The possibilities of philosophical counseling in Spinoza

Human being, as a thinking and feeling being, in the 21st century, experiences problems such as the meaninglessness he has experienced due to the many negative situations he is in, existential emptiness, the lack of values and morals, that the emotions not being defined in the correct way. In order to solve these problems, a new practice called philosophical counselling has emerged, suggesting the practical application of philosophy and the application of all the accumulation of philosophy to the practical life. Philosophical counselling aims to be a solution to the problems of people by making use of all the accumulation of philosophy, to recognize one's own nature, to think correctly and to deal with and treat the case in a healthy way. Accordingly, philosophers in the history of philosophy, studying both the theoretical and practical aspects of philosophy, expressed their views on it. Although Spinoza, one of the 17th century philosophers, dealt with the philosophical problems, both theoretically and practically, mostly, focused on practical life. Spinoza's philosophy is the philosophy of life. Therefore, most of the studies done on Spinoza have been related to the field of practical philosophy. While Spinoza explained the subjects he cared about the practical life in a logical framework, has taught how to gain the person's feelings, thoughts, free will and abilities to reach the power of the mind. These offer us the main subject of philosophical counselling. In the present study, we will examine these issues through Spinoza's perspective and try to explain the importance of their place in philosophical counselling. Thus, we intend to bring solutions to problems experienced today, by benefiting from the views of a philosopher, in the history of philosophy. Keywords: Philosophical therapy, Spinoza, reason, passion, conatus