Towards a Neo-Aristotelian account of philosophical counseling

Abstract

At present, there is no generally accepted account of what philosophical counselling is or why we should practice it. The aim of this article is to propose an account of philosophical counselling in terms of an Aristotelian concept of Eudaimonia. I argue that this concept provides an apt description of what philosophical counselling, in many cases, consists in. One benefit of construing philosophical counselling in terms of Eudaimonia is that it provides a natural justification for the practice: since it is plausible that Eudaimonia is a desirable state to be in, philosophical counselling is worth engaging in inasmuch as it promotes that state.