Negative Philosophy examines what you can't think your way to — the part of how you function that runs below the level of reading, understanding, or deciding. Each episode works with the philosophical lineage of Spinoza, Gurdjieff, Zen, and the Stoics, alongside Martin Butler's framework for psychological realism. A different quality of attention to what is actually happening — not self-improvement, not optimism. Debbie Butler is a psychologist and practitioner of Negative Philosophy.
deborahbutler.substack.com (https://deborahbutler.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)
The same five questions to all three mentors. A minute each. Three different answers.
One thing you would tell a person deciding whether to apply.The sentence a student said that you still think about.The thing people get wrong about determinism.What you stopped doing after a year of this.What the practice has not changed.
Anastasios, B. Doyle and Zubin answer in turn. The last question is the one worth waiting for, and none of them claims the practice removed the difficulty of being alive.
Book a session with any of them, and please name the person you wish to speak with:
The practice is Spinoza-based, drawing on Gurdjieff, Zen and Lao Tzu, and applied to ordinary life.
Written work and more videos: [Patreon link] (https://www.patreon.com/c/NegativePhilosophyPractice) · [Substack link] (https://substack.com/@deborahbutler)· [negativephilosophy.com] (https://negativephilosophy.com/index.html)
The last question is the one that separates this from most of what you will hear about any practice. None of them claims it removed the difficulty of being alive. The pain is still there. What has changed is the ability to see it and be free of it.
Three people answer, and the answers are not the same.
Anastasios has been in the practice for eight years and now mentors in it. He came from a background in finance, and runs a painting business now. He is the one who will tell you that whatever decision you make will be wrong, and he means it kindly. He talks about the boogeyman still being the boogeyman, but you know where he is standing. If you want a mentor who will not let you dress a thing up, it is him.
B. Doyle has been in the practice five years and mentors in it. He is precise about what happens in a session and precise about what you will not be given, which is assurance. His answer here is about fear, and about whether you can afford to go on loving your pain. He writes for his students as well, which tells you something about how he works.
Zubin moved from being mentored to mentoring recently, so he remembers the ground you would be standing on. He listens longer than most people are comfortable with, and he says so. His answer to the sentence he still thinks about is the hardest moment in this video, and he does not flinch from it. He is direct about who this practice is not for.
You do not need to choose between them. Watch this, see whose way of talking you recognise, and book a session with that one.
A note before you watch. One answer refers to a student’s thoughts of ending their life. It is spoken about directly and without detail, but it is there.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deborahbutler.substack.com/subscribe (https://deborahbutler.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)
26 Sept 2026
On Mentoring, With Zubin
Zubin moved from being mentored to mentoring recently, and the change is fresh enough to describe. What’s here is what altered when he started listening rather than waiting to speak. Where his own experience differs from how the practice is written down. Who this practice is not for, and he is specific. And what he would say to someone who finds it bleak.
What changed when he stopped being mentored and started mentoring?
He began listening.
* Here he answers five questions about mentoring, and about who this practice is not for.
* What changed when you started mentoring rather than being mentored?
* Where does your account of the practice differ from the way it is written down?
* Who is this not for? Be specific.
* What would you say to someone who says it sounds bleak?
* What does the growth from beginner to Consultant mean in practice, not on paper?
He is specific about who should not come to this, and about the pain that follows when the ego bullies the organism.
To book a free introductory session with Zubin, sign up here and be sure to mention him by name:
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deborahbutler.substack.com/subscribe (https://deborahbutler.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)
20 Sept 2026
What happens in a session, with B. Doyle
B. Doyle has been in the practice five years and mentors in it. Here he describes a session from the first minute, without names, and answers five more questions about the work itself.
B. Doyle describes a session, without names. He answers questions about what students most want from a mentor and will not be given, the commonest mistake of the first year, and what the machine looks like in an ordinary week, amongst others.
* Describe a session with a student. What happens in it, in order?
* What do students most often want from you that you will not give them?
* What is the most common mistake in the first year?
* What does seeing the machine look like in an ordinary week, in the shopping, the marriage, the job?
* What happens to a student who stops? Do you hear from them again?
* Where does the Exercise Manual earn its place, and where do students try to skip it?
B. Doyle covers the practice journal, where Spinoza’s Ethics comes into a session, and the doorknob exercise.
Book a free introductory session with B. Doyle here and make sure to mention his name in the comments asking you to share anything that will help prepare for our meeting.:
The Exercise Manuals B. describes here are available as spiral-bound books. There are three, working through sensing and observation, then understanding of yourself, then yourself among other people. They are used alongside mentoring but stand on their own. $180 each, or $300 for all three, postage included.
To obtain your copy of the manuals, message me: info@negativephilosophy.com (mailto:info@negativephilosophy.com)
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deborahbutler.substack.com/subscribe (https://deborahbutler.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)
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