METHODS OF PHILOSOPHICAL PRACTICE (PHILOSOPHICAL COUNSELING AND COMPANIONSHIP) IN THE STUDENT AUDIENCE: AN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIMENT. PART II. EXISTENTIAL EXPERIENCE

Abstract

Introduction. In the article, we continue to answer the question about possibilities of implementing methods of philosophical practice into the system of actual academic education. In this part of the series of articles on the educational experiment, we focus on the problem of a modern student's existential experience. In classical formats, we are used to refer to the experiences of significant representatives of spiritual culture (Marcus Aurelius, Augustine of Hippo, S. Kierkegaard). Philosophical practice is focused on the consciousness of a modern person. By relying on the methods and forms of philosophical counseling and philosophical practice, we can create the optimal way self-caring in the 21st century. The aim of the study is to record the meaning and characteristics of existential experience; demonstrate a new format of presenting existential experience that is being integrated into the sociocultural paradigm. Methods. The study is based on the pedagogical experiment with third-year students of the Institute of Architecture and Construction (South Ural State University) to introduce philosophical practice methods in a series of seminars in philosophy. The study used general scientific methods analysis and synthesis, induction, deduction, abstraction. In addition, a comparative historical method, an interpretation method and a systematic approach are applied. In analyzing the students' diaries, we relied on the hermeneutic approach. Scientific novelty of the study. As a result of the experiment in which the students kept philosophical diaries, a team of philosophers from Chelyabinsk created a philosophical diary a new format of the student's independent philosophical self-improvement. Results. According to the results of the experiment, more than 50 % of the participants completed their tasks (a daily reference to a quotation from a philosophical work, working with text and with themselves on the basis of the text). Moreover, in their notes, the participants demonstrated deep work on themselves: from daily attention to understanding philosophical quotes to reflecting on their experience and answering actual life-long questions. Conclusions. The problem of implementing the methods of philosophic practice gave rise to a discussion about current educational models. In a new light, there arises the question about the place of a student as an integral being with his experience. Existential experience is the starting point of philosophical practice, and, at the same time, its ultimate goal, towards which all procedures and techniques are directed. In the article, we focused on the possibilities of actualizing the existential students' experience in the framework of the educational course on philosophy. The article can give a reason for reflection on the optimal forms of teaching philosophy in modern conditions.