Philosophical Midwifery by Pierre Grimes

Philosophical Midwifery is the method for discovering the nature, origin, maintenance, transmission and dissolution of the pathologos. We have identified and called the pathologos those false beliefs that are the source of a certain class of our problems because these beliefs are "sick" or false. Thus, a pathologos is a false belief, one that has been learned but not taught. It is a belief that has been accepted as true about oneself and one's reality, and since it is irreconcilable with the attainment of one's highest goals, it is the cause of much of the chaos experienced in our life. 

A demonstration of these claims is essential, the grounds for verification must be clear, and the understanding that leads to the realization that the mind is beneficent and intelligible will be set out clearly. Therefore, we will demonstrate that the problems we have we should have, that their solution is in our highest interest and with the freedom from these problems we can function on a higher and more personally significant level of existence. We will define the nature of man's problems in a new way and describe what these problems are like; we will trace their origins to things we learned and discover why we believed and accepted them as true.

Pierre Grimes (1925-Present), is an American philosopher and World War 2 veteran who headed to college in 1948 and there began his reading of Plato. He was amazed to discover that while Plato urged his followers to study and practice the dialectic and meditation, neither were studied or practiced at the college nor anywhere else.

He attended the Academy of Asian Studies from 1953-1960 and he began his formal study of meditation with a Taoist Mater, and later on continued these studies with various Zen Masters. He formed the Noetic Society for the study of dialogue and dialectic in 1978, and in 1984 also founded the Opening Mind Academy for the purpose of bringing Platonic thought and Ch'an Buddhism together "for understanding and experiencing the nature of the inner mind perceiving Enlightenment".

His study of dreams within the context of Philosophical Midwifery included giving five-day workshops at Esalen Institute for some 25 years, from the late 1980s until about 2014. His academic teaching of philosophy spanned his career from 1962-2004.