Sententia

 

Is a pedagogical service which offers both individual "counsel", group workshops and seminars. I founded Sententia and left my exclusive role in the academia to do so. I have spent my entire professional career teaching College students philosophy. Like most people, students tended to be apprehensive of philosophy, thinking it was for the really "smart" kids, theoretical and abstract, so boring and irrelevant, or just a waste of time. My enduring relations with former students is testimony to having gained their favor over the years.

 

Philosophy is an art for living...

 

Philosophy is abstract and theoretical. There is no denying that. However, philosophy since it's first inception in ancient Greece, was considered to be a practice. Hadot discovered in ancient Greek thought the art for living. Since then, high-browed metaphysical systems, have receded to the background except amongst the academic types, and the foreground has taken up the task of increasing our happiness by altering the way we see the world and transforming thereby our own existence or sense of self.

 

Philosophical practice will change your life...

 

Philosophical practice is transformative. It is not merely a cerebral exercise for the high-minded. It is an occupation that speaks to the basic human predicament to understand this world and our place or role in it.

 

Philosophical practice doesn't want to change you in some preconceived way. Philosophical practice does not have a cupboard full of mental or spiritual paradigms to help discern the so-called "sick" from the "healthy".

 

Philosophical practice will challenge you...

 

Philosophical practice aims to remind you of the human predicament, to revive this longing - for some a calling - to figure things out for yourself so that what once - perhaps after a very long hiatus - preoccupied your mind is no longer given over to convenience, comfort, and habituated forms of thinking acquired through the very simple task of being.

Philosophical Counsultancy

Philosophical consultancy is a form of philosophical practice. It is a private dialogue between counselee and philosophical consultant where the range of topics is wide and varied. 

 

What do we do?

There are two fundamental ways that philosophical consultants engage in dialogue. The one concerns reasoning skills. Sometimes faulty thought patterns, false beliefs, and a superficial and ambiguous use of terms is the source of trouble. We consistently make the wrong or bad choices, or remain utterly perplexed because we're literally not thinking straight.

 

The second involves offering a new spin on an old problem or coming to realise that perceiving one's predicament as a "problem" is actually the problem. Offering new perspective is what philosophers do best! Since time memorial philosophers engage opinions to nuance them, which means to kind of throw a wrench in habituated perspectives. People tend to presume that certain ways of thinking about the world and people are gospel because they are so entrenched in their thinking and the thinking considered acceptable because it is reinforced by the sciences, and public opinion.

 

Who are potential clients?

Sometimes clients come with a very particular issue that they want to tackle. Examples include, panic attacks, divorce, procastination, professional orientation.

 

Sometimes clients come with a vague sense of unhappiness, discontent, alienation, despair or grief. Of course, it is important to point out that clients who are clinically depressed will be referred to a therapist. These are otherwise very human emotions. Sometimes this sense comes from a traumatic experience as with the death of a loved one, the end of a marriage, or one's own experience with death. Other times, there is no identifiable cause. Sometimes we can just feel cut off from everything and everyone for no "apparent" reason.

 

 

Workshops are an alternative form of philosophical practice. These are group events where a specific topic is introduced with the aim to stimulate interactive discussion. These are usually directed discussions following an initial and intermittent prompts from within the philosophical tradition.

 

The choice of topic is sometimes decided by the client or decided in partnership with the client, and sometimes it is left to me. These would be age and audience specific both in terms of apropos prompts, the level of discussion and the appropriateness of topic.

 

Who are potential clients?

Schools, professionals of all kinds, families, community libraries, community groups, summer/school camps.

 

Schools sometimes want to address a particular issue like bullying, racism and sexism, sexuality, honesty, and academic integrity. Other times, they want to introduce a series of workshops (sometimes part of an after school program or integral to the school programs) to expand the range of interests and thinking of students.

 

Professionals sometimes want to develop reasoning skills, and/or aim to offer opportunities for personal development. Other times, conflicts may arise specific to the profession (as with issues of care and euthanasia amongst nurses and health care professionals), or as a result of a hostile environment (for instance, in the case of sexual harrassment).

 

Families sometimes do not perceive themselves to be dysfunctional in any way but look for activities they can do as a family that will develop communication, enhance a sense of mutual respect and cultivate a sense of open-mindedness and mutuality.

 

Community libraries and groups are a wonderful place to house open discussions on issues that concern us all; happiness and human relations are high on the list of interest.

 

 

Seminars are an alternative form of philosophical practice. These are group events where a specific topic is introduced and explored with the intenton of broadening and deeping the clients' understanding of it. 

 

As with workshops, the choice of topic is sometimes decided by the client or decided in partnership with the client, and sometimes it is left to me. These would be age and audience specific both in terms of apropos prompts, the level of discussion and the appropriateness of topic.

 

The main difference between seminars and workshops is that the former is less explicitly interactive, where focus is mostly with presentation. Seminars also tend to be much shorter; usually in the 1-1.5 hour range compared to the more traditional 2-3 hour range of workshops. 

 

Who are potential clients?

Schools, professionals, community libraries, community groups.

 

Seminars are less flexible as far as audience diversity is concerned because they are less interactive, and don't require hands-on participation.

 

Potential clients, schools etc., often have a particular agenda that they wish to address and work closely alongside myself in specifying their needs. The exception to this may be with community libraries where life-long learners tend to draw the most interest. Here seiminar design may be informed by the personal and professional background of registered participants, other times a poster goes up inviting people to come to think about "What is so Socratic about Socrates?" or "Let's Pursue Happiness Together".