Philosophical Health
is a key driver for healthy people and a healthy planet.
IPeP (Institute for Practical ekoPhilosophy) is a post-disciplinary research & education institute.
Mental health is not just psychological, it is also philosophical.
Why IPeP Now
The challenges of our times have one common denominator: they are a reflection of an inner, philosophical crisis.
While psychological and physical health in the context of climate change, species extinction, and many other of our current predicaments are becoming increasingly recognized and understood, philosophical health is under-represented and under-researched. IPeP closes this gap with the following goals:
Enhancing ekoPhilosophical health as a complement to psychological and physiological well-being.
Facilitating the integration of inner (ekoPhilosophical) dimensions to foster healthy futures, supplementing technological, organizational, and political solutions.
Mainstreaming the significance of practical ekoPhilosophy in addressing the underlying causes of the challenges of our times.
Establishing a robust framework for practical ekoPhilosophy and its role in shaping healthy futures through peer-reviewed publications.
We become philosophically healthy when our ways of knowing, being and acting resonate with our ecos—our physical home (which includes our body, community & the more-than-human world).
What We Do
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The project explores and inquires what it means to be healthy while living in an entangled planet. This is the overarching question of IPeP.
In times when our kins go extinct, when our bodies are suffused with plastics and other harms, when our cultural narrative hangs on to an idea of instagramable-ideas of health, when the very (healthcare) systems we have designed make us sick? What does it mean to be healthy once we realize that we are inevitably entangled to all of this?
What does it mean to heal - on a personal and planetary scale?
All of our research projects are explorations of this.
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The goal of PhilosophyGyms is to help its members find their own minimal-philosophy that shapes who they are in our entangled planet.
We currently investigate PhilosophyGyms in two ways:
The first one is as a global collective of six people that meets monthly since February 2024 in order to experiment with possible formats.
The second one is a EU funded research project within the FHM Berlin. Here, we will offer a suite of transformative learning experiences, enabling leaders and employees within SMEs to engage in deep philosophical inquiry to nurture personal growth for personal, collectiv and planetary health.
The project is co-funded by the EU, if you’d like to participate as an organization, please reach out.
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There is so much talk about the need for transformation, yet none of us really know how to.
Why not take our own lives as practice grounds for those transformations that we are looking for?
We research the possibilities of life as a living lab. Part of that includes developing a research methodology (relational ethico-auto-ethnography). More info coming soon.
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As we live in an urban century
and an era of exceeding planetary boundaries, positive visions beyond anthropocentric worldviews of hu- man-nature relations are urgently needed. This book intends to present ideas from basic to applied research as well as affective interventions that are aiming at a deep change from the Anthropocene to the Ecocene. In this book, we want to rediscover, re-think, and re-sense the soulful- ness, intelligence, and relational value of nonhuman nature in cities, its peri-urban borders and urban land teleconnections. The book
will reflect individual and collective paths to strengthen our external and internal relational capacities to bring human-nature partnerships to our daily lives.Call for abstracts - closed.
In collaboration with the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development, Germany.
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Central to philosophical health is the recognition that our mental and emotional states are deeply entangled with our physical, social, and environmental contexts. Thus, the ecosystem of our philosophical health encompasses not only individual well-being but also the web of relationships and environments that support or hinder this state.
We are seeking contributions for a peer-reviewed edited volume titled "Ecosystems of Philosophical Health," which aims to explore the interconnected nature of philosophical well-being in various contexts.
In collaboration with the University of Turku and Philosophical Health International.
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Philosophical Health International is an open international movement defending and discussing the idea of philosophical health and philosophical care.
We tailor ekoPhilosophical workouts to your ability, ensuring you're less foolish today and undeniably wiser tomorrow.
It's our commitment to your health and the planet’s.
Our approach
Philosophy as A Way of Life: we see philosophy as a practice and with life itself serving as the living laboratory for this practice. Philosophy must be entangled in everyday life.
Diversity of Voices: we include voices in the philosophical discourse that are often largely overlooked. This include not only Indigenous knowledges and the perspectives of marginalized human groups but also insights from the more-than-human world. For instance, what can water teach us about how to show up in life. We also include other ways of knowing beyond the conceptual and analytical.
ekoPhilosophy: we belief that any healthy philosophy must be grounded in: relationality, post-humanism, indigeneity, multispecies approaches, developmental approaches, process philosophy, new materialism, 4E cognition, interbeing, quantum physics and biosemiotics (among others).
Your philosophy determines who you are.
We’d love to know who you are.
Meet the Team
If you are interested in joining our team, please reach out. We can’t offer a full-time position at the moment, but we do have some funds for people with great ideas who are interested in forming IPeP.
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Jessica Böhme, PhD, is the founder and director of IPeP. Her passion is to empower individuals and organizations to take action towards healthy futures by living a philosophical life.
In her work and research for the past 10+ years, she aims to grasp the big picture by exploring relational approaches to inner and outer transformation across various disciplines. With a diverse educational background including a PhD in social science, a Master’s in sustainability management, and a Diploma in mechanical engineering, she has acquired deep knowledge about systems change and strategies for transforming complex systems. Her expertise lies in utilizing practical philosophy as a meta-technology for driving such change.
As a writer and author of three books, she is also the creator of a weekly newsletter titled „Rewilding Philosophy.“ She delivers keynotes and workshops on topics related to the philosopical dimensions of resilience, simplicity, the power of individual action, and understanding complexity; all in the context of our times.
Additionally, in her role as a university professor and academic director of two study programs, she integrates these subjects into her research and lectures.
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Founding member. Info to come.
