Welcome. My name is Matthew Bishop. I am a philosophical counsellor. This website is a unifying directory for all my work.
I was at the beginning of an academic career--teaching philosophy at The University of Melbourne and elsewhere--when I decided to pursue a career in the new field known as Philosophical Counselling. A philosophical counsellor is a philosopher who works one-on-one with people, to help them do life well.
Some philosophical counsellors have qualifications in philosophy only. In my case, I decided to study counselling and psychotherapy to masters level. For it is clear to me that we need both philosophical and psychological growth.
The idea of Philosophical Counselling seems strange to people who assume that philosophy is a purely abstract discipline, which it often is in the universities. However, I am rooted in the classical tradition of philosophy--Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics--which is a contemplative and practical path for cultivating wisdom and virtue. Wisdom helps you to see life more clearly, to discern its meaning and value. Wisdom also helps you to choose and act well, to navigate daily life. A virtue is any good personal quality which you cultivate, which makes you and your life better, such as courage, compassion, fortitude, and so on. The consequence of cultivating wisdom and virtue is a life of greater strength, meaning, goodness, happiness, and flourishing.
I see people by phone and Zoom both in Australia, and internationally. You can contact me at [email protected] What follows is a list of my services and current projects.
Philosophical Counselling
I provide Philosophical Counselling. This can be one of two things: either pure philosophy, or a combination of philosophy with psychotherapy.
In the first case, people do not want therapy, rather they want a purely philosophical conversation about their concerns in life. Of course, the quality of philosophical conversayion that I offer is deeply enriched by my decades of working in therapy, with people at the coal-face of life's hardships. Nonetheless, we simply reflect on issues of concern, so that you can see with greater clarity and depth.
In the second case, people want both my skillsets--as a philosopher, and as a psychotherapist--and the philosophical counselling is a combination of these. When it comes to psychotherapy, I spent decades specialising in an approach called Existential Therapy. This service is for people who want to do both philosophical and psychological work on themselves.
You can found out more on on my other website.
Other Services:
I am currently developing some new services. These are more purely philosophical, though as with everything I do, one cannot completely seperate the philosophical and the psychological. For one thing, they flow in and out of one another in reality. For another, the philosophical work of cultivating character requires psychological awareness and effort as well. Even my training in critical thinking is therapeutic, in the sense that it is about living more rationally, letting reason shape your emotions and actions. These other services can be found elsewhere on this website. Please note that they are currently in development, and not yet on offer.
Character Formation
The essential insight of classical philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and many others, is that the cultivation of wisdom and virtue leads to--or rather, constitutes--the good life. To cultivate wisdom and virtue is to cultivate our better qualities and potential. It is to become more mentally and emotionally strong. It is to experience--and to embody--meaning and value. It is to become a better person for others. It is to do better in life. It is to become more happy. See here for more.
Critical Thinking
I train people in Aristotelian logic, or what is often called critical thinking. The whole point of critical thinking is to think well, and then to shape your emotions and behaviour according to that. This is not about reducing life to reason, rather it is about seeing and thinking clearly. In an increasingly irrational and emotionally incontintent culture, such qualities not only improve your life, but make you an asset in the world. See here for more.
I was at the beginning of an academic career--teaching philosophy at The University of Melbourne and elsewhere--when I decided to pursue a career in the new field known as Philosophical Counselling. A philosophical counsellor is a philosopher who works one-on-one with people, to help them do life well.
Some philosophical counsellors have qualifications in philosophy only. In my case, I decided to study counselling and psychotherapy to masters level. For it is clear to me that we need both philosophical and psychological growth.
The idea of Philosophical Counselling seems strange to people who assume that philosophy is a purely abstract discipline, which it often is in the universities. However, I am rooted in the classical tradition of philosophy--Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics--which is a contemplative and practical path for cultivating wisdom and virtue. Wisdom helps you to see life more clearly, to discern its meaning and value. Wisdom also helps you to choose and act well, to navigate daily life. A virtue is any good personal quality which you cultivate, which makes you and your life better, such as courage, compassion, fortitude, and so on. The consequence of cultivating wisdom and virtue is a life of greater strength, meaning, goodness, happiness, and flourishing.
I see people by phone and Zoom both in Australia, and internationally. You can contact me at [email protected] What follows is a list of my services and current projects.
Philosophical Counselling
I provide Philosophical Counselling. This can be one of two things: either pure philosophy, or a combination of philosophy with psychotherapy.
In the first case, people do not want therapy, rather they want a purely philosophical conversation about their concerns in life. Of course, the quality of philosophical conversayion that I offer is deeply enriched by my decades of working in therapy, with people at the coal-face of life's hardships. Nonetheless, we simply reflect on issues of concern, so that you can see with greater clarity and depth.
In the second case, people want both my skillsets--as a philosopher, and as a psychotherapist--and the philosophical counselling is a combination of these. When it comes to psychotherapy, I spent decades specialising in an approach called Existential Therapy. This service is for people who want to do both philosophical and psychological work on themselves.
You can found out more on on my other website.
Other Services:
I am currently developing some new services. These are more purely philosophical, though as with everything I do, one cannot completely seperate the philosophical and the psychological. For one thing, they flow in and out of one another in reality. For another, the philosophical work of cultivating character requires psychological awareness and effort as well. Even my training in critical thinking is therapeutic, in the sense that it is about living more rationally, letting reason shape your emotions and actions. These other services can be found elsewhere on this website. Please note that they are currently in development, and not yet on offer.
Character Formation
The essential insight of classical philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and many others, is that the cultivation of wisdom and virtue leads to--or rather, constitutes--the good life. To cultivate wisdom and virtue is to cultivate our better qualities and potential. It is to become more mentally and emotionally strong. It is to experience--and to embody--meaning and value. It is to become a better person for others. It is to do better in life. It is to become more happy. See here for more.
Critical Thinking
I train people in Aristotelian logic, or what is often called critical thinking. The whole point of critical thinking is to think well, and then to shape your emotions and behaviour according to that. This is not about reducing life to reason, rather it is about seeing and thinking clearly. In an increasingly irrational and emotionally incontintent culture, such qualities not only improve your life, but make you an asset in the world. See here for more.