The Migrant seen as a Philosophical Wanderer: Real Perceptions, Ideals and Fantasies on Foreignness - Philosophical Counselling for Migrants

Abstract

The nomad spirit has shaped the authenticity of our humanity since the dawn of time. In this process, the cultural self undergoes a transformation or a conversion. Migrants are those who are seeking to pacify some initial anxieties or inner delusions and to do so they are availing of the element of foreignness by settling in or travelling to a distant place. This research asserts that there is a physical abode that grants us a sense of familiarity and security. Individuals anchor their identity in the broadness of these three pillars that give the predisposition of a being-at-home feeling; the childhood home, any place on our emotional axis that is associated with our family or friends and the made up places found in modern, popular stories that blend in with our idealism of what home should mean. Second, the paper will argue, as found in the case study, that the majority of us are psychologically unequipped when we proceed to meeting with the inclemencies of a new political, economical, social and cultural setting of a different country. There is much reflectiveness, aloneness and responsibility in migrants’ decision to engage in the dialogue of interculturality. Hence, the migrant begins to resemble a philosophical figure by means of contemplation, self-transformation, dispelling the impurities of the mind and the soul by carrying out a personal project of outlandishness. Within the presence of the dialogue, we not only perceive what is different from our behavior, but we also take the first step into discovering other life styles and all habits adjacent to them; we participate in the “mutual belonging” of interculturalism. The study will bridge the cultural, social, psychological implications from migration literature to philosophical theories. It represents a humble attempt at connecting philosophical counselling approaches and techniques with existing multicultural guidance services which are present in every country.