Prof. İbrahim Özdemir met with Philosophy Counselees in the USA
Üsküdar University Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences faculty member Prof. İbrahim Özdemir, who is guest faculty member in America, organized a conference upon the invitation by the American Philosophical Practitioners Association. Participant listened Özdemir with great interest in the conference in which philosophy counselees from different countries around the world participated.
Prof. İbrahim Özdemir who went to the USA as a guest faculty member, completed “Philosophy Counselor Certificate” education at the American Philosophical Practitioners Association. Prof. Özdemir has become a well-know and beloved figure within the association in a short time. The Association President and world-renowned Philosophy Counselor Professor Lou Marinoff introduced Prof. İbrahim Özdemir to the participants as the guest of June before the conference.
Questions about the meaning of life make people worried!
Prof. Özdemir started his opening speech by stating that he has been teaching 'Critical Thinking and Philosophy Consultancy' at Üsküdar University for years and said that "In the changing world, people have many economic, cultural and political walls. Furthermore, problems with identity and the meaning of life also worry people.".
Philosophical teachings should be presented to society outside the academy
Prof. Özdemir stated that "In developed countries, especially in England, Finland and America, loneliness has emerged as a problem and with that, the number of suicides has increased accordingly. That is why there is a lot of work for philosophers today and philosophers should take philosophical teachings out of the academic world and present them to society.".
Özdemir stated that Üsküdar University has been including critical thinking and philosophical counseling courses in its curriculum since 2016 with a holistic understanding as well as other basic philosophy courses, and that he has been teaching Philosophical Counseling at the graduate level for two years and noted that President of Üsküdar University Prof. Nevzat Tarhan is a world-famous psychiatrist. Özdemir stated that the educational understanding of the founding philosophy of Üsküdar University is based on a holistic and multidisciplinary understanding, and as a result of this understanding, various courses are given at Üsküdar University. Özdemir also stated that Türkiye’s first Sufi Research Center is in Üsküdar.
Prof. Özdemir, who also included the views of Muslim philosophers on philosophical counseling at the conference, emphasized that philosophical consultancy was considered as a "spiritual therapy" by Farabi, İbn Sina, Miskawayh, Ikhwan-i Safa (the Brethren of Purity) and Al-Ghazali, especially al-Kindi, who is known as the first Muslim philosopher. Özdemir concluded his speech by stating that Prof. Nevzat Tarhan's books on the subject are in the list of "best-selling books" and have been translated into other languages.
The conference, which lasted about an hour and was held via the Zoom platform, ended with the question and answer session for the participants. The conference was attended by philosophy counselees from different countries such as Italy, the Netherlands, Serbia, Romania, Canada, South Africa and Finland.
Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)