ABSTRACT
Our new account of philosophical problems and refl ection vindicates a two-fold reorientation of philosophical work: the ‘meta-philosophical turn’ which has us adopt a novel approach and the ‘therapeutic turn’ which has us pursue new ultimate aims (Chapter 7). The latter ‘turn’ motivates another reorientation of philosophical work, at the level of addressees. Where picture-driven reasoning or other ‘concealed motives’ of which we are unaware have us imagine philosophical problems where there are none, and worry and toil needlessly, the only thing we can reasonably do is put an end to such unreasonable worries and endeavours. We thus turn from attempts to solve philosophical problems which are ill-motivated or illusory to efforts to solve emotional and behavioural problems which are genuine. By and large, the personal problems that matter most to us are our own. The adoption, for philosophical work, of the new therapeutic aims of solving emotional or behavioural problems thus motivates, though it does not necessitate, the turn from a third-to a fi rst-person focus: The moment we seriously turn to the practice of philosophy as therapy, we are likely to fi nd ourselves the most worthwhile patients. First and foremost, therapeutic philosophy will be practiced as self-therapy.
