A review by holtfan
Plato, Not Prozac!: Applying Eternal Wisdom to Everyday Problems by Lou Marinoff
1.0
Admittedly, I skimmed most of the case-studies by the end there. I just kept getting the impression that the author and his colleagues wanted more patients so he released this book to raise awareness about 'philosophical counseling.'
And honestly, it just rubbed me wrong.
His main thesis is that most of the problems being treated by psychiatry/psychology/religion could better be treated by throwing a random life philosophy a the person instead.
And it sure seems rather random to me. He takes a smorgasbord approach, borrowing heavily from all types of Eastern and Western philosophy, throws in a bunch of quotes from the Bhagavad Gita, and kind of sits back to see which ones will stick. Don't like having God as an option? No problemo, here are three other theories and a case-study about a monk who decided to leave the church after philosophical counseling!
I think I get where he is coming from and he might have some merit in his critique of modern psychiatry/psychology but I hardly found his answer compelling.
Pre-Review
Front cover is fun!
And honestly, it just rubbed me wrong.
His main thesis is that most of the problems being treated by psychiatry/psychology/religion could better be treated by throwing a random life philosophy a the person instead.
And it sure seems rather random to me. He takes a smorgasbord approach, borrowing heavily from all types of Eastern and Western philosophy, throws in a bunch of quotes from the Bhagavad Gita, and kind of sits back to see which ones will stick. Don't like having God as an option? No problemo, here are three other theories and a case-study about a monk who decided to leave the church after philosophical counseling!
I think I get where he is coming from and he might have some merit in his critique of modern psychiatry/psychology but I hardly found his answer compelling.
Pre-Review
Front cover is fun!