Philosophy as Therapeia

Essays by leading scholars providing a new reading of the history of philosophy, through the concept of philosophy as therapeia.

Clare Carlisle (Edited by), Jonardon Ganeri (Edited by)

9780521165150, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 May 2010

264 pages
22.8 x 15.3 x 1.2 cm, 0.37 kg

"...Philosophy as Therapeia is a highly commendable review and introduction to the fascinating domain of philosophical therapy."
--Konrad Banicki, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Philosophy in Review

'Empty are the words of that philosopher who offers therapy for no human suffering. For just as there is no use in medical expertise if it does not give therapy for bodily diseases, so too there is no use in philosophy if it does not expel the suffering of the soul.' The philosopher Epicurus gave famous voice to a conception of philosophy as a cure or remedy for the maladies of the human soul. What has not until now received attention is just how prominent an idea this has been across a whole spectrum of philosophical tradition. Philosophy as Therapeia presents a collection of papers by leading scholars, providing a new reading of the history of philosophy, one which perhaps contradicts those who have wanted to maintain that philosophy is a peculiarly European cultural product, and instead affirms its identity as a global intellectual practice.

Introduction
1. Medical analogies in Buddhist and Hellenistic thought: tranquillity and anger Christopher Gowans
2. Rationality as the therapy of self-liberation in Spinoza's Ethics Michael Hampe
3. Two pedagogies for happiness: healing goals and healing methods in the Summa Theologiae of Thomas Aquinas and the ?rÿ Bh?ya of R?m?nuja Martin Ganeri
4. The thinker and the draughtsman: Wittgenstein, perspicuous relations, and 'working on oneself' Garry L. Hagberg
5. Therapy and theory reconstructed: Plato and his successors Stephen R. L. Clark
6. The teacher as mother or midwife? A comparison of Brahminical and Socratic methods of education Kate Wharton
7. A return to the self: Indians and Greeks on life as art and philosophical therapy Jonardon Ganeri
8. For mortal souls: philosophy and therapeia in Nietzsche's Dawn Keith Ansell Pearson
9. The philosopher as pathogenic agent, patient and therapist: the case of William James Logi Gunnarsson
10. Curing diseases of belief and desire: Buddhist philosophical therapy David Burton
11. Pata?jali's yoga as therapeia Jayandra Soni
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: History of Western philosophy [HPC]