I am an APPA Certified Philosophical Counselor living in New York City. I have a BA in Philosophy from SUNY Stony Brook and a MA in Philosophy from the New School. My main course of study has been ethics, however I have a keen interest in Philosophy of Science from my days as an undergrad studying Physics. I am an Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at Molloy College and I have a small collection of unpublished/unfinished works in fiction, philosophy and poetry. I am currently developing a new strand of philosophical counseling called 'Identity Counseling'. For more information on Identity Counseling or Philosophical Counseling feel free to visit my website: www.MarkMurynec.com.
Why Philosophy?
For those of you who are unfamiliar with philosophy, philosophy (western philosophy that is) originated in Ancient Greece when a group of Athenians thought they needed to distinguish themselves from the prominent and increasingly wealthy Sophists of Greece. Sophists were essentially lecturers, speakers who would give a wonderful rhetorical performance on any subject for a price. The issue some had with these Sophists was one of sincerity. Like modern day Lawyers, Sophists would use reason, rationality, and rhetoric to prove any point or point of view. Philosophers were self professed 'lovers of knowledge' and wanted to distinguish themselves from those who used the same tools; reason, rationality and rhetoric, for purposes other than that of discovering Truth and knowledge.
The most influential point of philosophy in the early years wasn't only the love of the knowledge logic and scientific exploration yielded, but rather self knowledge. Socrates held that the highest knowledge was self knowledge: "Know Thyself" was the cornerstone of his teachings. Based on this goal of self knowledge I feel that everyone could use philosophy to help them know themselves better and improve their lives. The key is learning how to get to know yourself.
One way is through talking to other people. In conversation, dialog, we have the opportunity to learn about others and ourselves. This blog is an attempt to bring that sort of self discovery to the forum of online conversation. Let the philosophizing begin!
