Chapter 13 - Opportunities for Facilitators

Abstract

Philosophical counseling has received the lion's share of the publicity thus far directed toward philosophical practice, group facilitation and organizational consulting each possess at least as much potential, if of a quieter kind, as dimensions of practice. This chapter details some of the dormant and nascent opportunities for facilitators. Socratic Dialogue is a multipurpose philosophical tool whose range of applications is far from exhausted in Germany and The Netherlands, where it has been successfully applied for decades, and whose potential in the US. has barely been tapped. It can be implemented not only at length in groups convened for that purpose, but also in abbreviated and more directed forms, within organizations themselves. While the hourglass shape of the dialogue remains structurally robust, its temporal axis is ideally elastic: both compressible and extensible. An obstructive participant can make things difficult for everyone, whereas eight or 10 insightful participants do not necessarily make things easy. The topic, if too emotional, can also debilitate a dialogue.