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  • About
    • About
    • Our Values
    • What is Philosophical Counseling?
    • What to Expect in a Workshop
    • Rogue Philosophers Video Chats
  • Counseling
    • Philosophical Counseling with Monica
    • Counseling for Academics
    • Counseling for Gymnasts
    • Rates & Policies
  • Workshops
    • Workshops
    • Upcoming Workshops >
      • The Search for Meaning
      • Ethics & Sports
    • Past Workshops >
      • Crash Course in Ethics
      • Anger and Forgiveness
      • Nonviolent Communication
      • How to Live Philosophically
      • Buddhism
      • Buddhism in Action
      • Taoism
      • Existentialism
      • Feminism & Freedom
      • History of Sexuality
      • Ethics and Nature
      • Alienation
      • Alienation 2
      • William James: Meaning, Faith & Science
      • Philosophy of Dialogue
      • Roots of Democracy
      • Ethics of Authenticity
      • Color Conscious
  • Retreats
    • Retreats
    • Past Retreats >
      • Spring Retreats
      • Day Retreat
  • News/Blog
  • Contact

Anger and Forgiveness

A Curious Soul Philosophy Workshop
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When:
Saturdays, January 9, 16, 23, 2021
1:00-3:00 p.m., PST


Where:
Online (via Zoom)


Workshop Description: 
Anger has taken over the spirit of our times. We face such intense polarization over racial injustice, environmental concerns, immigration, the global pandemic, and even the question of how to distinguish between truth and lies, that it seems impossible to find common ground. Our world looks like it is about to erupt, and we feel the growing tension and rage on both a political and personal level. Friendships and families are breaking up over what feel like irreparable moral divisions. Fury and distrust fill the news, social media, and the streets. We're left wondering how we can possibly move forward toward productive problem solving.

Martha Nussbaum, in her book Anger and Forgiveness: Resentment, Generosity, Justice (2016),
questions the cultural belief that anger is a righteous, necessary, and powerful tool for fighting injustice. She talks us through some errors in judgment wrapped up in the anger paradigm (namely, a "payback" mentality) and turns to three examples of effective commitment to non-anger in Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela. She also considers the concept of forgiveness as an alternative to anger, but she finds in traditional forgiveness another version of the payback mentality that worries her. Concerned with how we can move toward future-oriented collaborative problem solving, she carefully distinguishes between forms of anger and forgiveness that are counterproductive and those that might have a transforming effect.

In this workshop, we'll read and discuss selections from Nussbaum's book, paired with Audre Lorde's speech "The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism" and Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. We'll think about the uses and abuses of anger and forgiveness in our world and consider how we can transform toxic forms of anger in our own lives into productive action for the future.


About Philosophy Workshops:
Philosophy Workshops emphasize discussion, life experience, self-examination, and practical application.  They are led by philosophy professors committed to accessible language and open conversation. No prior philosophical training is necessary . . .  just an open mind, a respectful approach to others, and a sense of humor!

The Theory and the Lab:
There are two portions of this discussion-based workshop: 1) the Theory, and 2) the Lab.


In the Theory portion of the workshop (from 1:00-2:15) we’ll work to understand key concepts from our reading for the day and from supplementary mini-lectures given by the workshop leader. In the Lab portion of the workshop (from 2:15- 3:00) we will reflect on the ways in which the theory applies to our own time period and our own personal struggles. We will devise “experiments” for putting key concepts into practice in our lives, and we will discuss with each other how our experiments work out.

If this is your first philosophy workshop, you can learn more about what to expect here.
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About Your Workshop Leader:
Monica Vilhauer, Ph.D. is a former professor of philosophy and the founder of Curious Soul Philosophy. She's committed to the practical value of philosophy for everyday life, and she's always looking for ways to move philosophy beyond academic settings and into the local community. She does this by offering workshops, retreats, and individual philosophical counseling through Curious Soul. She also collaborates with Portland organizations like Oregon Humanities and Literary Arts.


Readings: 
Readings will be emailed to registrants as pdf files at least a week in advance of our discussion.


Preparation: 
For each meeting, participants should read in advance the selection of text we'll be discussing, consider some questions Monica will send by email to help us focus, and come with some marked passages to talk about.

Rates:
  • Friends Rate: $150 Are you signing up to take the workshop with a friend? Click on the "Friends Rate" button for a significant discount. For our online sessions during the pandemic, the discounted "friends rate" is for everyone!
  • The workshop has limited space. Please register soon to save yourself a spot!
  • Registration closes on Saturday, January 2, 2021.
  • Register by clicking the button below and following instructions to use PayPal. If you do not have a PayPal account, PayPal still allows you to pay using a credit card. To pay with a credit card, click the Buy Workshop button below, then click on the PayPal checkout button. In the new window scroll down a bit till you see the pay with credit or debit card button. Click on that button and enter your card info there. Thanks!

Philosophical Counseling with Monica Vilhauer in the news:

Article about philosophical counseling in Oprah Magazine
Oprah Magazine
Article about philosophical counseling in VICE
VICE

What Our Clients Are Saying
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"Monica meets you on every level: She’ll readily engage with any abstract ideas you have about the world or the self, and analyze those ideas with you, but she also has a way of making you feel that she viscerally understands the difficulty of the situations you’re describing. When I talk to her, I have the feeling that I’m talking to someone who is very present, who is on my side, and who has also fought to be able to live her own life on her terms."
"Conversations with Monica feel non-hierarchical. She is working through the questions with you, not diagnosing you or analyzing you."
"I get the sense that philosophical counseling for Monica is an extension of who she is. These difficult topics are a part of her own life, and she is comfortable talking about what is uncomfortable."

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