The Eros of Wisdom

Presented at the 7th International Conference on Philosophical Practice: Philosophical Practice—A Question of Bildung?” His [a thinker’s] most serious interests have their abode somewhere in the noblest region of the field of his activity. (PLATO1) The question we confront, the identity of philosophical counseling and whether and to what extent it is a matter of Bildung, must begin with the question of philosophy. In Part I of this paper we will see that true to its name, philosophy is the eros or passion for wisdom that gives rise to radical inquiry, inquiry that does not restrict itself in questioning our deepest beliefs and assumptions.2 Philosophy is an activity of the heart that compels the highest intellectual honesty and skillful thinking, come what may. This is the most risky of all journeys, a journey of continual self-overcoming that is most rewarding in terms of the integrity and autonomy it bestows. Parts II and III will address a) the issue of Bildung (self-formation) and its relation to the Eros of wisdom, b) how the Eros of wisdom and Bildung are at the heart of philosophical counseling, and c) how philosophical hermeneutics, in particular, provides core insights necessary for the Bildungs-process of awakening to oneself and for confronting the arrogance of finitude.