This case-based approach to the philosophical practice modality of logic-based therapy demonstrates the utility, versatility, and accessibility of LBT for dealing effectively with the emotions of everyday life, such as anxiety, worry, guilt, anger, and sadness. Through engaging, illustrative case studies, this book serves as a guidebook for philosophical and psychological practitioners, as well as a text for instructors of philosophy and psychotherapy who wish to demonstrate the practical value of philosophy in their respective fields.

This paper explores the intersections between Elliot D. Cohen’s Logic-Based Therapy and Amy Morin’s "13 Things Mentally Strong Women Don’t Do" (HarperCollins 2019) with a focus on the ways that they shed light on and mutually support each other. With its six-step method (including the identification of Cardinal Fallacies, the refutation of those fallacies, the reinforcement of their corresponding Guiding Virtues, the use of Uplifting Philosophies, and the implementation of plans of action), Logic-Based Therapy (...) and Consultation provides a systematic rational framework for understanding how our interpretation of facts and our opinions/value judgments about those facts interact in order to form habits, i.e., patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behavior, that can lead to a fulfilling or a not-so-fulfilling life. For its part, "13 Things that Mentally Strong Women Don’t Do" 1) helps us understand how these habits specifically affect women, 2) provides uplifting philosophies from a woman’s perspective, and 3) contributes to plans of actions by suggesting practical exercises for implementing these plans, all in order to help us develop those good habits or virtuous patterns of thought, feelings, and behavior that allow us to live our best lives. (shrink)

This article aims to shed light on the interconnectedness between two important projects in applied philosophy: (a) Philosophy for Children (P4C), a movement for the introduction of philosophy in schools, and (b) Logic-based Therapy and Consultation (LBTC), a widely developed form of philosophical counselling. More specifically, it attempts to show how Michael Hand’s (2018) argument in favour of P4C can fruitfully be enhanced by the endorsement of fundamental theoretical assumptions of Elliot Cohen’s (2005, 2019) LBTC. Hand argues (...) that philosophy should be taught in schools as a mandatory subject by virtue of its distinctive educational value, namely its ability to contribute to justifying subscription to moral, political and religious standards. In turn, proponents of LBTC presuppose the distinctive capability of philosophy to assess and direct subscription to emotional standards, as well as to a broader category of standards, the practical ones. Given that subscribing to all those types of standards is of utmost importance for human life, an argument for mandatorily introducing philosophy in the school curricula starts taking a more concrete shape. (shrink)

This article describes some core elements of Logic-Based Therapy and Consultation and examines some of their epistemic properties.

This paper applies basic concepts of Logic-Based Therapy (LBT) to the case of a person in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction after relapse. The paper has been written in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the online Practical Reasoning course taught by Dr. Elliot D. Cohen at Indian River State College.

Contemporary research offers a more compelling account on the complex emotion of envy than the traditional view of envy as simply something bad. This essay explains how Logic-Based Therapy can use this account to coach individuals struggling with negative species of envy. Given that jealousy and envy are often equated, the essay differentiates the two; explains the conditions that make the four species of envy possible; identifies cardinal fallacies associated with negative species of envy; proposes counteractive virtues, (...) and describes ways to help people struggling with negative species of envy acquire these virtues. (shrink)

This article examines four key metaphysical assumptions of LBT regarding human emotions, human fallibility, reality, and human freedom. By way of examining these assumptions it shows how the theory of LBT systematically integrates philosophy and logic into a cognitive-behavioral approach to philosophical practice.

The phenomenon of self-love elicits conflicting reactions. Some believe it is the key to happiness, while others are skeptical. This essay defines self-love as wholehearted concern for one's well-being, argues that it does not imply selfishness, arrogance, or vanity, discusses reasons to value self-love, and describes ways Logic-Based Therapy can be used to help people love themselves.

In this essay I argue that a comprehensive understanding of addiction and its treatment should include an existential perspective. I provide a brief overview of an existential perspective of addiction and recovery, which will contextualize the remainder of the essay. I then present a case study of how the six-step philosophical practice method of Logic-Based Therapy can assist with issues that often arise in addiction treatment framed through an existential perspective.

In this essay I consider the question of whether Elliot D. Cohen has justified sufficiently the metaphysical basis for his Logic-Based Therapy as presented in his paper on “The Metaphysics of Logic-Based Therapy (IJPP, this issue). Although Cohen discusses four different foundations of his cognitive theory, I focus only on one. It is the most important basis of his theory, viz., that human beings logically deduce the cognitive-behavior com­ponents of their emotions from premises. First, (...) I question Cohen’s analysis of the emotion rules we use to deduce evaluations of actions from. Second, I challenge Cohen’s view that we deduce our evaluations from emotion rules. Although I do not think my challenges completely undermine Cohen’s theory, they do raise serious concerns for a theory faced with a preponderance of causal therapies. (shrink)

In this essay I explore the notion of philosophy as a way of life as a recovery pathway for individuals in addiction recovery. My hypothesis is that philosophy as a way of life can be a compelling, and legitimate recovery pathway for individuals in addiction recovery, as one of many recovery pathways. I will focus on logic-based therapy applied in the context of addiction recovery. The aim of presenting a case study is to show how a client (...) receiving LBT is provided with techniques and a worldview that can contribute to a philosophically oriented recovery program. In the case study the client was advised to apply the moral philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche as an uplifting philosophical framework to counteract his unproductive worldview and fallacious thinking. Considering that there is an ostensibly low efficacy rate for the treatment of addiction, articulating the value of philosophy as a way of life as a recovery pathway provides a conceptual and methodological framework for the development of novel philosophically-based addiction treatment and recovery-oriented programs—thus expanding the treatment and recovery options available for those seeking recovery from addiction. (shrink)

Here I recount my practicum sessions with Albert, a client who struggles with anger outbursts. Since it can be hard to draw a line between a DSM and a non-DSM issue, my first inclination as a practitioner of Logic-Based Therapy (LBT)—and in line with practice boundaries and referral standards affirmed by the National Philosophical Counseling Association (NPCA)—was to refer Albert to a licensed therapist. But since Albert was already seeing a therapist, and since Albert never loses cognizance (...) of what he is doing during an outburst, I proceeded with Albert anyway. I did make it clear, however, that we would not focus directly on past traumas or substance abuse or family dynamics, but simply on his emotional reasoning in and around those times when he feels angry. Ultimately, I found (1) that damnation, can’tstipation, and perfectionism were the chief fallacies nurturing Albert’s tendency for outbursts and (2) that the uplifting philosophy of Spinoza would be especially effective at stoking self-respect, self-control, and metaphysical security (the direct antidotes to these fallacies) in someone like Albert, an informed and committed naturalist and determinist. (shrink)

Aim: The aim of this paper is to present the development and evaluation of an art psychotherapy brief treatment method for complex depression for patients referred to mental health services.Background: Art Psychotherapy literature describes a range of processes of relational change through the use of arts focused and relationship focused interventions. Complex depression has a prevalence of 3% of the population in the West and it is recorded that in 2016 only 28% of that population were receiving psychological treatment. This (...) study was developed to test the hypothesis of whether an accessible and acceptable approach to the treatment of complex depression could be developed in relation to existing evidence-based practice within mental health services.Method: The United Kingdom Medical Research Council phased guidance for complex intervention development was used to develop the intervention. The process included producing a literature overview, systematic description of clinical practice, including a logic model and a clinical protocol. The art psychotherapy protocol described an arts-based dynamic interpersonal therapy approach, offered 1:1 over 24 sessions. Further to this the intervention was tested for referrer acceptability. The intervention is in the early stages of evaluation, using changes to the patient's depression and anxiety measured pre- and post-treatment with a follow-up measure at 3 months following completion of treatment.Results: Phase I of the study provided a good basis for developing a logic model and protocol. The authors found that there was good clinical consensus about the use of a structured clinical art psychotherapy method and the literature overview was used to support specific examples of good practice. The verification of clinical coherence was represented by a logic model and clinical protocol for delivering the intervention. The acceptability study demonstrated very high levels of acceptability for referrers reporting that ADIT was acceptable for patients with complex/major depression, that they were likely to refer to ADIT in the future that the use of arts was likely to improve accessibility the use of arts was likely to improve outcomes and that offering ADIT was an effective use of mental health resources.Discussion: Phase I of this intervention development study demonstrated theoretical and practice coherence resulting in a clinical protocol and logic model. Whilst Phase II of this study showed promising results, Phase II would need to be sufficiently scaled up to a full trial to further test the intervention and protocol. (shrink)

The paper presents a method for interpreting religious texts for use in psychotherapy. In particular, the paper takes the example of the pivotal character Arjuna in Bhagavad-Gita as having low frustration tolerance and uses the collective philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita and Bhagavata-Purana through six steps of Logic-Based Therapy to overcome it. Although the paper uses Hindu religious texts, the treatment of these texts will speak to anyone interested in the possibility of integrating religious texts into psychotherapy.

Logic-based therapy (LBT) is an approach to philosophical practice that involves finding philosophical ideas that can serve as “antidotes” to clients’ emotional problems. I examine philosophical arguments from an ancient Chinese text, namely the Zhuangzi, and from four Buddhist texts, namely the Bodhicaryāvatāra, the Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta, and the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. The Bodhicaryāvatāra contains several antidotes to the fallacy known within LBT as “Damnation of Others.” Arguments from the Zhuangzi, the Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta, and the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā may be helpful antidotes (...) to the fallacy of Awfulizing about death. (shrink)

Logic-Based Therapy, a mode of philosophical counseling I invented beginning in the mid 1980s, under the auspices of Cognitive Behavior Therapy founder Albert Ellis, takes metaphysical security as a sin qua non for human happiness. The goal of LBT is to help people overcome irrational thinking that leads to metaphysical insecurity and to help build constructive, philosophical thinking that promotes metaphysical security. However, the advent of augmented and digital reality are beginning to present new challenges to (...) obtaining metaphysical security. Applying the tenets of LBT, this paper examines the implications for attaining metaphysical security in this brave new world of advancing technologies. (shrink)

Logic-Based Therapy and Consultation (LBTC) employs the use of guiding virtues—productive thought patterns and beliefs- through the use of shame-attacking exercises. Many transgender individuals experience dysphoria, which involves an extremely negative rating of oneself due to the mismatch they experience with their internal identity and bodily construction. This results from several kinds of emotional reasoning, like damning the world for being bigoted and hateful, or feeling trapped and unable to push through these struggles due to the awfulness (...) of these experiences. The aim of this paper is first, to provide an expansive account of these issues while highlighting the emotional reasoning of these issues through the lens of LBTC, and second, to explicate effective remedies and shame-attacking exercises for common transgender issues. (shrink)

Applying basic concepts of Logic-Based Therapy (LBT), this paper addresses the author’s own struggle with demanding perfection, and seeks to provide a model for others to emulate.

Logic-Based Therapy, a modality of Philosophical Counselling, believes that humans suffer because of their faulty thinking patterns. It suggests antidotal reasoning and uplifting philosophies that help counselees refute these thinking patterns and adopt a healthier way of life. This paper investigates the possibility of using the influential ideologies found in Naruto in the framework of LBT, as suitable uplifting philosophies. The anime has been interpreted through the lens of Conversational Model Therapy, Japanese values, violence studies, etc.; (...) there is an unavailability of research on its connection with philosophical counselling. This paper aims to fill the gap by reviewing literature on concepts in counselling, LBT, and philosophical counseling. It also attempts at providing behavioral exercises for the readers to implement in their own life. (shrink)

This paper shows how Logic-Based Therapy can constructively employ philosophical theories (such as those of Augustine, Aquinas, Spinoza, Hume, and Epictetus) as potent antidotes to the fallacy of Demanding Perfection.

The article investigates the validity of two different versions of the slippery slope argument construed in relation to human gene therapy: the empirical and the conceptual argument. The empirical version holds that our accepting somatic cell therapy will eventually cause our accepting eugenic medical goals. The conceptual version holds that we are logically committed to accepting such goals once we have accepted somatic cell therapy. It is argued that neither the empirical nor the conceptual version of the (...) argument can provide a conclusive moral reason for banning somatic cell therapy. According to a third interpretation, referred to as the arbitrary result argument, the many apparent similarities between somatic cell therapy and eugenic-based human genetic engineering drive us to make principled choices concerning what differences and similarities between the two practices should be regarded as morally (ir)relevant. Decisions of this kind are likely to have unpredictable moral consequences. Thus formulated, the slippery slope argument has much plausibility. One objects to somatic cell therapy not so much because of what is at the bottom of the slope on which it lies, but because it is on a slope of which one does not know what is at the bottom. While the arbitrary result argument does not provide a conclusive reason for prohibiting human gene therapy, it reminds of a very important thing: when making bioethical decisions, we should be as specific and as consistent as possible about our basic moral and medical concepts. (shrink)

In this paper, I discuss how, as part of the Logic-Based Therapy (LBT) Primary Certificate Program offered in Taiwan, I applied LBT to the case of Zhou, a fourth-year graduate school student in the Department of Guidance & Counseling.

This paper presents some of the behavioral and emotional challenges many of us have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic; the emotional reasoning that has or can undermine rational coping; and how the philosophical practice approach of Logic-Based Therapy & Consultation can help.

This paper distinguishes between two types of emotion: “bottom-up” largely “prewired” or conditioned responses to environmental stimuli and “top-down” “evaluative” emotions that are a function of a person’s evaluative inferences and use of “emotive” language. The paper, in turn, develops an analysis of the latter type of emotion and formulates a definition that tracks three interrelated levels of activity transpiring during an emotional episode: logico-linguistic, phenomenological, and neurological. In the light of this analysis, it shows how Logic-Based (...) class='Hi'>Therapy, a prominent form of philosophical counseling created by the author, can be used to overcome self-destructive forms of evaluative emotions such as intense anxiety, anger, and guilt, and depression. (shrink)

This article traces the rise of philosophical counseling in the United States, from its roots in the applied philosophy movement to the establishment of the National Philosophical Counseling Association, including a code of ethical standards for practitioners and a program for certification of philosophical counselors. The article demonstrates, through a brief discussion of the philosophical counseling modality of Logic-Based Therapy (LBT), how individuals who have Masters or Ph.D.’s in philosophy can become certified members of this burgeoning new (...) profession. (shrink)

This article explores the potential utility of certain features of Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophical concepts for philosophical counselling. Central to the philosophical counseling process is philosophical counsellors applying the ideas of philosophers or philosophical system to inspire, educate, and guide their counselees in dealing with life problems. For example, the philosophical practice methodology of Logic-based Therapy, developed by American philosopher Elliot Cohen, provides a rational framework for confronting problems of living, where the counselor helps the counselee find an (...) uplifting philosophy that promotes a guiding virtue to act as an antidote to unrealistic and often self-defeating conclusions derived from irrational premises. I present the argument that Nietzsche’s analysis of suffering, is one such uplifting philosophy which can be of utility to philosophical counselors. According to Bernard Reginster, suffering forms the bedrock of Nietzsche’s life-affirming concept of the ‘will to power.’ Nietzsche’s notion of the will to power radically alters our conception of, and the significance we assign to suffering, where the will to power is best understood as an individual’s desire for the activity of overcoming resistance. Nietzsche’s analysis implies that the fundamental human impulse is not to avoid suffering, but rather to embrace suffering as an unavoidable existential given of life itself: the meaning to be found in suffering is tantamount to affirming life itself. (shrink)

This article showcases the underlying logic of LBT and the Five Elements (5e) system from Chinese philosophy, in the context of philosophical practice. The ten types of perfectionism from LBT are thought out in the 5e frame. This endeavor shows that Logic-based Therapy and the Five Elements System work well together in practice, especially in understanding the client’s problem and identifying an uplifting philosophical strategy.

The American movie, “Peaceful Warrior” (2006), starring Scott Mechlowicz and Nick Nolte, is a story about an outstanding athlete’s perplexities and anxieties. The main character in the movie, Dan Millman, aggressively pushes his performance in order to become a top athlete. As a result, he develops feelings of perplexity and anxiety, and suffers daily from these problems, leading to insomnia. The other character in the movie, Socrates, who works at a gas station, is like a philosopher. Socrates not only helps (...) others to feel better, he can also help himself; in other words, he provides philosophical counseling services. In this paper, I utilize a combination of Buddhist philosophy and Logic-based Therapy (LBT) to interpret and analyze scenarios from this Movie, hoping to provide materials for philosophical counseling. The Buddhist philosophy I use includes the Ch’an philosophies of attachment, contemplation, greed, animosity, ignorance, non-duality, and meditation. The Five Steps of Logic-Based Therapy I incorporate include: (1) identifying the counsel­ee’s emotional reasoning; (2) identifying any irrational premises; (3) refuting any irrational premises; (4) finding antidotes to the refuted premises; and (5) exercising willpower in overcoming cognitive dissonance. There are six aspects that I address in this paper. The first is the anxieties of the Movie’s main character, Dan. The second is the philosophical counseling approach attained by combining Ch’an philosophy and Logic-based Therapy. The third is “knowing the dissatisfactions,” i.e. the process of finding one’s emotional reasoning/irrational premises. The fourth is “terminating the causes (of the dissatisfactions),” i.e. refuting the irrational premises. The fifth is “cultivating the path,” i.e. finding an antidote to the refuted premises. And the sixth aspect is “realizing the cessation (awakening),” i.e., exercising willpower in overcoming cognitive dissonance. (shrink)

Social media is known to be one of the finest achievements of the 21st century. However, it is no surprise that there are two sides to every coin. While there are a lot of advantages of social media in our day-to-day life it is difficult to ignore its negative consequences. As the interactions between people have increased so have the standards and expectations of people and undoubtedly, so has the mental distress that people constantly face. Multiple researches conducted on the (...) negative impacts of social media indicate towards the downside of social media, especially it's negative footprint on people's identities, social life, mental health and emotional well-being. Although there are various modalities that have been used to identify and solve the problems that people experience with social media, there are other modalities of counseling that have the potential to be effective and helpful but have not been explored in this regard. One such modality is Logic-Based Therapy. Logic-Based Therapy and Consultation is a philosophy-based practice that aims to help identify the different emotional and behavioral ways in which people upset themselves by their own faulty thinking. LBT identifies a number of fallacies or incorrect reasonings that people use very frequently in their lives and also suggests ways in which individuals can learn to cope with these fallacies. A lot of the fallacies identified by LBT can be seen in practice through social media. This paper aims at providing an insight into the reality of social media and online presence while highlighting the most common fallacies that people commit in emotional and behavioral reasoning as identified by LBT. The paper will also explore how and why people often commit these fallacies and suggest some antidotes to combat these fallacies. (shrink)

David Hume is well known for his philosophical doubts about such things as whether there is an external world beyond our sense perception, and whether there are any rational grounds for believing that the future will resemble the past. But what would it be like to entertain such doubts in the context of one’s everyday life? In this paper, a fictional dialogue is provided in which a descendent of David Hume who brings such skeptical doubts to life, and consequently suffers (...) from Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), is counseled by a Logic-Based Therapy practitioner. (shrink)

This paper offers a genealogy of the ancient predecessors of Logic-Based Therapy. While LBT has an apparent affinity with Stoicism, I argue that LBT has a tripartite foundation in Socratic Rational Inquiry, Platonic philosophical psychology, and Aristotelean ethics. Secondly, I argue that LBT could help a client attain self-knowledge and “moral proprioception.” Given that LBT involves an examination of one’s belief system and a recognition of the subconscious faulty premises, it may implement a new, more adaptive understanding. (...) By targeting self-defeating habits of interpreting the world, LBT can give clients a new self-understanding that enables them to interact with others and avoid unfortunate life choices and ways of interacting with significant others. I offer a hypothetical case from fiction pointing to the way LBT could transform the character’s life. LBT may enrich other therapeutic modalities, such as psychoanalysis or psychiatry, but it achieves different goals. (shrink)

How might approaching loss philosophically help us grieve? What does it mean to approach something philosophically? Why might such an approach be advantageous to studies of grief? In my paper, I discuss the abovementioned queries and offer an example of how philosophy has helped me navigate the wakes of loss faced with respect to the passing of my father. In the process, I discuss the field of philosophical counseling, a specific brand of practice advanced by Dr. Elliot D. Cohen, and (...) offer a brief account of the basic tenets and steps of its leading modality, Logic-Based Therapy. (shrink)

The continuing and expanding successes of behavior therapy in the treatment of psychological problems raise important questions about their scientific and philosophical bases. In this paper I examine the claims of Edward Erwin that behaviorism cannot provide an adequate philosophical basis for behavior therapy, contemporary learning theories which exclude cognitive factors as causes of behavior cannot provide an adequate empirical basis for behavior therapy; and learning theories have played only a heuristic role in the development of behavior (...) therapy. And I argue that Erwin's claims rest on two doubtful logical empiricist assumptions about scientific theory and explanation. Using different assumptions, I argue that some of the regularities involving cognitions which seem to govern behavior therapy techniques are analogical extensions of operant learning principles. On this basis I suggest some modifications of Erwin's claim about the philosophical foundations of behavior therapy. (shrink)

This paper argues for an intrinsic connection between Logic-Based Therapy (LBT) and empirical psychology, a connection that suggests the need to employ both philo­sophical and psychological theories in the clinical setting. This link is established by arguing that LBT is conceptually grounded in naturalized epistemology, the view introduced and defended by W. V. O. Quine in the aftermath of his attack on the Analytic-Synthetic dis­tinction. Naturalized epistemology places empirical psychology and logic on the same epis­temic foundation, (...) and, it is argued, it is this foundation that both supports the application of logic in the clinical setting and connects logic to empirical psychology. One consequence of this view is that LBT should be understood as providing a theoretical framework for other forms of philosophical counseling, an idea that establishes the logic-based approach to therapy as the sine qua non of the counseling enterprise. (shrink)

This study is to show how the Logic-Based Therapy (LBT) method can be applied to groups in an attempt to point out possible risks and benefits of its application related to a group context. From observation and analysis a single practical case has been outlined, taking into consideration influence of group dynamics on the counselees’ cognitive processes during the LBT session. Judging from the analysis of the outlined results, it seems that intersubjectivity can play an important role (...) if considered as a productive resource in the co-construction of a changing process among LBT group members during the application of its six steps. In particular, new research fields on the need to analyze LBT in groups have been opened, exploiting the possibility to consider the group as an autonomous entity, especially in long term counseling therapies. (shrink)

Recent research on the structure of life-narratives and narrative identity suggests that meaning-making and narrative coherence are predictive of adjustment and resilience. I argue that the metaphysical presumptions operative in a client’s worldview are fundamental elements of meaning-making, and that these presumptions contribute to the life-narrative’s distinctive capacity to guide us through life-challenges. This application of metaphysical methodology to client worldviews represents a systematic extension of logic-based therapy. In this paper, I articulate a conceptual framework for worldview (...) analysis and reconstruction using the resources of logic, metaphysics, and epistemology. I draw particularly on C. G. Jung’s concept of Auseinandersetzung, often inadequately translated as “working through,” John Dewey’s notion of “reconstruction in philosophy,” and José Ortega y Gasset’s exploration of worldview as a “basic orientation” in the world. I provide brief illustrations of this framework in practice, and I conclude with some observations about indications and contraindications for worldview reconstruction as a modality of philosophical practice. (shrink)

This paper sets the framework for a hybrid theory of Logic-Based Therapy and Psychoanalysis through an examination of Sigmund’s Freud’s theory of perfectionism.

Can’tstipation, or capacity disavowal, is a key topic and issue in Logic-Based Therapy and Consultancy. It also is a popular issue among clients of general Philosophical Practice. Despite the assumptions regarding the wisdom and detachment of philosophers from common problems, they are not immune from can’tstipation. On the contrary, philosophers develop their specific ways of being can’tstipated. LBT lists seven types of can’tstipation. Throughout this text, I will describe the custom-tailored versions of these seven types in the (...) life of the generic contemporary philosopher. Given that philosophers nowadays are predominately part of the academic world, their can’tstipation will often be connected to the trials and tribulations of academic life. (shrink)

Central to philosophical practice is the application of philosophers' work by philosophical practitioners to inspire, educate, and guide their clients. For example, in Logic-Based Therapy (LBT) philosophical practitioners help their clients to find an uplifting philosophy that promotes guiding virtues that counteract unrealistic and often self-defeating conclusions derived from irrational premises. I will present the argument that Simone de Beauvoir’s existentialist ethics can be applied as an uplifting philosophy as per LBT methodology, and therefore has utility for (...) philosophical practice. Additionally, I will propose that Beauvoir’s existentialist ethics, as an uplifting philosophy, may act as an antidote for ideological obsession and ideology addiction. I will also suggest that LBT may be a suitable intervention when challenging the unrealistic conclusions derived from illogical premises in practical reasoning that contribute to ideological obsession, because it can contest irrational beliefs in a way that could mitigate the fragmentation anxiety that often arise when individuals relinquish maladaptive self-object organizations. (shrink)

This article shows how Buddhist philosophies are consistent with the rational counseling approach of Logic-Based Therapy (LBT), as presented in Elliot D. Cohen’s book, The New Rational Therapy: Thinking Your Way To Serenity, Success, and Profound Happiness. It presents many Buddhist insights as pathways to the “transcendent” or guiding virtues of LBT, and, accordingly, as philosophical antidotes to its eleven “cardinal fallacies.” It therefore helpfully adds to the repertoire of philosophies that can be used by LBT (...) counselors in helping counselees address their problems of living. (shrink)

This article explores the potential utility of the theory of Holism as developed by South African philosopher, British Commonwealth statesman and military leader, Jan Smuts, for philosophical counselling or practice. Central to the philosophical counseling process is philosophical counsellors or practitioners applying the work of philosophers to inspire, educate and guide their counselees in dealing with life problems. For example, Logic-Based Therapy, a method of philosophical counselling developed by Elliot Cohen, provides a rational framework for confronting problems (...) of living, where the counselor helps the counselee find an uplifting philosophy that promotes a guiding virtue that acts as an antidote to unrealistic and often self-defeating conclusions derived from irrational premises. We present the argument that Holism is one such uplifting philosophy which can be of utility to philosophical counselors or practitioners to help their counselees with confronting problems of living. Furthermore, we argue that Smuts’ articulation of freedom can act as a guiding virtue within this uplifting philosophy of Holism in accordance with the methodology of LBT. Smuts’ contribution to philosophy and psychology is arguably inadequately credited, and for this reason, and to the best of our knowledge, Smuts’ theory of Holism has yet to be discussed in the context of philosophical counseling or practice. Given these omissions, we begin this article with a discussion of his influence on 20th Century Anglo-American psychology. We then provide a brief historical context, and an introduction to the central argument of Smuts’ Holism, as well as a brief overview of the origins of Smut’s Holism and an introduction to his book Holism and Evolution. In the remainder of the article, we discuss several foundational concepts that underlie Smuts’ theory of Holism, as articulated and developed in his book Holism and Evolution, to substantiate our arguments. We conclude by highlighting the limitations of our article, limitations to Smuts’ model, and the challenges inherent in the use of a now largely antiquated theory, even by Smuts’ own admission nineteen years after its publication, for the purposes of contextualizing and substantiating the arguments and recommendations presented herein. (shrink)

MIND—The complex organ in human beings that determines the way we think, live. It guides the entire course of our life. The mind is a complex structure. In today’s era we are constantly bombarded with information and the test of time is to take in the right amount of information and use it constructively. The mind can be easily diverted by distractions. In order to understand this flickering nature of mind there was an attempt to dive deep into the analysis (...) of mind by renowned saint of Maharashtra Saint Samarth Ramdas during the sixteenth century. He in his monumental work, The Manache Shlok explored the way to train the mind to think systematically. Manache Shlok literally translates to (Dialogue with the mind). In order to uplift the mind Samarth Ramdas curated an innovative, spiritual way of life and tried to enlighten the fragment of divinity that resides in every human being. He teaches us how our mind is our enemy, friend and a teacher at the same time. This paper primarily focuses on the work of Saint Samarth Ramadas, who centuries ago decoded how the mind (mana) works, how it gets diverted and has also suggested the ways in which flaws can be avoided.Logic based therapy is a modality of philosophical counseling developed by philosopher Dr. Elliot D. Cohen. The theory began with the idea that many emotional and behavioral problems may largely be the result of bad logic. Humans upset themselves because of their faulty thinking. Thinking being the significant activity of the mind, needs to be done in a structured manner. According to LBT, a fallacy is a mistake in reasoning that leads to destructive or negative conclusions. There are eleven such fallacies that LBT identifies. The basic premise in which LBT believes is to train the mind to think rationally and not jumping to make conclusions. In the same manner Manache Shlok are instructions to the mind to train the mind to think positively and thereby lead to elevation of the self. This paper thus is an attempt to link the fallacies proposed by LBT and how comprehension of Manache Shloka {verses} will help the mind stay away from such fallacies by drawing parallels and understanding the contrasts and yet how both the philosophies have a common approach to deal with the mind. The paper is an attempt to understand Manache Shloka and Logic based therapy, as philosophies that are a way to uplift the mind. Both the philosophical approaches have curated their own ways to tackle with the unstable nature of mind, but one common ground which helps them corresponding is their common goal of betterment of mankind. (shrink)

Philosophy in general is defined as the theory or attitude that acts as a guiding principle for an enriched life. Since time immemorial, many notable scholars have guided humanity towards leading a nourished and fulfilling life through their philosophical preaching and writings and were used by as benchmarks many in their day-to-day life. With the passage of time, Philosophy has taken strides and has evolved majorly to touch the human race irrespective of their caste, race, color, creed, region, etc. and (...) is presently a major contributor for a better world. An extension of this subject is the Logic Based Therapy which is slowly but surely is gaining grounds in today's world and is being used as a proficient tool to enhance the value of an individual's life by tackling his erroneous thoughts, also called fallacies in philosophical terms and to bring him on track towards a better existence. Hence, Logic-Based-Therapy is fundamentally a philosophical therapy as it makes use of the philosophical wisdom from antiquity, transforming them into antidotes and ultimately using these potent antidotes to treat the cardinal fallacies. Till date, LBT has been the domain of Western philosophical antidotes but Indian philosophy also has an immense plethora of insights to offer in this area. The Sanskrit word for Philosophy is 'Darshan' which means 'Vision'. Indian Philosophy is considered as the vision of the wise and learned people and it becomes even more relevant as it embeds the potential to make our lives qualitatively better. Hence, the ultimate aim of Indian Philosophy is to be a guide for humanity and lead them towards the path of leading a 'good and meaningful life' whilst overcoming our fallacies and issues in our daily lives mainly through the preaching and writings of some great Indian philosophers. The current paper is an attempt at constructing such useful Indian Philosophical antidotes from the ideas of some of the most prominent contemporary Indian Philosophers like Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Lokamanya Tilak, Gopal Agarkar and J. Krishnamurti. The main focus being the key aspects of these philosopher's ideas that are relevant in addressing the cardinal fallacies and strengthening/promoting the corresponding transcendental virtues. (shrink)

Bhagwad Gita, also known as the Gita, is an important ancient Indian text, written around the 3rd Century BCE. The Gita appears in the 18th Chapter of the epic, Mahabharata, written by Sage Vyasa. It is set on a war front. The Bhagwad Gita is presented as a dialogue between Arjuna, one of the warriors, and Krishna, his charioteer who was also a king. Arjuna is shown to be confused and conflicted about fighting in the war against his unjust cousins (...) and teachers. Krishna, on the other hand, attempts, through various means, to counsel him about his duty by explaining the workings of mankind and the world. He points out the flawsin Arjuna’s reasoning and helps him clear his clouded judgement. In doing so, Krishna gave away secrets to living a meaningful life. Although the Gita is addressed towards Arjuna, his message applies to each one of us as humans who are at times conflicted, unsure and resentful. It contains eternal wisdom on the best ways to live our lives while also taking into consideration differences in personality and preference. Logic-based therapy is a modality of philosophical counselling developed by Dr. Cohen that suggests that human beings have certain faulty ways or illogical ways of thinking and interpreting life circumstances that manifest in the form of irritation and other day-to-day issues like procrastination, anger, management issues, low self-esteem etc. To solve such issues, which he calls Cardinal Fallacies, it is necessary to think rationally and transgress those illogical thought patterns. Hence, in Logic Based Therapy timeless philosophical ideologies are offered as antidotes by which people can adopt new ways of thinking and solve such everyday problems. This paper attempts to show how different cardinal fallacies can be tackled by using the eternal wisdom presented in the Bhagwad Gita, in the form of uplifting philosophies. (shrink)

Intracellular bacteria were recently shown to employ eukaryotic prenylation system for modifying activity and ensuring proper intracellular localization of their own proteins. Following the same logic, the proteins of viruses may also serve as prenylation substrates. Using extensively validated high-confidence prenylation predictions by PrePS with a cut-off for experimentally confirmed farnesylation of hepatitis delta virus antigen, we compiled in silico evidence for several new prenylation candidates, including IRL9 and few other proteins encoded by Herpesviridae, Nef, E1A, NS5A, PB2, HN, (...) L83L, MC155R, other Poxviridae proteins, and some bacteriophages of human associated bacteria. If confirmed experimentally, these findings may aid in dissection of molecular functions of uncharacterized viral proteins and provide a novel rationale for statin and FT/GGT1-based inhibition of viral infections. Prenylation of bacteriophage proteins may aid in moderation of microbial infections. Many human viruses, including HCV, HIV1, ASFV, and a number of Adeno-, Pox-, and herpesviruses, including CMV, encode the substrates for mammalian prenylation enzymes. Prenylation is advantageous for viral infection; its suppression by FT/GGT and FPPS inhibitors has antiviral effects. In bacteriophages, prenylation may aid in moderation of microbial infections. (shrink)

The study investigates the possibility of applying texture analysis (TA) for testing Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) therapies. The work is based on the Golden Retriever Muscular Dystrophy (GRMD) canine model, in which 3 phases of canine growth and/or dystrophy development are identified: the first phase (0–4 months of age), the second phase (from over 4 to 6 months), and the third phase (from over 6 months to death). Two differentiation problems are posed: (i) the first phase vs. the second (...) phase and (ii) the second phase vs. the third phase. Textural features are derived from T2-weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) images. In total, 37 features provided by 8 different TA methods (statistical, filter-based, and model-based) have been tested. The work focuses on finding such textural features that evolve along with the dog’s growth. These features are indicated by means of statistical analyses and eliminated from further investigation, as they may disturb the correct assessment of response to treatment in dystrophy. The relative importance of each remaining feature is then assessed with the use of the Monte Carlo (MC) procedure. Furthermore, feature selection based on the MC procedure is employed to find the optimal subset of age-independent features. Finally, three classifiers are used for evaluating different sets of textural features: Adaptive Boosting (AB), back-propagation Neural Network (NN), and nonlinear Support Vector Machines (SVM). The best subsets of age-independent features ensure 80.0% and 78.5% of correctly identified phases of dystrophy progression, for the first (i) and second (ii) differentiation problem respectively. (shrink)

This paper argues for global sharing of COVID‐19 treatments during the COVID‐19 pandemic and beyond based on principles of global solidarity. It starts by distinguishing two types of COVID‐19 treatments and models sharing strategies for each in small‐group scenarios, contrasting groups that are solidaristic with those composed of self‐interest maximizers to show the appeal of solidaristic reasoning. It then extends the analysis, arguing that a similar logic should apply within and between nations. To further elaborate global solidarity, the (...) paper distinguishes morally voluntary, sliding‐scale, and mandatory versions. It argues for an all‐hands‐on‐deck approach and gives examples to illustrate. The paper concludes that during the COVID‐19 crisis, global solidarity is a core value, and global sharing of COVID‐19 treatments should be considered a duty of justice, not of charity. (shrink)

The paper focuses on automation of signal processing, which also considers analysis of biomedical data, such as EEG. The results of the study prove that this enables a better understanding of signal changes and makes it possible to address some specific disturbances. It also makes it possible to describe the relevant changes in signals mathematically and helps to create markers of various brain disorders. This paper presents the study at the initial stage and focuses on the mathematical markers of concentration (...) disorders associated with Theta waves. The presented markers presented are based on Welch’s periodograms. The obtained results are very promising and further studies aimed at refining them are currently being carried out. (shrink)