A Guide to Navigating Life's Complexities

Exploring philosophy as therapy.

Reviewed by Tyler Woods

Welcome to "Philosophies in Psychology," a blog series dedicated to exploring the intersections of diverse philosophical traditions—such as existentialism, phenomenology, pragmatism, and ethics—as well as the contributions of thinkers like Gilles Deleuze, Iris Murdoch, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Each post will delve into how these philosophies might inform, shape, or even disorganize modern psychological theory and practice.

Philosophy as a Love Affair with Life

From Plato’s Symposium, we learn that philosophy—or, more specifically, the philosopher—is the "friend of wisdom." Being a friend or a lover, the philosopher emphasizes that thinking begins with care. In a way, it’s obvious because we rarely think deeply about things we don’t care about. Yet for the philosopher, thinking and caring intertwine to the point where philosophy becomes an intimate love affair with life. This is the underlying premise of this blog: that life, in all its complexity and difference, matters deeply.

I mention this philosophical care because the Greek word therapeia refers to healing or curing. Building on that, I propose a working thesis: philosophy heals because it cares. And it cares the way a friend does, by giving attention without judgment. When philosophers encounter something they don’t understand, they don’t rush to conclusions—they begin to wonder.

Wittgenstein and the Feeling of Being Lost

Ludwig Wittgenstein, in his Philosophical Investigations, famously wrote, “A philosophical problem has the form: ‘I don’t know my way about.’” In other words: I’m lost. This sense of being lost can apply to feeling disoriented in a shopping mall or forest, just as easily as it applies to feeling lost in a relationship, career, or life itself. For Wittgenstein, being lost meant finding no meaning or use in how we are living—in what we are doing.

Philosophy, then, is not just a theory; it’s a way of life. It helps us reflect on experiences such as love, anxiety, sadness, and joy. Perhaps we feel lost because we fail to pay attention to how or why we do what we do, like the fly that gets stuck in the bottle, as Wittgenstein suggests.

Therapeutic Value of Philosophy in Psychology

Philosophy can help us become better at doing what we do—or make us aware of why we should stop doing certain things, especially if we want to live a joyful and meaningful life. It can guide us toward decisions that heal.

Philosophy’s emphasis on attention and care offers valuable tools for therapists, who help clients refocus their attention on what truly matters to them. This mirrors mindfulness techniques in psychology, where careful observation of thoughts and feelings can lead to deeper understanding and emotional balance.

Philosophers, in their varied ways, offer conceptual "maps" or frameworks to help us navigate life's existential dilemmas, such as feeling lost. Luckily—or perhaps for some, unfortunately—there is no one-size-fits-all map. What unites different philosophical approaches is that they don’t offer ready-made solutions. Rather than "solving" problems, philosophy helps us overcome them by opening new ways of living, thinking, feeling, and behaving—where the original problem is no longer a problem.

Conclusion: Philosophy as Therapy

As Wittgenstein points out, “There is not a philosophical method, though there are indeed methods, like different therapies.” Philosophical approaches to psychology, then, can be seen as therapeutic—each offering tools that help us reorient ourselves in life, though no single tool fits all.