Oscar Brenifier
Oscar Brenifier, holds a Bachelor of biology degree (University of Ottawa) and a PhD in Philosophy (Paris IV – Sorbonne). For many years, in France as well as in the rest of the world, he has been working on the concept of ‘philosophical practice’, both from a theoretical and practical viewpoint. He is one of the main promoters of the project of philosophy in the city, organizing philosophy workshops for children and adults and philosophy cafés, working as a philosophy consultant, etc. He has published about thirty books in this domain, including the ‘Philozenfants’ series (Editions Nathan), which has been translated into over twenty-five languages. He founded the Institut de Pratiques Philosophiques (Institute of philosophical practice), to train practical philosophers and organize philosophy workshops in various places: schools, media centres, old people’s homes, prisons, social centres, firms, etc. He is one of the authors of the UNESCO report: “Philosophy, a school of freedom”.
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14th International Summer Seminar 2019
« Practicing Philosophy »
August 5th – 11th, 2019
La Chapelle Saint André, Burgundy (France)
Every summer, in the little village of La Chapelle-Saint-André (Burgundy – France), gather about 30-40 persons involved in philosophical practice (students, teachers, professors, counselors, trainers) in order to reflect on their work and improve professionally. For seven days, in English, these philosophy practitioners coming from the five continents will participate to different workshops, lead workshops, analyze and evaluate them, theorize about the different issues involved.
In this context, philosophy is not any more an academic activity centered on the history of ideas, and one does not come simply to narrate what he does in his home country. The principle is to get acquainted with varied ways of philosophizing, as an activity constitutive of the mind and the self. Philosophy with children, philosophical consultation, philosophy workshops, Socratic dialogue, etc., one is introduced to the many forms and variants of such an endeavor. It is not so much knowledge that is at stake here, but acquiring and developing skills. How to conceptualize, how to problematize, how to deepen understanding of given ideas, and especially how to create a situation where this activity can be induced, is the main focus of the work.
Of course, Socratic maieutics is a key methodological point, but as well dialectics, analytics, community of enquiry, constitute as many entries and matrices to define the work. If they wish so, participants can facilitate a workshop, a situation which provides an occasion for any practitioner to show how he works and get some critical feed-back on his work and his methodology, so one becomes more conscious of his own options and activity. Since the atmosphere of this seminar is open, inclined to both rigor and diversity, it creates a context where one can really express his view instead of hiding behind the usual pseudo-consensus where “everything is fine and we are all great”. In this sense, the idea is to recreate the context of antique philosophical schools, or the gymnasium as described by Plato, where one could challenge other’s ideas and oneself be challenged. In the peaceful atmosphere of a small French village, accompanied with good food and good wine, walks in the beautiful surrounding woods and visit to the medieval site of Vezelay, one can truly devote oneself to philosophical encounters and reflection.
All practitioners interested in presenting their work and holding a workshop during this event are invited to send their proposal. The purpose of this seminar is to exchange, discover, experiment and develop practices.
This seminar does not require previous philosophical training. It can be an initiation to philosophical practice, or a deepening of the activity. Participants come from different parts of the world, and join for professional or personal reasons, in order to work on a practice that is applicable to many contexts: teaching children or adults, management, individual consultation, N.G.O activities…
The duration will be one whole week, from Monday, August 5th (arrival on the 4th), to Sunday, August 11th, and the cost will be 600 Euros; the price includes the workshops, food and accommodation in a private room. For people who are on a tight budget, this can be reduced to 350 Euros if you accept “camping style” accommodation. Our Institute can accept some people free of charge who have financial difficulties, but are highly motivated.
You can read theoretical texts and watch videos of the practice on the following website:
http://www.pratiques-philosophiques.fr/en/welcome/
If you wish to be informed about seminars and workshops of the Institute of Philosophical Practice, you can send an email to Isabelle Millon at the following address: Isabellemillon2013@gmail.com
Hiking & Thinking (September 23rd-28th 2019)
We invite you to take part in a first IPP Philosophical Walk, on the Road to Santiago de Compostela, the famous historical pilgrimage path. This section is in France, on the Le Puy Route – GR 65. From Mon 23rd Sept to Sat 28th September, five days to meander along on the Aubrac plateau, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998. And a bonus 6th day to visit the nearby Pierre Soulages Museum in Rodez, dedicated to this French famous painter, engraver and sculptor known in particular for his paintings “Outrenoir” (Beyond Black). For 6 days we will philosophize together and practice mutual questioning while walking. Accompanied by Oscar Brenifier, Marie Vilain, Viktoria Chernenko, and other philosophy practitioners. Once in a while we will stop for a workshop in the countryside. This touring trip is open to whoever is interested in practicing philosophy, developing thinking competencies and dialoguing with others. We will be hiking approximately 15-20 km per day and sleeping in B&Bs. If interested, please contact Marie at marievilain12@gmail.com, so that a reservation can be made.
The price is set at about 600 euros. The group will consist of maximum of 15 participants.
Individual tutoring online
For those wishing to train in philosophical practice, the Institute of Philosophical Practices offers individual training, online, using Skype and Google Docs. It is a program of ten weekly sessions, 90 minutes, accompanied by individual work, with a philosopher practitioner. The goal is to discover and practice different philosophical skills: to practice argumentation, analysis, conceptualization, problematization, etc. The program is built on various themes.
For example:
- reflections around a Buddhist tale.
- Interpretation of a Chekhov story.
- How to problematize with questions.
- Study of texts by Nietzsche, Spinoza and Hegel.
- How to do a self-consultation.
- How to evaluate someone based on their answers to a series of questions.
- Interpretation of a Raphael painting.
Anyone interested can ask to watch the video of a session in order to better understand the work.
These courses can be held in different languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian and Russian.
For more information, write to leila.millonbierre@hotmail.com
Written work
For those who do not wish to work via Skype, we also offer a written online training program.
Just like for audiovisual tutoring, you will be assigned a philosopher practitioner, who will send you regular exercises, followed by a rapid feedback on the work done.
This can take different forms:
In marathon, daily, intensive (for 15 days or one month)
In a more leisurely way, 1 or 2 times a week (time to be determined).
For example: You receive an exercise on Monday. For Thursday, the exercise must be done. In less than a day, the tutor evaluates the exercise, and sends you a new one, which must be returned for the following Sunday.
The exchange can take place on the platform of your choice (What’sApp, Messenger, Viber etc.), although the best is to work directly on a Google doc.
The work can take place in two ways: either by theme (philosophical texts, stories, musical works, paintings and others.) It is also possible to propose a theme. The second option is a work on philosophical skills (arguing, problematizing, conceptualizing, evaluating, interpreting, questioning, presupposing).
Group training
For those wishing to train in philosophical practice, the Institute of Philosophical Practices offers group training of 10 sessions, online, using Skype and Google Docs.
The work will be similar to the individual sessions – weekly, for 1h30, with a homework in between. But you will learn in small groups, between 2 and 10 people. The number of people will depend on the fee you can afford. This work is therefore much less expensive than a one-on-one format.
Each week a philosopher works with one person on an exercise and others observe and then discuss the method. Each person will have a chance of being a client for an individual session and will be able to see sessions with others. The advantage of such a way of working is that you can see better the method of working, learn how to use google doc in the sessions with clients, how to work with them using thinking exercises, etc.
Anyone interested can ask to watch the video of a session or to participate in a trial session as an observer, in order to better understand the work. These courses can be held in different languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian and Russian.
For more information, write to leila.millonbierre@hotmail.com
LATEST BOOK of Oscar Brenifier
“
The art of philosophical practice”
