‘Say Aaah’ : Media Mix : Just Call It Thoughtful Therapy : PLATO, NOT PROZAC!: Applying Philosophy to Everyday Problems; by Lou Marinoff; HarperCollins, $23.95, 308 pages

Despite the wisdom of the ancients and questions philosophers have pondered over the ages, Plato is not likely to replace Prozac in our society, which relies heavily on quick fixes and easy routes to happiness. However, Lou Marinoff, a philosophy professor at City College of New York, believes in these words of Socrates: “The unexamined life is not worth living.” He makes the point that many of us could solve conflicts at work or in love and answer questions about ethics or parenting if we just sat down, thought through our options, examined how others handled similar quandaries and then accepted our decisions.

Marinoff has developed a technique of applying philosophy to daily problems, called PEACE, which stands for identifying the Problem, taking stock of Emotions, Analysis of options, taking time to Contemplate a philosophical position and reaching a state of Equilibrium. Marinoff knows there are limits to self-help, and many people with depression or other mental illnesses need what psychiatry or psychology can offer. But he says there are limits to the ability of those disciplines to address everyday problems. Not everyone needs to reach back to the painful experiences of childhood to develop a healthy outlook on life, he suggests.

“There is no pill that will make you find yourself, achieve your goals or do the right thing,” he writes. That’s where practical philosophy comes in. One-on-one counseling with a philosopher, which he dubs “therapy for the sane,” is usually a short-term proposition. Practitioners may offer the client readings from philosophers like Lao Tzu or Heraclitus on the relationship between opposites, Hegel’s theory about the relationship of masters and slaves, or Ayn Rand’s views on self-interest.

Marinoff maintains that many personal problems stem from thoughtlessness and often they can be solved with thoughtfulness. Although the book can be heavy going in many places, it offers case studies with solutions reached through the application of practical philosophy. Marinoff, president of the American Philosophical Practitioners Assn., includes a list of fellow practitioners worldwide and offers brief overviews of more than 60 philosophers and classic works that he has found useful in his practice.