(NEW) Alexandra Konoplyanik (Russia / UK)

Philosophical Practice (PP) resides somewhere between academic philosophy and psychological practices. Most contemporary academic philosophy has a clear objective of pursuing truth in a detached manner, constrained by the requirements of logic and academic rigor. Most contemporary professionalized psychological practices adhere to the wellspelled ethical protocols and limitations, while working towards an equally clear objective of helping the clients live better adjusted human lives, with less suffering. These different sets of objectives (truth or better life, on some definition) and respective ethical protocols clearly distinguish academic philosophy from practical psychology and allow both to be (at least in theory) exercised with the relevant sense of professional responsibility. What about PP? It resides somewhere in-between, and even if practiced as a professional service is typically at liberty to set its own goals, instrumental and ethical limitations (or lack of thereof), based on the judgment of each practitioner. It is the case in Russia and most Continental European countries. So, what could professional responsibility of a philosophy practitioner look like? Is it more like academic philosophy or like psychological counseling in its ultimate objectives? Is truth an intrinsic or an instrumental value in PP? What do PP practitioners owe their clients, if anything? Should PP professionals aim to answer these questions collectively or individually is good enough? Should any limitations or requirements be set in place as conditions to participate in PP professional associations?

Space for worldwide collaboration: The Philosophical Practice Hub Project (Presentation)

Philosophical Practice (PP), a rapidly growing field of professional activity, is internally diverse and currently highly fragmented. We believe the field would benefit from having an online place (equidistant from any particular PP method) offering a well-structured, user-friendly, dynamic overview/ map of the field, its subareas, main approaches, their similarities and differences. To meet this need, a group of practitioners (inspired by a workshop at ICPP2020) is launching the Philosophical Practice Hub Project (website) to serve a double purpose of (1) providing conveniently navigable, comparable information to aspiring and experienced PP practitioners, as well as to the prospective clients, and (2) fertilizing collaboration between practitioners and schools of PP. At ICPP2021 the PPHP team will be presenting the project, the prototype of the website and our current bird's-eye view of the industry, inviting comments, suggestions and a number of forms of contribution to the project by members of the PP professional community.

Key speakers:

André L. Santos de Almeida (Brazil)

Taisiya Kondratyeva (Russia)

Alexandra Konoplyanik (Russia/UK)

Agatha (Lan-Fang) Liu (Taiwan/UK)

Aleksa Babic (Serbia)