So, far from being ‘irrational’, the subject’s despair actually makes perfect sense in the context of their current world view, in which divorce automatically means that they have failed in some way, and in which personal failure is always something to be ashamed of. However, the fact that the thought process is rational does not make it any less destructive or requiring of recalibration. In this hypothetical case, of the three premises supporting the conclusion, there is only one existential fact that cannot be changed, and that is (1) that the divorce occurred (past tense). We cannot change this, because it is in the past, and we cannot change the past; these are objective assertions. Premises (2) and (3), however, are subjective assertions, i.e. not facts but rather opinions, and so these are premises which can be more easily challenged philosophically. Say, for example that we encouraged the subject to seriously question why, or whether divorce ‘must’ be seen as a personal failure. Few marriages end due to fault on one side; a vast majority end due to faults on both, and in these cases, one is often better off out of what is clearly a toxic relationship where both parties were simply incompatible to begin with. Whether this is the case here is irrelevant, the fact that there are cases of this at all implies that the subject’s opinion that this is a universal is automatically suspect. Similarly, personal failures need not necessarily be seen as things to be ashamed of, or leading to a state of despair, but rather as vitally important learning experiences, without which we would never develop psychologically or adapt our behaviour for future scenarios, something which may be what enables a future, healthier marriage to happen.

To successfully challenge either, or both of these opinions logically invalidates the conclusion, without changing the initial premise, which, again, is a fact that we cannot change. More importantly, if the subject can learn to accept that their opinion is ultimately self-defeating, and develop new opinions more conducive to a positive outlook, then this may ultimately lead to a more constructive cognitive thought process, whilst still rooted in logic and rationality. In other words, we cannot always change the facts, but we can work on changing our own opinions regarding such facts, and then reconstruct new, constructive thought processes from those changes, and in fact, this is an essential skill in life, not just in the context of philosophy or psychotherapy.