Great pop philosophy book
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The Consolations of Philosophy, not to be confused with the Consolation of Philosophy (Boethius 524 AD),
attempts to brings philosophy out of its esoteric niche and offer some useful wisdom relevant to everyday life.
This is pop philosophy at its best. The writing style is clear, colourful and contains moments of quirky humour (usually in drawings) to keep the reader engaged. De Botton picks 6 famous philosophers and tries to take some nuggest of wisdom from each one and show the application of it in a contempory context.
1. Socrates tells us to question popular opinion as there is often no truth in it. Truth is in logic.
2. Epicurus tells us friends are more important than money
3. Seneca, who lived through the disasters such as earthquakes shattering Pompeii and the people of Rome been subjected to Nero, thought that having unrealistic world views can only cause unrealistic hopes. This results in inevitable frustations when these hopes are not met. By employing rational enquiry and philosophy to achieve a more balanced and releastic world view one can avoid these unrealistic hopes which can only cause pain.
4. Montaigne thought we have to accept our body with all its flaws: it smells, aches, ages, etc.
5. Schopnehauer thought our will to life (wille zum leben) forces us to choose partners whom we can have happy, healthy, intelligent offspring. Controversially, he thought that the person who made be ideal to produce the best offspring may not be ideal for us. But we must enter love with reasonable expectations so as to avoid bitterness if it fails us. If the individual remembers that he is only one of a species he may become more of a "knower" than a "sufferer".
6. Nietzsche thought the more difficult the task or challenges we face, the greater our sense of achievement will be.
We should not give up if we fail but consider failure as an essential ingredient and experience to enjoying eventual success.
I enjoyed this book, it's erudite without being too academic. If you have studied philsophy at university level you might find it too simple. But as an introductory or as a pop philosophy book, it's very good. As well as taking an idea from each philosopher, De Botton gives overview of the philosophers lifes - their family backgrounds, where they studied, what they wrote, their general contributions to philosophy and their deaths.
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Great fun and enlightening
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As you would expect from de Botton, this is highly accessible, funny and enlightening.
The way this book works best is to inspire your interest in certain other philosophers. Compare the ideas of some key thinkers, see which one chimes with you and go and buy their works too. De Botton necessarily just scrapes the surface of those he covers, but that's not to devalue what he has to say and his ability to pick out the pertinent points and explain them clearly.
As a result of de Botton's books I have developed a passion for Montaigne's amazing works, an appreciation of Proust and a sneaking admiration for the chilled out Epicurus!
This is a fantastic book in its own right, but as a readable introduction to the greats, it excels.
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How philosophy helps us in our life
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The author shows how philosophy supplied Socrates with convictions in which he was able to have rational confidence when faced with adversity. In Socrates' time, the opinion of the majority was equated with truth. He thus suffered the sad fate to be good and yet judged evil. We should therefore strive to listen to the dictates of the reason and not the dictates of public opinion.
The philosophy of Epicures places an emphasis on the importance of sexual pleasure and he promises that philosophy will guide us to superior cures and true happiness. Friendship and freedom are the two most important items on the Epicurean acquisition list.
Seneca conceived of philosophy as a discipline to assist human beings in overcoming conflicts between their wishes and reality. He saw that we must reconcile ourselves to the necessary imperfectability of existence. We will cease to be angry once we cease to be too hopeful.
Cicero claims that scholarship furnishes us with true means of living well and happily, to spend our lives without discontent and without vexation.
Montaigne saw that we have to accept our body with all its flaws: it smells, aches, ages, throbs and pulses.
Booksellers are the most valuable destination for the lonely, given the number of books that were written because authors couldn't find anyone to talk to. Actually every difficult work presents us with the choice whether to judge the author inept for not being clear, or ourselves stupid for not understanding the ideas.
For Schopenhauer, a man of genius can hardly be sociable, for what dialogues could indeed be so intelligent and entertaining as his own monologues? For him, art and philosophy help us to turn pain into knowledge. "The prudent man strives for freedom from pain, not pleasure."
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Life? Don't talk to me about life!
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In this book de Botton attempts to console the reader with the philosophical beliefs of six chosen men. So, in chapter one, the words of Socrates are cited in an attempt to console those who feel unpopular. In the other five chapters, we have the words of Epicurus, Seneca, Montaigne, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche to help us cope with, respectively, not having enough money, frustration (sic), inadequacy, a broken heart, and difficulties (whatever they are).
The text is down to earth and engagingly written, and is interspersed with photographs and odd diagrams and inane figures to remind us visually what the words we have just read represent. Whilst this method of presentation felt a little quirky at first - and welcome too - after awhile it started to dawn on me that this was the author's method of filling in pages and making the book appear more fulfilling than it actually is.
Whilst de Botton is to be congratulated at writing an introduction to higher and deeper philosophical ideas for the man in the street, the book is nevertheless strangely devoid of personality. I cannot help feel that de Botton would have done better to have included more of his own thoughts and feelings (and actually come off the fence on occasions).
But as consolation for life's difficulties and perplexities, this book barely scratches the surface.
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Better read the real thing
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The book is carelessly written, uneven, dull. Good for a train or a beach but worthless if you want to be even a humble lover of wisdom. If you know nothing of philosophy but want to accommodate it somehow in your daily life you might well turn your attention to Sophie's world and read the philosophy bits while missing the girls' novel. Or still better read the original authors or at least Russell.
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