Sergey Borisov

This article develops the ideas of infinite questioning and emergent dialogue as key characteristics of philosophical consultations. The authors have been members of a philosophical circle for several years, in which these and other aspects of the philosophical consultations have been shared, considered, and reflected upon, leading to the contouring of an integrated, embodied and dynamic approach, which is going to be described with reference to supporting theory and practice. Authors’ professional expertise ranges from philosophy with children, with parents, with teachers, with students, with individual clients and small groups or organisations. Philosophical counsellors are described as experts in not-knowing and we attempt to provide an integrative and clear view of their professional role, seeing that philosophers live a human life like their clients and therefore have no ultimate answers in response to clients’ questions. They do however have a paradoxical expertise, which we call expertise in not-knowing. This involves the art of questioning, particular skills for navigating the unpredictable territories of emergent dialogue and an availability to accompany deep reflective processes in a professional context in which the lines between expert and non-expert can be blurred. Both the professional and the client are self-reflecting, self-aware and exposed to shifts or transformation in their being and in their relating to the world, following a philosophical consultation. In this space of joint not-knowing, the expert can provide a sense of balance and stability based on trust and empathy in the relationship with the client. After developing these themes with references, examples and experiences from the practical work of each circle member in various contexts will be presented as illustrations. A conceptualization of results is drawn from common feedback and formal assessment following professional work with different types of clients as well as from the experienced impact by the facilitators of working in this way, as shared and processed in these circle meetings, where their work is periodically debriefed and reflected upon.

The book under review shows, from various perspectives, that the force of wonder and the silence that follows from it can nurture our ability to be receptive to and present in human relations and in resonance with the meaning-giving life phenomena that surround us. Wonder, Silence, and Human Flourishing: Toward a Re-humanization of Health, Education, and Welfare approaches humanization and the process of re-enchantment in a radical new way. For more than a decade the call for re-humanization in education, care and welfare has been heard and discussed primarily in critical thinking, political theory, and sociological discourses. This critique is mainly based on a social constructivist and naturalistic worldview that keeps the discussion in an anthropocentric perspective. By focusing on the phenomenology and ethics of wonder as an ontological and even spiritual event, and by listening to the silence that follows this contemplative wonder, the contributors offer an existential, phenomenological, and hermeneutic way of understanding humanization.

The article breaks down the essence of the information approach in interpreting consciousness in the context of the relationship between the intellect and the psychophysiology of the body, on the one hand, and the relationship between “natural” and “artificial” intelligence, on the other. The article presents a critical analysis of theories and approaches on the D. Dubrovsky’s conceptual basis. The information approach is considered by the authors of the article as the most methodologically justified and productive in studying the problem of consciousness, since it is thanks to the information received that various material systems change the nature of their behavior, which under certain conditions can be considered a conscious act. Material systems capable of preserving and transmitting information interaction arise both in the course of natural evolution in living nature and are artificially created by man. Thus, in terms of the genetic prerequisites of consciousness, information and information interaction can be considered as an attributive property of being.

The article is a detailed review of the books by Maria daVenza Tillmanns “Why We Are in Need of Tales” (Toronto, Iguana Books, 2020—2021). The books appeared as a result of the author’s many years’ experience in conducting philosophy classes with children (elementary school level). The books are written in the form of a dialogue, which creates the effect of the reader’s presence in the fairy tales plots, stimulating reflection on their philosophical content. The author of the article examines the plots from the standpoint of some key ideas of the world philosophical thought.

The article is a philosophical reflection of the author, caused by M.N. Epstein’s book “Children’s Questions: Dialogues” (Moscow, 2020). The book presents more than 300 children’s questions, covering the most diverse facets of being: from the universe as a whole to psychological, moral, social, aesthetic problems. The idea of the book is to engage children and adults in a general conversation about the most important phenomena of the universe. The author of the article weaves the material of the book into the outline of existential comprehension of truth.

The article outlines the basic principles of “deep philosophy” – one of the areas of modern philosophical practice. The author considers these principles in the context of the phenomenological model of “ontodesigning” developed by Y.M. Reznik. The author gives a detailed explanation of the main concepts of “deep philosophy”, such as “deep dimension”, “contemplation”, “personality”, “resonance”, etc. from the position of correlation of the ontic and ontological, the world of “in-itself” and the world of “for-itself.” In addition, the author shares the experience of the philosophical retreat of “deep philosophy”, which took place in September 2019.

The article is a review of the work of the philosophical seminar “Taking philosophy seriously”, which took place on May 23-27, 2019 in “The Kisegach” resort (Chelyabinsk region) headed by the philosopher from Israel Lydia Amir. During the seminar were discussed the topics of “serious” and “not serious” attitude to philosophy, the philosopher’s responsibility in the modern world, as well as practical and applied aspects of philosophy that are most relevant today that can open the way to this area of knowledge for the “general public”.

The article is a review of Lydia Amir's book “Taking Philosophy Seriously” (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018). The book synthesizes academic and practical philosophy, initiates a meta-philosophical dialogue. The author adheres to the melioristic view of philosophy that rethinks the approach to philosophy, reinvigorates its academic teaching and secures the respectability of its practitioners outside the academe. The book addresses the main issues philosophy taken “seriously” and the new field of philosophical practice may encounter.

The article presents a description and critical analysis of the technique of the Socratic dialogue, demonstrated by the practical philosopher Oscar Brenifier at the seminar “The Art of Philosophical Practice”, held February 12 - 13, 2019 at the Zyuratkul Eco-Park (Satka, Chelyabinsk Region). The specific methodology of the Socratic dialogue of Oscar Brenifier is to identify the unconscious premises of judgments, which sets the starting point in the analysis of the essence of thought. This makes it possible to take the opposite position for the formulation of simple hypotheses, which allows articulating the problems that are identified through the formulated and identified concepts.

Аннотация Понятие «парресия» впервые появляется в греческой литературе в V в. до н. э. Парресия — это возможность говорить свободно и открыто, не считаясь с авторитетами, говорить то, что без этого права может привести к наказанию или смерти. Парресия позволяла говорить правду властям, принося пользу тому, кто властвует, кому зачастую не хватает понимания сути реального положения дел. 1 Перевод статьи выполнен С. В. Борисовым по изданию: Tillmanns, Maria daVenza (2022). “How Parrhesia in Doing Philosophy With Children: Develops Their Touchstones of Reality”. International Journal of Philosophical Practice, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 1-11. В своей книге «Занятия философией с детьми в начальной школе: сложная деятельность» Берри Хисен утверждает, что занятие философией с детьми является формой парресии, поскольку побуждает детей говорить свободно и открыто. Парресия изменяет отношения между взрослым и ребенком. Серьезное отношение взрослых к детям как полноправным гражданам дает детям возможность серьезно относиться к себе, а также нести ответственность за свои мысли и чувства. Обосновывая свои мысли и чувства и прислушиваясь к мнению своих сверстников, дети становятся критическими слушателями не только других, но и самих себя. Они узнают, что то, что они думают и чувствуют, имеет вес, имеет значение в глазах других, что повышает самооценку. В процессе философствования дети также вырабатывают свои собственные критерии («пробные камни») реальности. Более того, для ощущения целостности и обоснованности того, кто мы есть, необходимо самопознание, что дает нам осознание цели и направления развития.

Readers are awaiting a new encounter with stories united under the common title Why We Are in Need of Tales. Let me remind you that these deep philosophical books were written by Maria daVenza Tillmanns, a professional philosopher dedicated to the study of philosophizing with children, who has gained valuable experience in this field. Maria’s books are inspired by her work with her students at El Toyon Elementary School in National City (California), with whom Maria held philosophy with children classes for three years before COVID-19. With parental permission, the children provided their drawings, which are used as illustrations for the books. I read Why We Are in Need of Tales, Part III with great pleasure. The focus of this book is on making decisions, sometimes very hard decisions. In Part II, the focus is on dreams — hopes and wishes we have for life. This book looks at how we may best decide how to make those hopes and wishes come true. And the answer Huk and Tuk suggest is deceptively easy: by making decisions “with your eyes wide open.” (5, p. ix). The author of this excellent book managed to describe how to make decisions with your eyes wide open through the playful dialogue between Huk and Tuk. The books are written in dialogue so the reader immediately plunges into the context of a lively conversation. Dialogue not only sharpens attention, but also invites the reader to participate in the conversation. In this way, the reader becomes a listener at the same time. In these stories, simple in content, but deep in meaning, the author managed to reflect the main existential questions that sooner or later arise in each of us. These questions address issues of everyday life, loneliness, authenticity, the integrity of the individual, life and death. And essentially, all are contingent on how we make our decisions in life.

What is naive philosophizing of childhood and what is its particularity? Synthesizing concepts “naivety” and “philosophizing” we come to the concept of “naive philosophizing”. This philosophizing is not the kind overstepping the bounds of ordinary-practical knowledge and, moreover, rooting in mythical consciousness, but the one comprising reflective, existential and critical components. As a matter of fact it is a self-reflection of a myth done by all possible intellectual means, where the myth remains a symbol of unity, pleasure, knowledge and belief. Beginning with such conceptual affects as surprise, doubt, experience of existential conditions, naive philosophizing finds direct continuation in the intellectual game as the form of communication. We consider communication as a necessary condition of realization of naive philosophizing; therefore the best way of its realization is the live conversation in the form of a dialogue or a “polylogue” provoked by spontaneous asking. Naive philosophizing acts as an attempt of rational comprehension of a myth; however the myth remains the principal means of perception of the world and world-view.

Uniqueness of philosophical knowledge is connected with display of existential character of the answer to philosophical problems, therefore knowledge in the form of philosophizing is always “finding of the reality in a situation in which at any moment there is a person.” While philosophizing a person defines oneself by means of the realization. Philosophizing is something through what a person becomes what he/she is, while getting implicated with the reality. The philosophical way of life can be carried out in two ways: either alone as a way of meditation, or together with people as a way of communication. When I carry out thoughtful reflection as a self-reflection, transcendental reflection, and full understanding of the present moment in my life appears peace of mind, trust, ability to make decisions, reliability and fidelity. Philosophical thoughts are not the guide to action, but a condition of intelligent life: Life becomes impregnated with thought.