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The Consolations of Philosophy
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Amazon.co.uk
Flushed with the success of How Proust Can Change Your Life, philosophical agony uncle Alain de Botton once more matches his precocious talents to addressing the anxieties of modern life with Consolations of Philosophy. Dubbed the "Naked Philosopher", de Botton's cherubic charms match his grey matter, and this book, which has already inspired a Channel 4 series, sees him continue his one-man mission to sugar the pill of learning with his brilliant mixture of wit, wisdom and whimsy. So humans have six gurus and six concerns: Socrates on unpopularity, Epicurus on lack of money, Seneca on frustrations, Montaigne on inadequacy, Schopenhauer on a broken heart and Nietzsche on the necessity of difficulties. And then there is a seventh: de Botton himself, artfully infusing others' palliative musings with souffléd epigrams of his own, and marshalling his arguments with an insouciance that belies considerable skill. De Botton was already appealing to the likes of Wittgenstein, Aristotle and Montaigne for romantic guidance in his novels, Kiss and Tell, Essays in Love and The Romantic Movement, and with How Proust Can Change Your Life, he finally dropped the pretence of plot and concentrated on the digressions, albeit with a slightly eager charm. Where that book was dazzling, the glow of Consolations of Philosophy burns more deeply, displaying a more sober and polished application of his undoubted mental prowess, without losing his distinctive playfulness. He brings to the essay form something of what Milan Kundera brings to the novel and, like him, while still respecting the boundaries he oversteps, he hopscotches genres with spring heels. It is Montaigne whom de Botton most admires and, indeed, most resembles in style--he says of the 16th-century Frenchman: "in Montaigne's scheme of intelligence, what matters in a book is usefulness and appropriateness to life" and it's a recipe he himself assiduously and rewardingly follows. Jamie Oliver take note, dry crusts have rarely been made so appetising and digestible. --David Vincent
-- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.
Martin Cohen in 'The Philosopher', Online edition, April 2000
Alain de Botton's (henceforth, 'Alain') opus minimus has achieved three remarkable things. It has made philosophy popular, it has made philosophy fashionable, and, most remarkable of all, it is not completely awful. The book, as everyone by now must know (after the TV series, which evidently precedes and creates the book), is a series of vignettes - 'episodes' - in which Alain ponders how a select few, fairly ancient, philosophers, might address a few key personal problems. Being unpopular, being poor, being unloved, and so on.
Not on the face of it, a particularly clever idea. But then, no one else seems to have thought of doing it, so Alain must have what in Internet terms is called 'first mover' advantage. His book may not be all that good, and doubtless will spawn a batch of hopping, croaking competitors, but it is unlikely to be overshadowed.
And actually, at least by the standards of philosophy books, it is very readable. The usual deathless philosowaffle that characterises ango-american philosophy has been ruthlessly pared to a minimum, making room for the an eclectic and, it must be said, frequently irritatingly banal, series of pictures of chocolate milk and old-paintings-with-a-philosophical-flavour. But, at least the book has 'narrative flow'. Indeed, it has some style.
How good is the philosophy? I read the chapter on Nietzsche with interest. Alain deals with the suggestion that Nietzsche was in fact a very nasty bit of work (he wanted most people to suffer and die so that they could contribute to the amusement of an elite - which would consist only of men, women being an inferior species) is swiftly disposed of by attributing all the nasty bits in Nietzsche's writings to (implausibly) his sister. A picture of whom, greeting a Mr Hitler is interposed in to the text to underline the point.
Socrates is portrayed as a noble creature misunderstood by his contemporaries, and piquantly made to drink hemlock. The moral, Alain explains, is not that it is important to be popular, but it is important to be right. In fact, Alain suggests, to be logical.
Now this is overstating the logic of Socrates' own approach. Aristotle maybe, would have appreciated this epitaph. But Socrates is above all, a romantic, who believes in 'the power of the Good'. Happily, Alain comes back to this question later in the book, and redresses the balance. Indeed, frequently, the philosophers are produced, made to put forward a firm position, only for the contrary assumptions to reappear in later chapters.
But then, the attention span of a TV viewer is only ten minutes, and that is the origin of this particular work. it may be weak, platitudinous and intellectually pompous, but it is also a very good read. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.
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Format:Taschenbuch
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."
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."
0 von 2 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
Format:Taschenbuch
Alain de Botton schreibt wie immer leicht verständlich und alltagsbezogen, scheint allerdings weit weniger Inhalt produzieren zu können als in "The Art of Travel". Dies wird leider durch viele unnütze Bilder wettgemacht. Schade
Die hilfreichsten Kundenrezensionen auf Amazon.com (beta)
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7 Rezensionen
10 von 10 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
Ease into a new way of thinking about your problems
27. Juli 2006
Format:Taschenbuch
Alain de Botton brings philosophy to a readable level. Rather than a dry discussion on the merits or otherwise of the thoughts of "long dead white men" he looks at situations we all face day to day - inadequacy, suffering, pain, and love - and opens up a new way to look at these situations.
The thing that made me keep reading, and the reason I recommend it to all my friends, is that Alain de Botton passes no judgement. He does not say "this is the way you must do things, this is the way you must think", rather he is simply presenting you with different perspectives on the same problems. It is actually a consolation to know that firstly, our problems are shared across all human civilisation, and secondly, there is no problem in not having all the answers. You come away from the book realising that all you need sometimes is a different perspective on your problems. You don't have to agree with his opinions, but from the questions posed and the way he's presented these dead white guys' philosophies, I think you will end up better able to deal with all the day-to-day things.
I think this is very much a case of teaching us to fish rather than providing us with a ready cooked 3-course meal, while remaining very readable and even quite consoling at times.
The thing that made me keep reading, and the reason I recommend it to all my friends, is that Alain de Botton passes no judgement. He does not say "this is the way you must do things, this is the way you must think", rather he is simply presenting you with different perspectives on the same problems. It is actually a consolation to know that firstly, our problems are shared across all human civilisation, and secondly, there is no problem in not having all the answers. You come away from the book realising that all you need sometimes is a different perspective on your problems. You don't have to agree with his opinions, but from the questions posed and the way he's presented these dead white guys' philosophies, I think you will end up better able to deal with all the day-to-day things.
I think this is very much a case of teaching us to fish rather than providing us with a ready cooked 3-course meal, while remaining very readable and even quite consoling at times.
4 von 4 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
Consolation to understand thinking of various philosophers
19. Januar 2009
Format:Hörkassette
The Consolations of Philosophy is a lightweight interpretation of the great philosophers, exposes a reader to some ideas through a simplified voice --
1. Socrates on "Unpopularity": popularity has nothin to do with truth or error; instead we should be concern with reasoning instead of major opinions.
2. Epicurus on "not having enough money": money only buys a safety net for happiness, true happiness is based on friendship, freedom, and thought.
3. Seneca on "Frustration": frustration leads no where, so it's better to endure and accept frustration.
4. Montaigne on "Inadequacy": rather than discourage, we should find a way to be adequate.
5. Schopenhauer on "A broken heart": by telling the life story of Schopenhauer, who grief most of love.
6. Nietzsche on "Difficulties": a path to fulfillment
In summary, this book is a light reading of philosophy to makes us feel better. The author didn't make any judgment on any idea's rather provides a different perspectives on the problems. For the reader who is less interested in problem-solving in metaphysics and epistemology and more interested in philosophy as a guide to living a good life, this book will not disappoint.
1. Socrates on "Unpopularity": popularity has nothin to do with truth or error; instead we should be concern with reasoning instead of major opinions.
2. Epicurus on "not having enough money": money only buys a safety net for happiness, true happiness is based on friendship, freedom, and thought.
3. Seneca on "Frustration": frustration leads no where, so it's better to endure and accept frustration.
4. Montaigne on "Inadequacy": rather than discourage, we should find a way to be adequate.
5. Schopenhauer on "A broken heart": by telling the life story of Schopenhauer, who grief most of love.
6. Nietzsche on "Difficulties": a path to fulfillment
In summary, this book is a light reading of philosophy to makes us feel better. The author didn't make any judgment on any idea's rather provides a different perspectives on the problems. For the reader who is less interested in problem-solving in metaphysics and epistemology and more interested in philosophy as a guide to living a good life, this book will not disappoint.
2 von 2 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
Sometimes one has to be ready for a book before it is ready to be read
11. Januar 2010
Format:Taschenbuch
"In 1997, a colleague, recommended The Consolations of Philosophy. I have just got round to reading it. Some 12 years later! Since then, the colleague has become a cherished friend, and I have learnt to trust his recommendations and easy natured wisdom. And Consolations certainly has much wisdom to impart. Perhaps sometimes, one has to be ready for a book before it is ready to be read."
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