What Would Aristotle Do?: Self-Control Through the Power of Reason

Do you get upset easily, even about small things, or have trouble getting along with others? Do you feel down most of the time? Are you plagued by loneliness, grief, guilt, or a gnawing feeling of life's futility? Does fear, anxiety, or worry often overwhelm you? In this uplifting, user-friendly guide, philosopher Elliot D. Cohen offers an uncommonly commonsense approach to these and many other problems of living. Cohen, one of the principal founders of "philosophical counseling" in the United States, reveals how you can attain genuine insight into the common confusions of everyday life by harnessing your own native powers of reason. "Early on in my work with clients," writes Cohen, "I became aware that the utility of philosophy for ordinary life was in the rigors of its rational, commonsense approach." Through engaging case studies drawn from his practice, and candid discussion of his own personal life ("stories of the road"), Cohen vividly illustrates how, by making unrealistic assumptions about life, you may be undermining your own personal and interpersonal happiness without even realizing it. Step by step, the author shows you how to use your native reason to expose, refute, correct, and overcome these sometimes dangerous, irrational assumptions hidden in your thinking. This realistic, no-nonsense, and drug-free approach to "rational medicine," in the tradition of Aristotle, walks you through some of the most injurious and offending fallacies of life, and arms you with many commonsense prescriptions for attaining greater freedom and control over your life.