On the Possibility of Selt-transcendence

·期刊原文
ON THE POSSIBILITY OF SELF-TRANSCENDENCE:
PHILOSOPHICAL COUNSELING, ZEN, AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
Rachel B. Blass
Journal of Chinese Philosophy Vol.23 1996
PP.277-297
Copyright @1996 by Dialogue Publishing Company, Honolulu,
Hawaii, U.S.A.

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Abstract: This paper distinguishes between two conceptions
of philosophical counseling. The one focuses on the
clarification of the individual's psychological and
philosophical self and the other on the transcendence of that
self. A comparison of the latter conception with the
self-transcendence that takes place through Zen Buddhism
contributes to the examination of the question of whether
philosophical counseling can indeed overcome potential
psychological obstacles to attaining a transcendent aim.
Possible influences of the integration of psychological
intervention into the philosophical search for transcendence
are also discussed.

Since the first emergence of philosophical counseling as
a form of professional practice in Germany in the early
nineteen eighties, there have been a number of attempts to
define its domain. So far no conclusive consensual definition
has been formulated, nor does there appear to be agreement
even on the essential ingredients that must be present in
order for an encounter between two people to be considered
philosophical counseling. In the course of this paper I will
focus on one central line of thought within philosophical
counseling. This line considers the philo-

P.278

sophical counseling encounter to be characterized by a quest
for transcending one's self. The counselor is viewed in this
context as a guide who, through philosophical means,
facilitates a process within the counselee in which the
counselee steps beyond the course set out for him by his
psychological makeup. In this respect there is similarity
between philosophical counseling and Zen, which too seeks to
go beyond the psychological self to attain a true state of
being. An understanding of the relationship between
philosophical counseling and Zen will help explore the
question of whether in philosophical counseling transcendence
is indeed possible, as well as the nature of the difficulties
that may stand in its way.

TWO BASIC CONCEPTIONS OF PHILOSOPHICAL COUNSELING:
CLARIFICATION VS. TRANSCENDENCE

Many present day philosophical counselors consider
Socrates to be the spiritual father of their profession. They
view philosophical counseling as a renewal of his early
attempts to help others examine their lives in a
philosophical way. But now, fifteen years since this renewal
began, it has become apparent that there is little agreement
as to what is to be meant by ''helping others examine their
lives philosophically".
There is a great diversity among the different
practitioners, in their attempts to characterize
philosophical counseling. Many of these attempts take place
by comparing philosophical counseling with other helping
professions, most notably psychotherapy. Achenbach, the
founder of philosophical counseling, and his followers have
characterized philosophical counseling as an approach which
does not use methods, techniques, and assumptions-as
presumably psychotherapy does-but rather examines these
critically (Achenbach, 1984, 1995) . In contrast, some
philosophical counselors have stressed that what is unique to
their form of help is the application of specifically
philosophical skills, tools, knowledge, and methods, to the
alleviation of the individual's distress or

P. 279

to the resolution of the problem he is facing (e.g.,
Cohen, 1995). Another view is that what characterizes the
help that philosophical counseling has to offer is precisely
the fact that it is not directed toward the amelioration of
distress or resolution of problems but rather toward the
philosophical understanding of these (e.g., Veening, 1994) .
Others have considered philosophical counseling to be defined
by its subject matter (e.g., Lahav, 1994; Schefczyk, 1994;).
Here the claim is that in contrast to psychotherapy which is
concerned with psychological processes and mechanisms which
exist within the individual's mind, philosophical counseling
is concerned with conceptual issues that arise from the
individual's life, but do not exist within his mind. And
still other philosophical counselors have stressed that what
characterizes the philosophical encounter is the kind of
symmetric nonauthoritarian relationship that the counselor
offers the counselee (e.g., Tillmans, 1994; Lindseth, 1990),
and so on and so forth.
My examination of the numerous sub-approaches that have
evolved, only a few of which I have mentioned here, has led
me to realize that they can generally be divided into two
broad conceptions of philosophical counseling that pervade
the field. According to one conception philosophical
counseling is a process of clarification, while according to
the other it is a process of transcendence. In a word,
according to the former, philosophical counseling aims at
clarifying the counselee's present way of being. In contrast,
the latter approach attempts to aid the counselee in going
beyond his present way of being into a new one. Thus, the
former may seek to clarify the person's way of being by
uncovering, examining and possibly modifying presuppositions
hidden in the person's attitude, various potentialities and
implications of his situation, concepts that are interwoven
in his life, ideas which he follows, ethical implications of
his actions, alternative courses of action, and so on. The
latter, on the other hand, would focus on the alternative way
of being into which the person can evolve; on creating new
ways of seeing, experiencing, relating, thinking. In other
words, whereas the former deals with the person's present
conceptual coordinates-with their understanding, sharpening,

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improvement, and even modification-the latter aims at
transcending these and creating new such coordinates.

PHILOSOPHICAL COUNSELING AS A PROCESS OF CLARIFICATION

The conception of philosophical counseling as a process
of clarification considers the philosophical examination of
the individual's life to be one in which the counselor helps
fhe counselee understand the conceptual and logical network
that touches upon his life, and more specifically touches
upon the issues with which he is currenty struggling. For
example, the counselor may wish to help the counselee clarify
the conception of authority which somehow touches upon his
life. What exactly counts as "touches upon", may vary across
different approaches. Depending on the counselor's specific
approach, this clarification may be directed toward
understanding the counselee's actual state of mind, e.g.,
actual thoughts and experiences-conscious or
unconscious-about authority. The counselor may point to
inconsistencies that exist within the counselee's concept of
authority, or he may help to explore the consequences of
having such a concept which the counselee had not envisioned.
Perhaps holding on to a view of authorily as a rigid,
unyielding and threatening force, is not beneficial to
certain aims (e.g., succeeding in work), something which may
be important to the counselee.
Alternatively, the philosophical clarification may be
directed toward a conception of authority which the counselee
lives without being conscious of it, or even without having
it in his mind at all. In such cases, the philosophical
concept of authority is not something that exists in the
counselee's mind, but may find expression, or may be
embodied, in his way of life. An analogy would be a painting
which may embody the concept of harmony, without that concept
existing in the painter's mind. Just as the painter may
create such a painting without ever thinking about the
concept of harmony, a counselee may live a life that embodies
a certain conception of authority without ever thinking or
experiencing

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this coneption, either consciously or unconsciously. One way
in which the counselee may recognize and understand his
conception of authority is by seeing it in relationship to
other available conceptions which the counselor may discuss
with him.
Whether the philosophical examination is applied to facts
in the person's mind or to conceptual dimensions that only
indirectly relate to the person's life, the counselor applies
philosophical tools, methods and knowledge with the aim of
clarifying the person's actual way of being. The counselor
hopes to further the counselee's self-understanding and, once
again depending on the counselor's personal approach, he will
also, to a greater or lesser degree, hope that this
understanding will assist the counselee with his predicament.
Hopefully, the latter will now find new ways to deal with
what is distressing him, will no longer conceive of his
situation as a distressing one, will resolve his dilemma,
will function rationally, etc.
I am aware that within this category of philosophical
counseling as a process of clairification I am bringing
together a wide range of approaches, some of which are
strongly opposed to others. For example, a concern with the
conceptual dimension of life is markedly different from a
concern with the facts that exist within the individual's
mind. Indeed, in the latter case I fail to see in what ways
it differs from the concern of many psychological approaches.
To give another example, counseling which sees clarification
or self-understanding as a goal in itself is fundamentally
different from one which uses clarification as a means for
making the counselee feel better. These varying approaches,
nevertheless, bear a great deal of similarity when compared
with the other conception of philosophical counseling which I
will now outline: philosophical counseling as a process of
transcendence.

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PHILOSOPHICAL COUNSELING AS A PROCESS OF TRANSCENDENCE

According to the conception of philosophical counseling
as a process of transcendence, the philosophical examination
of the individual's life does not focus on the counselee's
actual way of being. Rather,it is a process in which the
counselor serves as a guide in the counselee's quest to go
beyond his life as determined by psychological dimensions and
philosophical conceptions, and to recognize in a live way a
new conceptual space that opens up through a philosophical
encounter. The aim here is to go beyond not only the factual
psychological level of existence, but also beyond the network
of concepts which the counselee is currently living. To
return to our earlier example, the goal would not be merely
to explore the philosophical concept of authority that is
embodied in the individual's life, but to open up a new
conceptual space of living and participating, in which the
issue of authority in its previous form no longer exists.
Through in-depth philosophical exploration, an entire
reordering on the conceptual level may take place in which
the concept of authority would assume a different role, would
become part of one's life in a new and more meaningful way.
For example, in the context of a broad shift from an
individualistic conception of the self to a Buberian I-Thou
conception, the counselee's view of authority may undergo a
shift from authority as constituting the independent
existence of the person, to authority as a dimension of
inauthenticity, a breach of the participating stance in the
world.
In terms of the painting analogy described above, (i.e.,
the person's life as analogous to a painter's painting)
philosophical counseling is not concerned here with the
actual painting. It is concerned neither with the meanings
embodied in the counselee's "painting'(i.e., his actual way
of being) nor with what goes on in his mind while painting
it, but rather with a novel potential painting that is not
yet in existence. It sees its role as that of taking a whole
new look at the painting, exploring new coordinates with
which to examine and experience it, with the aim of
developing a

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more meaningful picture. Not only will new dimensions of the
picture be appreciated, but through this appreciation a whole
new picture is created. One may say, a new canvas is opened
up to the counselee.
Admittedly, such in-depth philosophic exploration may
involve a process of clarification, as in the other
conception of philosophical coun- seling. Clarification of
psychological dimensions, ideas, wishes, etc., would not be
important in themselves here, but the clarification of the
conceptual domain may. However, in contrast to the previous
conception of philosophical counseling, the focus of the
clarification here would not be limited to a certain issue
within the already given conceptual framework of the
counselee's present life. To stay with the specific issue
with which the counselee comes for counseling (e.g.,
authority) would be to limit any possibility for rebuilding
the basic conceptual coordinates which he lives. It would be
like taking a new look at the painting but focusing only on
the issue of harmony. Without taking into account issues of
color, of form, of balance, of thematic content,of symbolism,
etc., the only change that could occur would be limited to a
local modification within the already existing picture. The
issue with which the individual comes to philosophical
counseling must thus serve as an opening to a broader
philosophical exploration.
All this suggests that in contrast to the clarification
approach to philosophical counseling, within the
transcendence approach clarification is only a possible means
toward the more ambitious aim of transcendence. The focus
would not be on conceptual clarification per se, nor even on
clarification in the hope that it would lead to the
resolution of the counselee's problems. Rather, the
conceptual exploration would be one means toward going beyond
oneself, both psychologically and philosophically. It should
be stressed here that such clarification would be but one
means towards this end. Other means may be encountering and
participating in new ideas through reading, or through trying
to live new conceptions. The process here is far from an
abstract exploration, but rather is a live opening up to new
conceptual horizons.
A question that naturally arises at this point is: In
what sense is

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this process truly transcendence? In what way is the new
philosophical self(1) that is formed through this process a
transcendent one? Transcendence denotes a rise above what
previously existed, thus not just any change in the nature of
the philosophy one lives could be considered to be so. In
this context too we may see differences among philosophical
counselors.
The most explicit reference to the transcendent aim of
philosophical counseling is to be found in the recent work of
the Israeli philosophical counselor Ran Lahav. In an
interview in the German journal for philosophical counseling
Zeitschrift fur Philosophische Praxis (Lahav, 1995b, p. 4) he
says: "Philosophical Counseling uses philosophy not just to
solve specific personal problems or to make people feel
better... The goal is not to repair or improve what already
exists in the person, but to overcome, go beyond, uplift
oneself to new dimensions of depth and wisdom". Lahav, in his
extensive work in the field, has gradually shifted from an
emphasis on clarificafion to an approach which aims at
enabling the counselee to go beyond his personal perspective
and to come to live and embody a richer, supra-personal
network of meaning, which is what he regards as wisdom.
According to his approach, a person's way of being, including
behaviors, attitudes, emotions, desires, etc., embody a
specific interpretation of his life and world, or what he
calls the person's "lived understanding", "worldview", or
"network of meanings". The role of the philosophical
counselor is to aid the counselee in exposing the worldview
which he lives, in critically examining its basis, and in
putting it in the context of the horizon of other possible
worldviews (Lahav, 1993, 1994, 1995a, in press). In this way
the person overcomes his particular limited horizon of
attitudes and opens up to the endless network of meanings,
which are not tied to any specific egocentric perspective,
and which underlies our actual and potential worlds. Thus,
the process of transcendence aimed at here takes the person
from a specific egocentric, sell-centered horizon of living
to a supra-personal embodiment of wisdom.
In the work of Steven Segal, a South African
philosophical counselor the idea of transcendence as aim of
philosophical counseling is apparent

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in his use of a Heideggerian framework (Segal, 1995).
According to him, the role of philosophical counseling is to
uncover the person's fundamental presuppositions, question
them, and transcend them toward a more authentic way of
being. These social, historical, cultural and other
presuppositions shape our everyday life, but they are usually
hidden from view and taken for granted in our inauthentic,
everyday moments. The transition to authenticity-as Segal
interprets Heidegger-is achieved when one turns one's world
from a taken for granted given into an issue, i.e. from
involvement in it to anxious self-reflection on it, and finds
one's roots in it. As an example of this process, Segal
chooses the case of Tolstoy's meaning crisis and conversion
to Christianity, which involved a kind of self-philosophical
counseling. Segal interprets this meaning crisis as a
Heideggerian anxiety, in which Tolstoy was no longer involved
in his life and hence could no longer make sense of it. He
started reflecting on everything he had previously taken for
granted, and discovered its meaninglessness to him. His
previous fundamental values-fame, money, family life, etc.-no
longer meant anything to him. For our purpose it is important
that Tolstoy managed to overcome his crisis and find a new
meaning (through Christianity) not by using thoughts and
other materials from his previous life, but by going beyond
them through philosophical reflection. It was by going beyond
reason and science, in which he had previously believed, that
he found his new way of being. As Segal says: "In perplexity
he overcame or transcended reason" (Segal 1995, p. 116)
Barbara Norman, another South African philosophical
counselor, is like Segal concerned with the presuppositions
that underlie and shape our lives, particularly those
originating from our culture (Norman, 1995). The role of the
philosophical counselor is to aid counselees in
"redescribing" or "re-interpreting"-in other words, creating
a new understanding of-the situation in which their lives are
embedded. This is done by becoming aware of the underlying
conceptual framework (or "pattern of intelligibility") ,
largely culturally-based, and going beyond it. It is not
always clear whether Norman's process of re-description is
sufficiently radical to make it count as a process of
transcendence. But assuming it is,

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what is interesting here is that it is a transcendence to a
particular perspective, albeit a rather broad one which
leaves much room for personal variation. The process of
transcendence is directed toward what Norman refers to as
"ecological" relationships. By this she means a stance of
care and involvement towards one's environment, especially
human environment, accompanied by awareness of one's
interdependence with the rest of the world. Here Norman
associates herself with Buber and with feminist writers, who
portray authentic individuals in terms of their relationship
to the world outside them. While here the process of
transcendence is aimed toward a specifically relational way
of being it would be different for different people depending
on their individual circumstances and life-history.
What is common to these counselors, and those who
maintain a similar approach, is the notion that the
authentic person does not exist within himself. Here we see
the vision of some of the existentialists, most notably
Heidegger and the religious existentialists, especially
Jaspers and Marcel, coming alive and finding expression
within the transcendent conception of philosophical
counseling. Man is not man, Jaspers explains. To be a person
one must go beyond oneself and the way to this transcendence
is through a philosophical encounter. Jaspers writes:

There is a soaring energy in the individual
responsibility of listening to the whole of reality.
A man's humanity depends on how deeply he gains
guidance through this listening.
To be a man is to become a man. (Jaspers, 1954,
p. 73)(2)

In comparing the two conceptions of philosophical
counseling-that of clarification, and that of
transcendence-it is clear that the latter conception sets
itself a much more far-reaching goal. The nature of the
"help" that it offers the individual is guidance to listening
to what is beyond, with the aim of realizing oneself as a man
not realizing what is

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already in one, but realizing what is beyond one through
philosophical participation in what lies beyond one. As such
it is unlikely that this conception of philosophical
counseling will ever assume a central position among the
helping professions. Its appeal will never be as popular as
short-term forms of help for overcoming problems, or even as
popular as long-term forms of help which delve deeply into
the self. It will probably speak only to those who seek this
kind of edification.
One may wonder, however, whether, even for those few who
yearn for it, this type of philosophical counseling can
indeed realize the role to which it aspires and indeed serve
as a context for guidance towards transcendence. One possible
danger is that the psychological self will resist such
transformation and impede the philosophical process. As we
inquire into this practical question it is useful to look at,
and try to learn from, another domain which has sought
self-transcendence -Zen Buddhism.

ZEN AND SELF-TRANSCENDENCE

The writings of the great masters of Zen Buddhism teach
of the distinction between what appears to be the essence of
the self and what is the true essential nature of the self.
The former comes close to the modern western conception of
the self as the complex network of psychological forces,
desires, ideas, etc. The latter, the true essential nature of
the self is recognized and can be "lived" only when the
former self is shed. This point is exemplified in the
writings of Dogen. According to Dogen it is only by
overcoming what appears to be the essence of our selfhood (in
its egotistic and superficial sense), that the authentic
person comes to the fore:

To study the Buddha way is to study the self
To study the self is to forget the self;
To forget the self is to be authenticated by the
myriad things,
(Shobogenzo Genjo-koan, trans. Cook, 1985,p. 133)

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Being a self(in the authentic sense of the term) involves
an experienced unity of subject and object, of "I" and other,
one that transcends not only the egocentric self but
transcends the species as well. That is, this selfhood is
non-anthropocentric, expressing a kind of continuity between
things and persons (Abe, 1985;Cook, 1985). In this respect it
differs not only from most modern-day Western conceptions of
selfhood, but also from the egocentric, anthropocentric,
substantial conceptions of the self of his time (Suzuki,
1949). As Cook (1985) concludes in his in-depth study of
Dogen's view of authentic selfhood: "Dogen's relevance to the
present times lies in the challenge he presents to naive and
unexamined assumptions concerning what a self is" (p. 132f).
Many Zen writers have stressed that one could get lost in
one's superficial selfhood: "The apperceiving mind is where
we form the notion of selfhood, and when this notion forgets
the fact that its very existence is backed by no-mind-ness,
personal egoism is asserted" (Suzuki, 1972, p. 143f.). To go
beyond the personal egoism of one's superficial self involves
a process of transcendence. As in the case of philosophical
counseling, we may see this transcendence not only in terms
of the aim of going beyond the self, but also in terms of the
methods which seek to leap beyond the psychological level of
existence without meddling with, or manipulating it.
The Zen way is not to dwell on these psychological
factors and their personal sources and manifestations. Rather
it involves a turning away from these, it is through
zazen-not through psychological introspection--that the
individual goes beyond the psychological self. "The practice
of Zen is body and mind casting off"(Hokyoki, trans.Waddell,
p. 131). "Forgetting our feelings", not analyzing their
origin is the way to transcendence. (Chan, 1963 p. 428) Dogen
instructs his students to devote themselves fully to zazen:
'If you just harmonize your minds at first it will be easy to
cast aside both your bodies and the world (Shobogenzo
Zuimonki, trans. Masunaga, 1978, p. 27). Or in the words of
Sekiso: "When a state of perfect motionlessness and
unawareness is obtained all the signs of life will depart and
also every trace of limitation will vanish... There is but
one straight passage open and unobstructed through and

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through"(Suzuki, 1983, p.47).
The history of Zen Buddhism is a testimony to the fact
that transcendence is indeed possible through this "straight
passage". Many have transcended their psychological needs and
desires and attained enlightenment without psychological
understanding. That is, one's true selfhood can be attained
without the individual delving into personal psychological
causes of, and reasons for his specific cravings,
attachments, fears, etc. Pure Zen practice sufficed. But
should this be a lesson for philosophical counseling
regarding its potential to facilitate transcendence?

CAN PHILOSOPHICAL COUNSELING LEAD TO SELF-TRANSCENDENCE?

There is no doubt that philosophical self-examination
has led to selftranscendence. We noted Tolstoy as evidence of
this. But he, of course, is not the only one. Kierkegaard and
some other great writers have revealed how their
philosophical encounters and self-reflections were intimately
tied to deep changes and transformations in their way of
being. One may, however, argue that these were exceptional
individuals. The question remains whether those individuals
who come to seek counseling are also able to attain such
transcendence through the guidance that they can receive in
philosophical counseling. In briefly addressing this question
here I will focus on the existence of psychological obstacles
to change. Our philosophical life resides within a
psychological substratum, and the latter may set limits on
the possibility of our philosophical development. Would it
not then be necessary to directly modify the psychological in
order to facilitate the philosophical? Would awareness of the
psychological influences be required? As we have seen, such
direct psychological modification and awareness have been
considered unnecessary in Zen.
In part, the answer to this question will have to await
the accumulation of a literature of philosophical counseling
case and outcome studies. It is important to be aware, however,
that this literature would have to provide information not
only on the degree to which philosophical coun-

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seling has allowed the individual to overcome his
psychological tendencies, but also to provide information
regarding the obstacles to such overcoming in those
individuals whose psychology continued to pull them in ways
contradictory to the ones they chose on the basis of their
philosophical understanding. Perhaps those whose
psychological tendencies notably interfere would benefit from
some psychological understanding for the release necessary to
then proceed along their chosen path. It may further be
wondered whether this path would not be applicable to those
who fail to transcend through Zen practice as well. While
many may have attained their true Buddha nature through
purely traditional Zen practice, we must inquire into whether
more can be done for those who did not attain this, whether
those who failed could not have cleared away the
psychological obstacles that lie in their path to
transcendence through some kind of psychological treatment.
While we await the accumulation of sufficient data, we
may allow ourselves some speculation based on an
understanding of the nature of philosophical counseling. It
is clear that philosophical counseling does not offer the
counselee the same optimal conditions for a drastic and
comprehensive shift away from one's psychology that Zen
offers. The counseling process does not provide affiliation,
social order, community, or any other kind of supporting and
guiding comprehensive framework. Nor does it offer or promise
the individual a definite place into which to transcend, so
to speak, analogous to the enlightened state promised in Zen.
The counseling process also does not offer a specific type of
truth. It does not point in a specific direction of
transcendence, it does not clear a specific path along which
the counselee can stride on his way to going beyond himself.
While it does constitute a way of searching for the right
way-through philosophical self understanding-the search is a
lone one and there is no knowing where it will lead to. It
would seem that under these circumstances, where the
individual is left solely with his own philosophically
informed will with which to face the psychological tendencies
which he wishes to overcome, the potential influence of
psychological tendencies is great relative to their influence
on the Zen

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practitioner. Under such circumstances it may be necessary to
integrate methods which operate directly on the individual's
psychology.
It should perhaps be noted here that these circumstances
are not related to the nature of philosophy per se. In
ancient Greece, where philosophy did offer both community and
a specific truth, it would seem that psychological measures
were not necessary. Without utilizing psychological analysis,
the philosophies of that time had a profound impact on the
life of the individual as well as on his transcendence
(Hadot, 1995).

DOES PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTION INTERFERE WITH
SELF-TRANSCENDENCE?

While it may turn out to be necessary to integrate
psychological methods into philosophical counseling if
transcendence is to occur, we must examine whether from
another direction such integration would not impede the
philosophical process of transcendence. Elsewhere (Blass,
1994, in press)I have described how one can relate to the
individual's psychology without necessarily viewing the
individual's selfhood in terms of psychological mechanisms.
In principle, then, it is possible to relate to the
individual's psychological processes and take them into
account, while seeing the essence of his selfhood in terms
of, say, Zen or philosophical counseling. This does not,
however, necessarily mean that in practice, focusing on a
psychological understanding would not interfere with the
maintenance of a philosophical counseling stance. Clearly,
the nature of thinking involved in psychoanalysis is not of
the kind that would be conducive, at the moment of its
occurrence, to the state of mind sought through Zen. One
cannot maintain a Zen-type attitude while also introspecting
psychoanalytically. It would seem, in fact, to be quite the
opposite. Psychoanalysis zooms in on just those things that
Zen wishes to forget and cast off. But does this apply to
philosophical counseling too? Does a psychological kind of
thinking and experiencing oppose the process of philosophical
counseling?
This is a very difficult question. On the one hand,
psychological

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exploration and understanding, while clearly different from
those of philosophy (despite some overlap), are not alien to
them. To be sure, they involve the application of a different
body of knowledge and require thinking in terms of personal
causes rather than in terms of conceptual connections and
similar philosophical manners of thought, they involve a
search for the psychological sources of the person's
assumptions rather than an examination of their tenability or
their logical implications they would not regard incoherence
as an impetus to a better formulation, but to an
understanding of its underlying causes, e.g., understanding
of the conflictual ideas that are responsible for the
incoherence. Nevertheless, despite these differences, the two
do not appear to be incommensurable. It would appear that the
temporary shift from a philosophical to a psychological kind
of thought would not limit the individual's ability to then
direct his thoughts back for further philosophical
exploration. That is, given the individual's choice to view
himself philosophically and accordingly to embark on a
process of self-understanding of a philosophical kind, one
could view the turn to psychology as a kind of releasing
process that would then allow the individual to be more free
and open to philosophical thinking and especially to the
application of that thinking to one's life.
In contrast, shifting back and forth between
contradictory perspectives, as in the case of Zen and
psychological exploration, would seem to be more complicated,
although there still remains the possibility that for some
people there would be no choice. Perhaps it would be for
those of whom Dogen says: "You may say that you understand
but still cannot give up certain things and practice zazen
while holding on to various attachments. If you take this
attitude you sink into delusion" (Shobogenzo Zuimonki, trans.
Masunaga, 1978, p.8). For those who "still cannot give up
certain things", psychological understanding of their
childhood, or of their current needs and motivations that
underlie these attachments may be the way to overcome them
and to continue toward enlightenment rather than falling into
delusion.
On the other hand, there are potential dangers associated
with the shift from a philosophical to a psychological
encounter with the individual.

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The focus on psychological motivations and needs is a source
of perpetual doubt of the truth of one's stance in the world.
When one searches for psychological explanations of one's
conceptions, there is a tendency to question the reasons for
their appearance, their authenticity, and consequently their
validity. While there may be value to this doubt, it may
impede the development of certain ingredients that are very
important to the philosophical process of transcendence. I
refer here to two ingredients. One is faith in one's
potential to come in touch with some truth, in the
possibility of encountering (an aspect of) a reality that is
not merely a solipsistic product of one's inner psychology.
If an individual having an elusive contact with such faith is
suddenly immersed in psychological doubt, it is possible that
that important contact would be lost. The other ingredient is
a kind of silence. In order to transcend oneself one must be
attuned to the sound that comes from beyond, the guiding
sound that comes from the whole of reality, as Jaspers put
it. But if the noise of inner doubt is overbearing then our
ears may be deafened.
The focus on psychological motivations and needs may not
only deafen us, but may also blind us, blind us to what lies
outside of our psychological selves. Psychological
introspection is indeed that-a turn of one's glance inwards,
inwards to one's needs, desires, wishes, sensitivities,
jealousies, etc. There is the possibility that this inwards
glance would come at the expense of looking beyond ourselves,
of turning to the Other, of turning to Being. It is not clear
that the mere awareness that one's ultimate aim is
self-transcendence is sufficient to counteract the pull of
the inwardly-directed psychological perspective, and keep one
on the path of the philosophical quest.
Ultimately, it is perhaps with awareness of the dangers
to the philosophical quest that psychological measures
could,and maybe even should, be integrated. The self-doubt
and self-focusedness that psychological awareness brings
about-while being potential threats to one's tie to the
beyond-are also potential safeguards against living in a
philosophical world which is detached from one's actual life.
They prevent living in a world of ideas that does not
authentically reflect the way in which one

P.294

relates to the Other, or to whatever lies beyond oneself. An
example of this would be an individual living in a conceptual
world governed by ideas of the unity of Being, unaware of the
fact that his relationships to others are actually governed
by self-concern. Focusing on one's motives and needs and
recognizing them for what they are, as well as questioning
and doubting oneself psychologically, may be a source of
humble awareness to how one is actually standing in the world.
It may allow the individual to see how he is not fully living
what he believes to be his conceptual world. It may then also
assist by clearing away the psychological impediments to
living that world. Thus despite its dangers, psychological
awareness may also serve as a means of protection against
transcendence in bad faith.

CONCLUSION

To assist an individual in his path toward transcendence
is a great and difficult task. It will lake time before
philosophical counseling finds the best way to attain this
aim. As it works toward the development of its own unique
framework, both theoretical and practical, philosophical
awareness and change. Further comparison of where this new
field stands in relation to other more ancient traditions
which aim at transcendence, such as Zen,would also be
valuable.

NOTES

1. See Blass, in press, for further elaboration of the
distinction between the self as a psychological entity and
the self as a philosophical one.
2. This view of man transcending himself in order to become
man throug a philosophical listening to reality should not
be confused with Sartre's view of transcendence. For
Sartre, transcendence is a process whereby man creates
himself-"Existence precedes essence". Gabriel Marcel,
criticizes this misuse of the term transcendence.
"Transcendence", he argues, cannot merely mean "going
beyond", but rather must stand in opposition to immanence.
(Marcel, 1969, p.48). Sartre's transcendence does not take
man beyond the immanent, does not lead man beyond himself,
and thus in many ways remains diametrically opposed to the
position of Jaspers, Marcel, and the transcendent
conception of philosophical counseling.

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