Dear Colleagues,

Philosophical Practice (PP), also known as philosophical counseling and therapy, is a new paradigm in contemporary Western philosophical research. The German philosopher Gerd B. Achenbach established the Institute for Philosophical Practice and Counseling in 1981, an event that was regarded as the beginning of the contemporary PP movement. PP is the application of philosophy in people’s daily life. A trained philosophical practitioner tries to correct people’s misconceptions and improve their ways of thinking through philosophical approaches. In this way, the practical or existential problems that they encounter in their daily lives can be well discussed and possibly be solved, so that they might ultimately obtain inner peace and profound happiness.

Since the very beginning of the contemporary PP movement, the roles of religiosity and spirituality have always been emphasized and explored. On the one hand, from the perspective of theories, the religious thoughts in history such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Daoism are important intellectual resources of the practical wisdom in both Eastern and Western philosophy. On the other hand, from the perspective of methods, religious and spiritual practices such as pastoral care and counseling, mindfulness meditation, reading, writing, and painting are all useful methods in the contemporary PP.

Thus, the purpose of this issue is to discuss the religious and spiritual dynamics in PP both theoretically and methodologically. We welcome original contributions of relevance to religions and PP with the hope of identifying the roles and positions of religiosity and spirituality in living a philosophical life. Authors are invited to submit theoretical or empirical research (quantitative, qualitative, case studies) and review papers. Intercultural, cross-tradition, and multidisciplinary research is highly welcome. Some keywords have been listed below for your possible reference.

Potential topics include but are not limited to:

• Historical and contemporary perspectives on the relationship between religions and PP;
• The demarcation of PP from religious counseling (agreements and differences);
• Relationship between different styles of counseling (religious, philosophical, psychological, humanistic, artistic, medical, etc.);
• Religious themes (theodicy, eschatology, determinism, reincarnation, etc.) in philosophical consultations;
• Which questions should be referred to a specific kind of counsellor (pastor, guru, philosophical or humanistic counselor, psychologist, or doctor, etc.);
• Whether and how religiosity and spirituality can be helpful in discussing people’s practical or existential problems in a secularized or post-secularized world.

Dr. Xiaojun Ding
Prof. Dr. Feng Yu
Dr. Peter Harteloh
Prof. Dr. Balaganapathi Devarakonda
Guest Editors

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• religion

• religiosity
• spirituality
• counseling
• pastoral counseling
• psychological counseling
• philosophical practice
• philosophical counseling
• philosophical therapy
• philosophy of religion
• Christianity
• Islam
• Hinduism
• Buddhism
• Judaism
• Daoism
• mindfulness
• meditation