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Socratic Questioning in Alien Landscapes?
Author(s) -
Cooper Rachel
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of applied philosophy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.339
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1468-5930
pISSN - 0264-3758
DOI - 10.1111/japp.12210
Subject(s) - socratic method , socratic questioning , flourishing , transformative learning , epistemology , value (mathematics) , alien , sociology , psychology , philosophy , social psychology , pedagogy , computer science , population , demography , machine learning , census
This commentary considers the role of Socratic questioning in Alien Landscapes? I discuss the three roles that Glover sees Socratic questioning playing in psychiatry: 1. Questioning to clarify problems, 2. Questioning to treat symptoms, 3. Questioning to reconstruct lives. Although I am broadly sympathetic to the idea that philosophical conversations can help us conceptualise, and deal with, mental distress, I raise two concerns. First, is there any way of providing courses of transformative Socratic questioning cheaply (e.g. through manualisation)? Second, how close is the connection between helping individuals to develop systems of belief and value that fit epistemic norms and helping them to live flourishing lives?