Thesis: Since Socrates, western philosophy has been concerned with the study of humankind, with a strong emphasis on how we ought to live and why. Philosophy, in its multiple forms and expressions, has enabled many to pursue their lives with greater depth, richness, and variety; yet it can also act as a therapeutic method for the achievement of a healthier life. Asking and answering philosophical questions such as How best ought I live?, What is the meaning of my life in (...) relation to the whole?, Why should I live?, What constitutes a healthy life? can act as therapeutic entryways, not only within the parameters of ones own mind or in a university classroom, but also within a health care/therapy context.Philosophy, both as subject and method, is a powerful, largely unrecognized, therapeutic instrument for social medicine, an instrument whose application in various health care settings could benefit those – patient and staff – in need of consolation and support when they need it most. (shrink)

This article presents a serles of objections against having philosophers in the health care setting and rebuttals to these objections. These objections occur often enough to deal with them as characteristic criticisms. The rebuttals outline and advocate the positive — yet limited — function of the philosopher's presence in health care.