Because human beings do struggle to make sense of things, clarity can bring relief.

Prompted by poignant experience, by a pressing decision, or simply by curiosity, many people - perhaps all - find themselves with questions that don't seem to have ready answers.

• Coming across serious differences in what is regarded as right and wrong - between a foreign culture and one's own, or between a different generation and one's own - can prompt the wonder whether there is any fact of the matter.
• Watching someone struggle against their own desires can prompt questions about what provides the underlying unity of a person, or whether there is such an underlying unity at all.
• When two people decide to wed, they often have yet to think through carefully what it is possible for a person to take responsibility for, what is required and what is accomplished when two people do make a promise.

• Professional philosophers, ancient as well as contemporary, have done sustained, careful  and insightful work on many such questions. Those who do not have extensive training in these philosophical texts will often need a guide if they are to locate, understand, and apply the suggestions that are there to be found.

• Someone trained in philosophy can also help clients work out the implications of the beliefs that they do hold, in order to clarify what are the central questions they face, and bring attention to any confusions that might obscure an answer.

• Whether for a sensitive discussion of personal issues of value and meaning, or for a rigorous independent study on a particular philosophical question, a well-trained guide can be of great help.

These are the roles of a Philosophical Counselor.