Philosophical counseling in the light of Pierre Hadot's philosophy

In this thesis, the spiritual exercises used for the development of the soul in Ancient philosophy were examined and related to how these spiritual exercises could be used in the light of Pierre Hadot's philosophy in today's philosophical counseling practices. First of all, from the history of Ancient philosophy to the present day, what philosophy means and for what purposes it is used has been examined. Then, it is mentioned why philosophical consultants choose to use the part of philosophy that focuses on life in the Ancient Ages rather than the current theoretical aspect of philosophy. All philosophical consultants consider that philosophy should be turning to life, whether or not they use methods in their practice. At the same time, some philosophical consultants think that they can use philosophers and their discourses as a source in counseling practice. In this study, it is argued that Pierre Hadot's philosophy, which he inherited from Ancient philosophy, can be used as a source in philosophical counseling practices. This thesis consists of three parts. In the first chapter, in the light of the historical researches of Ancient philosophy made by Pierre Hadot, how philosophy emerged, and for what purposes it was used by philosophers and philosophy schools in the Ancient Ages and then during the Roman Empire were examined. In the second part, in the light of Pierre Hadot's research on the history of Ancient philosophy, spiritual exercises, which are grouped under four headings, are mentioned. Finally, in the third chapter, the main concepts in Pierre Hadot's philosophy were made into titles and their connection with philosophical counseling was tried to be established. Keywords: Philosophical counseling, philosophize, worldview, Pierre Hadot, turning to life, spiritual practice, existence, dialog, wisdom, oceanic feeling