More Plato, less Prozac

Plato will soon make psychiatrists obsolete. Instead of couches and endless conversations, the treatment is philosophy. No more psychoanalytic therapy or antidepressants.

More Plato, Less Prozac shows how to identify a problem, express emotions constructively, analyze options, and embrace a philosophy that helps you choose the best option, restoring personal balance. Author Lou Marinoff is the leading figure in the United States in this new school of thought that applies philosophy to everyday life, drawing on the works of history's greatest thinkers to help people solve their own problems.

A philosophy professor at the City College of New York, Lou Marinoff believes that most current psychological problems can be alleviated by "philosophical counseling." In his office, Marinoff sees a clientele very similar to that of many New York therapists. They are distressed men and women with emotional and professional problems, seeking solutions to their conflicts. But those who seek Dr. Marinoff aren't interested in long conversations, discussing their entire lives from their earliest childhood memories. Nor do they want to find a solution inside a bottle of antidepressants. Those who come to him are seeking a new philosophy.

Through the philosophical advice proposed by Marinoff, Plato, Aristotle, Kant, and Kierkegaard, among others, are more useful than Freud, Lacan, and Jung for thinking about everyday issues such as romantic conflicts, professional changes, and the fear of death. The movement emerged in 1981 in Germany with Gerd Achenbach and today has followers in the Netherlands, the United States, Canada, Japan, England, France, Israel, South Africa, and Hong Kong, among other countries.

More Plato, Less Prozac features case studies drawn from the experiences of leading philosophical counselors and demonstrates the effectiveness of philosophy applied to everyday problems. The book also analyzes the rapid growth of philosophical counseling and returns to the core of philosophy: putting life in perspective. Lou Marinoff, Ph.D., is executive director of the American Society for Philosophy, Counseling, and Psychotherapy, professor of philosophy at the City College of New York, a pioneer of the practical philosophy movement in North America, and president of the American Philosophical Practitioners Association.

"Plato or Kierkegaard, Wittgenstein or Kant? After years of couch-resting and doses of Prozac, (...) a new chance to resolve your emotional dilemmas and access your neuroses." - The Observer

""An excellent initiation for those who cannot distinguish, in philosophical challenges, the true path of human thought."" - Paulo Coelho