Five Principles of Philosophical Health for Critical Times, by Dr Luis de Miranda The goal of this session is to deepen our understanding of philosophical health as it may be practiced and anticipated in contexts of care, whether the object of care is our own self, the self of others, or the integrity of our real-life engagement – these objects of care being occasionally subjected to crisis situations. Philosophical health is henceforth defined as a process of harmonious and sustained coherence between a person’s ways of thinking and their engagement with life. In a time where politics seems to have abandoned the utopian impetus in favor of a technocracy of problem-oriented management and normality engineering, it is perhaps left to philosophy to take up the asymptotic challenge of imparadising our existence to the highest standard. How then can philosophy be of any help in “perpetual crisis” democracies? In a world often described or experienced as chaotic and frantic, what can philosophers propose that could still be heard and adopted, and how can they be made to help individuals and communities strive for a wise, just and meaningful life? A first answer is to propose clear principles for the cultivation of philosophical health.