International Summer Seminar of Philosophical Practice
La Chapelle St André - France
July/August 2012

Every summer, in the little village of La Chapelle St André (Burgundy - France), gather about 35-45 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.

Some unedited videos of the different session of the Summer Seminar of Philosophical Practice - 2012:

Oscar Brenifier Summer Seminar 2012 - Opening Session by Oscar - day 1 (integral) 
August 5-12th, 2012 La Chapelle Saint-André, France Video by Nelson Hoedekie

08 06 15'31'24  Oscar Brenifier Summer Seminar 2012 - Criticism exercise II


2012 08 06 16'21'52 Oscar Brenifier Summer Seminar 2012 - Criticism exercise III


2012 08 06 16'32'50 Oscar Brenifier Summer Seminar 2012 - Criticism exercise IV  

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•  2012 08 06 18'42'54 Oscar Brenifier Summer Seminar 2012 - Consultation exercise - debriefing

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•  2012 08 07 09'06'48  Summer Seminar 2012 - Workshop Isabelle Millon - part I  

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  2012 08 07 11'43'12 Summer Seminar 2012 - Workshop Isabelle Millon

 

 

Dmitry Lazarev: Criteria for classification of values for an ideal society

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, but get acquainted with the many 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 maïeutics 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 a 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 himself 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 himself to philosophical encounters and reflection.

All practitioners interested in presenting their work and holding a workshop during this event are invited to send in 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, some time between July and August, and the cost will be 500 EUR, including the workshops, food and accommodation in a private room. For people who are on a tight budget, this can be reduced to 300 EUR if you accept "camping style" accommodation (reference : Year 2012). Our Institute can accept some people free of charge who have financial difficulties, but are highly motivated. 

 

Here you can find some unedited videos of the different session of the Summer Seminar of Philosophical Practice - 2012.

You can also find photos and other material at:

http://www.facebook.com/groups/356503741090450/