Philosophy and Psychology Redux
2026-01-21
Yesterday my friend Adrian Lory and I had an enjoyable and thought-provoking dialogue on Substack Live about philosophy and psychology as complementary paths to wisdom and fulfillment - so much so that we plan to have a follow-up chat in the coming weeks. Inspired by our conversation, here are some further questions I'm pondering about the interface between philosophy and psychology:
- Based on his experience as a psychotherapist, Adrian said he sees therapy as more art than science. In what ways are the therapeutic relationship and therapeutic conversation similar to the art of friendship and what Ralph Waldo Emerson called "the high freedom of great conversation"?
- In his works on philosophy as a way of life, Pierre Hadot marshals evidence that ancient philosophers sometimes provided individualized counseling to guide their students toward emotional moderation and practical wisdom. Was this a kind of philosophical coaching and if so how might it have differed from modern-day psychotherapy?
- We touched briefly on the potential role of religion, ritual, and myth in human flourishing - although I also noted that the early philosophers of ancient Greece eschewed exegesis in favor of independent thinking. Is there a place for spirituality in the examined life, and if so what form might it take?
- The goal of philosophy as a way of life is not to engage in abstract speculation or to change the world, but to change oneself - specifically by becoming a wiser, more virtuous person. How might this goal differ from the objectives of someone seeking psychotherapy?
- For those who are drawn to philosophy as a way of life, what thinkers or specific books are good places to start in learning more about psychotherapy? For those who are drawn to psychotherapy, what thinkers or specific books are good places to start in learning more about philosophy as a way of life?
These are in addition to a few fascinating questions we didn't get to yesterday, for instance about the balance between wordliness and spirituality, Plato and Aristotle as competing or complementary, psychology as a way of life (if there is such a thing), psychological strengths and weaknesses vs. philosophical virtues and vices, and what it means practically speaking to live philosophically.
Stay tuned for details on our next conversation!
(Cross-posted at Beautiful Wisdom.)
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