Dundee Blog - Humanist Society of Scotland

Promotion of Humanism, Dundee City Centre – 21 June 2008

For most of us who ‘volunteered’, yesterday’s Dundee city centre promotion of Humanism was a venture into unknown territory.   We are relieved to report that no eggs were thrown, and that many leaflets were distributed.   In fact, our only problem lay in hanging on to the gazebo when the occasional gust of wind had us all grabbing the nearest pole to prevent the whole thing taking off up the High Street.   That little bit of excitement aside, the day went off pretty smoothly, and it was a tired, but satisfied little group that packed everything away at 4pm.

What was achieved?   Well, we might get a partial answer to this if membership enquiries increase in the coming weeks, but that will not, I think, reflect the overall success of the venture.   Our reason for being there was the belief that although many people may have heard the term ‘humanism’, they might be hard pressed to describe what it means.   This day in Dundee gave our members a chance to give away literature and to chat to people about their attitudes to the things we hold to be of benefit to the human race.   The Amsterdam Declaration was massively helpful in quickly outlining just what we stood for, and those who stopped to speak were mostly in agreement with its approach to life and the human condition.   In discussing our Manifesto, it also became apparent that many people were positive about our stance on euthanasia.

However, that is not to say that all conversations were held on common ground; some lively discussions took place.   One chap declared he wished there were more people going for humanist ceremonies because he, as a minister, was fed up with the non-religious asking for his services.   This particular conversation ranged from the atheism of Nazism and Communist Russia and the acknowledged atrocities carried out in the name of religion, to secular v. religious schools and the mixing of church and state.   In another case, a young mother seemed to welcome, indeed was intent on discussing the issues of religion v. secularism despite the increasingly vocal demands of her children for attention.   She seemed hungry for this debate.   She was not alone.   Some people even approached us of their own volition!   A young father, who was in a hurry when first approached, came back and said that he now had some time, so please tell him about Humanism.   We had a Muslim who stopped, heard me out, and left having imparted the message that everybody should believe in God.   No surprise there.   Another local man told me, en passant, that salvation lay in Jesus, “the way, the truth and the light”.   Three young Ghanaians traded the use of our pen for an outline of Humanism.

I hope this gives you get the flavour of the day.   Some of the conversations with the more intrepid were intense, but no blows were exchanged, and parting was always with a smile.   Sam’s guitar music and singing of popular songs from the 1960’s right up to date added greatly to the relaxed atmosphere, and entertained us all.   The children also liked the balloons bearing the message for both them and their parents; “We’re a' Jock Tamson’s bairns”.

Frances McDonnell
Hon. Secretary, Dundee Group

Philosophical Counselling

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At our May meeting the group were treated to an immensely interesting talk by our newest member, Sam Brown, PhD in Philosophy and a philosophical counsellor.    We heard him expand on the methods by which people facing difficulties in their lives can be helped by those trained this new type of counselling.   Counsellors do not challenge the views of clients, rather they urge a balance of representation.   He illustrated how the counsellor's approach is frequently initially misunderstood, and that new clients normally arrive ready to talk about a particular issue of concern, and assume that the session will be an exercise in testing their defence of the view they already hold, and can be flummoxed when the counsellor keeps side-stepping, or coaxes them on until they end up in an absurdity.

Sam pointed out that philosophical counselling should not be seen as a debate.   To debate is to take up a particular point-of-view and defend it against alternatives, with the aim of persuading someone that you are right.   Philosopher counsellors don’t coach in rhetorical techniques, as the Greek Sophists once did.   Indeed if they detect argumentative rhetoric they try to dissemble it, like an intellectual massage to get out muscular knots or a talking therapy to alleviate neurosis.   Socrates (and Jesus) made the mistake of deconstructing emotive opinions, making important people feel foolish, and was put to death for it. Instead of a counter-argument, a philosophical counsellor uses Socratic dialogue - questioning to tease out absurdities or inconsistencies.   It can be illustrated that conflicting perspectives can be held by equally intelligent and moral people, and that everyone would benefit from understanding the alternative views as genuinely moral and defensible positions.   It does not help to portray them as unreasonable or wicked caricatures.

In a counselling session, the counsellor would switch to a less controversial or sensitive issue (such as politics in Northern Ireland, the US or the Middle East) or a classical philosophical problem (such as the nature of truth or morality, or the existence of God).   That would allow him to draw out the benefits of philosophical analysis, before returning to the hot topic and applying the same method.   As a benchmark of progress, the initial arguments can then be revisited in retrospect, and the problematic patterns are much easier to see.   This process can, it seems, turn out to be amazingly therapeutic.   The client may well return to exactly the same position at the end, but with a greater understanding, which is often enough to resolve the associated emotional difficulty.

Sam also addressed the issue of emotions overwhelming philosophical thought, quoting Hume, "Reason is, and ought to be, the slave of the passions”.   Good practical philosophy engages the emotions and tries to harmonise them, he explained.   It is not about the intellect controlling the emotions, but about using the intellect wisely to ensure that some emotions do not eclipse others.   That is arguably why it evolved, according to the Darwinian view.   Recent research in psychology indicates that rational judgement breaks down when emotions are omitted from personal decision-making.

'Not for Sale'

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Margaret Brown

Margaret Brown, of Dundee Women's Aid was last night's speaker when the group began an important debate, which it is hoped will be addressed by all the groups within HSS in order to formulate a humanist viewpoint. The subject, euphemistically called 'the oldest profession' is now beginning to be recognised as a crime against women.