Exploring the being of knowing

Mental health philosophy opens the person so they can know themselves

The Problem of the subject is the solution of mental health

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

A question stalks psychological definitions of mental health at every turn.

the problem of the subject

Can a state be something that is not opposing something else?

To answer this, we might first ponder and recognize what some termed as ‘the end of philosophy’ (see Richard Rorty for an example). A centuries-old analytical process left us (philosophers, disciplinary knowledge in general) with two manners of engaging with philosophy, what I am calling conventional and veritable. Conventional philosophy won (was there a battle?) and is the result of the method becoming merely an activity of doubting assertions and promotions of term-definition and their systems for the purpose of producing a functional social identity. It won because it is reality, and reality concerns the basic epistemological fulcrum upon which no argument can disrupt its fact, or, now only argument will change it. 

Nonetheless, reality functions under the conditions reported in this book (coming soon! ), and within the induced awareness. I call both things subjects, since every philosophical proposal can simply be torn apart by questioning any identity, asking into the definition of any term. A subject is at all times a definition of something else, at once, a part of a sentence that performs action or is described, the thing that experiences things, a thing that is observed, a thing that is under an authority, an area of study, and even likely some more things. All of these topics have been covered by various authors and philosophers in history, most recently under the rubrics of phenomenalism and existence, and as I have said, psychology. This problem – that apparently was never brought out to notice but only relied upon – was if a subject is the one that does the activity then everything that can be known must be either a part of the subject or only the subject.

This is the question now noticed. For centuries people have been bouncing between these two epistemological parameters never really answering how indeed it would be possible. This is to say, they have only made various meaningful arguments about the particular subject of the argument. This activity functions to deny the person itself.

I have elaborated every possibility for repercussion that comes out of this kind of situation, and by the conundrum of bringing the entire discourse of the subject to notice – not simply argued – mental health appears as such. 

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About this blog

Essays in mental health philosophy—less “tips,” more why things work (or don’t). I look at the first principles under therapy, psychiatry, psychology, and everyday life, and occasionally share notes from papers and books-in-progress.

This space stands alongside—not inside—my counseling practice. If you’re seeking therapy in Colorado, there’s a link in the footer.

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Lance Kair, LPC, blends philosophy, mindfulness, and counseling to help clients find agency, meaning, fulfillment, and healing through deep understanding, self-awareness, and compassionate therapeutic collaboration.

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