Therapeutic Naturalism: Renewing an Ancient Tradition

Richard Sebold (La Trobe University)

It is often thought that a thoroughly naturalistic worldview lacks the resources needed to contribute to one's everyday existence. While science admirably explains the functioning of our world, it is unable to provide any sort of guidance or solace in matters that mean the most to people immersed in the manifest image. However, I think this existential crisis for naturalism can begin to be averted by following and updating the therapeutic conception of philosophy as practiced in the Greco-Roman world. Following the work of Pierre Hadot, I will outline how ancient philosophers engaged in spiritual exercises that were intended to change the way the subject thought and conceived of himself and the world, thereby diminishing mental anguish and leading to tranquility. In particular, I will discuss the practical aspect of ancient physics, which sought to eradicate thoughts out of line with the nature of world that were at the root of many of the disturbances of the mind. By updating this practice of therapeutic naturalism, I think it is more difficult to maintain that a total scientific worldview is devoid of any benefit for everyday experience, that is, science can be considered a way of life.

Dr Ricky Sebold recently completed his PhD in philosophy at La Trobe University with a thesis on anti-realism in Continental philosophy, which will soon be published as a monograph with Rowman & Littlefield International. His work now focuses on issues surrounding naturalism in both the analytic and Continental traditions.