Philosophical Health

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Bringing together leading international and interdisciplinary scholars, this ground-breaking volume examines the theory and practice of philosophical health in contemporary contexts of care, from therapy to convalescence. But what do we mean by philosophical health? Are you philosophically healthy? Whilst this book does not seek to provide a normative definition, as it explores and encourages pluralism in philosophical ways of life, philosophical health is beyond physical and psychological health. One may envision philosophical health as a state of creative coherence between a person's way of thinking and their way of acting, such that the possibilities for a good life are increased, and the needs for flourishing satisfied. An idea central to philosophical health is the concept of 'possibility'. After all, without a sense of self-possibility and openness to the future, health loses meaning, and conversely, pathologies are defined by various kinds of impossibilities. As such, philosophical health reconsiders care as a process of cultivating or pruning the possible in embodied, psychological, and social terms, of allowing things to take a new turn, to re-generate, or in some cases to vanish. Drawing on the history of philosophy, from the ancient concept of flourishing to figures such as Kant, Nietzsche, Foucault, and Hadot, Philosophical Health sheds light on the understudied philosophical dimension of care and the healing dimension of philosophizing. Advocating philosophy as a lived practice, it uncovers the increasing relevance of philosophical health to contemporary debates on well-being, counselling, and personal development.