:00 – Introductions and what a philosopher, like Cori, does these days
Quit job, do some consulting, “write a meta fiction novel,” and keep writing, growing, and learning in own practice as a philosopher
Introduction of the idea about reflecting on our teachers as those who shape us
4:26 – Context for the conversations between Sean and Cori (2020-2021)
Fall 2020 (the worst time for Cori) to Fall 2021 (the best time for Cori)
Connecting through philosophical dialogues
Creating space for reflection, learning, and creativity
Introduction of the idea of not knowing exactly what we are doing, but clearly doing something in the meantime
7:40 – What we learn from our teachers about understanding and living out our values, especially from Dr. Marian Caudron
Marian Caudron’s advice for figuring out what to do with your life by writing, reading, volunteering, understanding your values, and using your gifts and talents to fulfill them
Embodying one’s values with commitments to be a practitioner; living the practices you are teaching
Introduction of the idea of “teaching” and practicing philosophy outside of academia and providing therapeutic support for others
14:35 – How to go about identifying our values, a case study across a handful of different philosophers
Positive Psychologist Martin Seligman’s Values in Action (VIA)
The seeds of existentialist queer, feminist, and anti-oppressive values planted in Cori by David Deane (an Irish Catholic Theologian) and how they are different from, but deeply still resonate with, the Bodhisattva vows and insights of Marian Caudron
Introduction to an idea from Natalie Goldberg: What we learn from the people who teach us by their example and way of being
Another teaser about connecting to therapy, philosophy, and philosophical counseling
22:00 – (Presumably) Not knowing what you’re doing (but also knowing exactly what you are doing because you’re actually already doing it)
The 2008 observation from Jane Kneller about Cori, “Wherever she’s going, she’s already there” and eventually figuring out what that means after a few years
Example of being already there: When Cori decided to pursue a “different” path after graduate school in 2013, started an LLC in philosophical counseling, and began using language like, “professional friend.” And now, in 2021, choosing to leave a professional career, starting Positive Philosophy Consulting, LLC, and still being a philosopher
26:16 – When doing philosophy, if we end up where we started, did we get anywhere? Cori says YES. Sean introduces the idea of negative capability.
Cori shares insight about her October checkpoints - you will be wrong about what will happen and can still already be there. We get comfortable with uncertainty because there is also confidence in our foundational path and everything that got us to this specific moment, which will inform the next
Introduction of the idea of what it feels like when you feel like you’ve really learned something
34:43 – Comedy, Playfulness, Humor, Joy, and Levity
María Lugones on playfulness, “world traveling,” and loving perception, especially when people perceive us as serious but we know ourselves to be playful
The liberatory practice of cultivating joy, fun, pleasure and how to create spaces for community that allow for playfulness, honesty, intimacy, and co-creation
Buber’s “I-Thou” with respect to humility, listening, receptivity
43:40 – There are many different areas and channels for how to practice philosophy and embody our values in an artful way based on who we are individually
Commitment to practice and the embodiment of ideas
Creativity, and “writing” as an act of self-authorship
Self-awareness - understanding who we are and what we care about
49:20 – Do philosophers necessarily need to have some comfort with uncertainty?
Charles Mills on the epistemology of ignorance, which acknowledges the politics of a produced and willful ignorance
Unpacking the tendency to accept a “fear of the unknown,” that there is such a thing as reality and truth
Why even philosophers need to go beyond simply asking the questions and do the thinking to reimagine some answers (with reference to Grace Lee Boggs and María Lugones)
Decolonial methodologies to find answers in how we live our everyday lives, where the theoretical is practical, responsibility is maximal, and the learning we are embodying is felt as such
Sean tries to get us to move to philosophical counseling again, but we don’t go there. Not quite yet
58:20 – Philosophy should help us live better and in pragmatic ways.
Sean gets excited by the idea of “designing a life” because this is what philosophy is supposed to do – participants of The Wisdom Workshop become “more comfortable with uncertainty now because I know a path through it”
Cori shares notes on how María Lugones and Elizabeth Spelman describe what characterizes good theory (which provides direction and guidance on how to live a better life) and why this is important since we may be affected, uncritically, by ideas in ways that register in our bodies as “truth”
1:03:21 – Is joy and love required for living a good life?
Play, levity, joy, laughter, and pleasure as characteristics of a world without oppression and means for resistance to oppression
There is a collective responsibility for us to create liberation for everyone rather than just independently pursuing our own joy
Why it’s important to remain critical of pleasure and joy given that oppression is also fueled by the gleeful enjoyment of violence and fascism
All of these examples are foreshadowing the value of philosophical counseling, philosophical consulting, or philosophical practice
1:11:40 – Let’s talk about philosophical counseling (finally!!)
In just the past decade, philosophical counseling has gone from being hardly known to become more standardized and mainstream enough to be featured in O Quarterly Magazine (Spring 2021)
Different ways to approach philosophical counseling: logical review of assumptions, assigning a philosophical path of learning, “prescribing” theories to address questions
Appreciating that philosophy is a discipline with history, lineage, and wisdom that informs content, context, arguments, and frameworks, and this is what provides its transformative potential for helping us navigate our everyday lives through a developed sense of understanding
Cori’s approach to philosophy is about how to live a life where you feel rooted, grounded, with clarity. Philosophy is not about indoctrination, but skills development and the ability to make connections between our own unique experiences, insights, and influences. We develop the skills to think, read, write, share, articulate, problem solve, and creatively experiment
P.S. This is still different from consulting in a diversity, equity, and inclusion space for corporations, businesses, and organizations
1:23:19 – What language do we have to even describe THIS philosophical practice, or philosophical practice in THIS way that develops the “movement of self” as an art of living in more liberatory ways?
Miranda Fricker’s concept of hermeneutic injustice highlights the political, philosophical, and personal significance and implications of what we lack in terms of shared language to identify, reference, name, and make meaning
We are all currently going through a specific, pivotal, and human cultural moment, and we would benefit by having language to describe the skills and practices that help us move through this in healthier, better, and more responsible ways
The point of positive philosophy is to develop the capacity to experience and embodying these practices in ways that can be pleasurable and therapeutic, which can help answer some of Cori’s big questions as of late, such as: What does learning feel like? What does healing feel like?
Recognizing the felt experience of philosophical practice – when you encounter great teachers, engage in the discipline of philosophical practice, and feel like something is happening even if you can’t quite name what it is
1:35:10 – Where do people begin if they want to develop in philosophical practice? How long does this take?
To do really transformative work and change culture – individually, as a group, or part of a larger organization – you have to start with understanding the values that are really guiding your life (and potentially undermining your best intentions)
The point is to practice deeply enough to develop skills that will help you navigate the questions. This depends on presence and quality of your learning as an embodied experience
1:40:40 – Are you learning? How do you know if you’re learning?
Cori reads excerpt from “Lessons in Liberation: How to Break Up by Writing a Love Letter” to illustrate her own process over the past four months that capture the themes of this whole conversation
Cori sharing appreciations and gratitudes with Sean for the space, support, and ongoing conversations
Recognizing the importance those who support you to do your work (especially by buying coffees :)) and giving thanks to all of our teachers
And now with that conversation fully notated and stamped, I'd like to give the most heartfelt thanks to all my philosophical teachers, including those explicitly named in this conversation - Marian Caudron, David Dean, María Lugones, Charles Mills, Elizabeth Spelman, Jane Kneller, Ladelle McWhorter, and Shannon Sullivan. I'm also so grateful to so many others whose have shaped and influenced my thinking, including a few others mentioned - Friedrich Nietzsche, Guatama Buddha, bell hooks, Grace Lee Boggs, Natalie Goldberg, Miranda Fricker, and Charles Scott.