Sami Pihlström
University of Helsinki
Abstract. Problems related to human life in an increasingly "medicalized" society ought to be investigated in an interdisciplinary fashion by humanistic disciplines and the social sciences. The present metaphilosophical essay discusses the conception of philosophy as a therapeutical activity aiming at the "cure" of certain "illnesses" of thought and, thus, at "healthy" ways of thinking about human life and the world at large. It is suggested, in particular, that Ludwig Wittgenstein's therapeutical view of philosophy is not incompatible, but actually quite naturally combined with the Kantian idea of a reflexive "discipline of reason". This suggestion has also some implications regarding the phenomenon known as "philosophical counseling".
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