Sympathy is present at the heart of the emotional understanding of people as a basic element of philosophical counseling. Based on sympathy, the ‘sympathetic conversation’ of philosophical counseling is that counseling method of ‘emotional introspection’ which emphasizes emotional dialect over strict rational judgment. From the point of view of philosophical counseling, this thesis critically examines the concept of sympathy as a foundation of human understanding and personal engagement.
The purpose of this thesis is to establish the concept of sympathy, or mutual understanding, as the core philosophical foundation of human conversation and engagement. Such research has been widely carried out from the point of view of various fields of various counseling, but it has not been adequately pursued from the point of view of philosophical counseling. Based on Max Scheler’s notion of sympathy as the foundation of philosophical counseling, this thesis systematically explores the methodological role of ‘emotional introspection’ in ‘sympathetic conversation.’
Sympathetic conversation is an inherent method of philosophical counseling in which not only are the client’s emotions considered, but the client himself or herself is dealt with on an equal level so as to permit truly human engagement.
The core of sympathetic conversation consists in an engagement in which the counselor’s devoted and dedicated love gets centered on the client’s indigenous, individual personality.