Prof. Dr. İbrahim Özdemir, a faculty member at Üsküdar Üniversitesi, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, who is currently a visiting lecturer in America, delivered a conference at the invitation of the American Society of Philosophy Practitioners. Attendees from various countries around the world, consisting of philosophical counselors, listened to Özdemir with great interest.
Prof. Dr. İbrahim Özdemir, who went to America as a visiting lecturer, completed the “Philosophical Counseling Certificate” training at the American Society of Philosophy Practitioners. Prof. Dr. Özdemir quickly became a well-known and respected figure within the association. The president of the association and world-renowned Philosophical Counselor Professor Lou Marinoff introduced Prof. Dr. İbrahim Özdemir to the participants as June’s guest before the conference.
Problems related to the meaning of life worry people!
Prof. Dr. Özdemir began his opening speech at the conference by stating that he has been teaching ‘Critical Thinking and Philosophical Counseling’ at Üsküdar Üniversitesi for years; He expressed that “in a changing world, people face many economic, cultural, and political issues; in addition to these, problems related to identity and the meaning of life also worry people.”
Philosophical teachings should be offered to society outside of academia
Prof. Dr. Özdemir stated that “loneliness has emerged as a problem in developed countries, especially in England, Finland, and America; consequently, suicides have increased. Therefore, philosophers have a lot of work to do today; philosophers should bring philosophical teachings out of the academic world and present them to society.”
Özdemir stated that Üsküdar Üniversitesi has included critical thinking and philosophical counseling courses in its curriculum alongside other fundamental philosophy courses since 2016, with a holistic approach, and has also been giving Philosophical Counseling courses at the master's level for two years, noting that Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan is a world-renowned psychiatrist. Özdemir stated that Üsküdar Üniversitesi's founding philosophy and educational approach are based on a holistic and multidisciplinary understanding, and as a result of this understanding, various courses are offered at Üsküdar Üniversitesi. Özdemir also noted that Turkey's first Center for Sufism Studies is located in Üsküdar.
Prof. Dr. Özdemir, who also included the views of Muslim philosophers on philosophical counseling in the conference, emphasized that philosophers such as al-Kindi, known as the first Muslim philosopher, as well as Farabi, Ibn Sina, Miskawayh, Ikhwan al-Safa, and Ghazali, regarded philosophical counseling as a “spiritual therapy.” Özdemir concluded his speech by stating that Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan's books on the subject are on the “best-selling books” list and have been translated into other languages.
The conference, which lasted approximately one hour and was held via the Zoom platform, concluded with participants' questions being answered.
Philosophical counselors from different countries such as Italy, the Netherlands, Serbia, Romania, Canada, South Africa, and Finland participated in the conference.