relate to the world and the others. Bringing awareness to the way we think and occupy a space in the world can help us take distance from ourselves and be available to the people and the events that we encounter, and therefore, understand them better. During this presentation, we will introduce some methodological aspects of the work on philosophical thinking competencies and philosophical counseling developed by the Institute of Philosophical Practices’ team throughout the years. We will briefly explain which are the different philosophical attitudes and thinking competencies that constitute the basis of our training methodology. As well, we will make an exposition of the different applications of the work, both from the perspective of self knowledge and from a professional standpoint.

Workshop:  Presuppositions and the art of questioning

In this workshop we will train two competencies that are fundamental in a philosophical consultation: looking for presuppositions and the art of questioning. There’s plenty of information we can gather about a person just from the initial question they ask in a consultation. During the first part of the workshop we will work on finding and evaluating this information in a rigorous way, through an exercise on presuppositions. In the second part of the workshop we will work on questioning by formulating questions and evaluating their quality, identifying the type of questions we use, their purpose and other important aspects to take in account in our work as philosophers. 

Biography: Sara is a philosophy-practitioner and the co-director of several programs and trainings at the Institute of Philosophical Practices (France), and at its Spanish branch, Taller de Prácticas Filosóficas. She has incorporated philosophical practice as a lifestyle and trains people internationally, in Spanish and English, in the development of critical thinking through philosophical competencies, as well as to become philosophical consultants or workshop facilitators. She holds a degree in philosophy from the University of Granada.