Alain
de Botton
& Philosophy as a Guide to Happiness
.In 2001 "Philosophy:
a Guide
to Happiness" brightened
up the
Sunday evenings in the UK discussing Seneca,
Epicurus,
Schopenhauer,
Socrates, Nietzsche
and Montaigne.
The associated book The Consolations of Philosophy
by Alain de
Botton is published by Hamish Hamilton (2000) at amazon.co.uk
This unofficial site
- which has no
connection with Alain de Botton or the TV programme – was
written at the time to
provide additional resources for the viewer. The programme also spawned
a lively
discussion about the programme which is still going strong,
and sometimes
even discusses Alain de Botton or the philosophers mentioned in the
programme … At
the time of writing (November 2006) the
group has over 560 members.
Buy Alain de Botton's books now from amazon
Alain
de Botton
E-mail Community @yahoo
Subscribe
to the “Philosophy as a Guide to
Happiness” e-mail forum.
Click here to join "Alain de
Botton philosophy discussion
group"
For
lively
and friendly discussion of
Philosophy as a guide to happiness .
Click
here to see the list archives
(c4
B.C.-A.D.65), Roman philosopher and writer
Seneca
quotes
"Ignorance
is the cause of fear"
"Nature
does not at once disclose all Her mysteries."
"Wherever
there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness "
"We
learn by teaching"
"To
err is human"
More
Seneca
quotes
Links
to Seneca material on www
Writings
about Seneca
Seneca
- a
thinker for our times Informative article by N.S.
Gill with more
links
Notes
on Seneca
and later Stoicism
Original
writings (in translation)
Gleanings
from the writings of Seneca - on Friendship, Moderation, the
happy life and
more
Seneca's
Letters
of Consolation
Seneca,
On
Tranquillity of Mind 9.4f
Seneca
to his mother. Corsica, A.D. 41/9. (Seneca, On Consolation
16. L)
The Stoic
Registry - for modern
stoics who wish to study and practice stoicism and
International Stoic
Forum, an online community devoted to discussions of Stoic thought and
practice, which may be found at the Onelist site:
http://www.onelist.com/group/stoics
Recommended
reading on
Seneca and Stoicism
Annas,
Julia E. 1992. Hellenistic
Philosophy of Mind. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Cottingham,J
1998 Philosophy
and the Good Life Cambridge University Press
Hadot,P
1995 Philosophy as a
Way of Life Blackwell
Long,
A. A. and D. N. Sedley.
1987. The Hellenistic philosophers. Vol. 1.
Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Nussbaum,
Martha C. 1994. The
Therapy of Desire. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Sandbach,
F. H. 1989. The
Stoics. 2d ed. London: Gerald Duckworth.
Seneca
Letters
Penguin
Sharples,
R. W. 1996. Stoics,
Epicureans and Sceptics. London: Routledge.
Striker,
Gisela. 1991. Following
nature: a study in Stoic ethics. In Oxford Studies in Ancient
Philosophy.
Vol. 9, 1-73. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Programme
2
Schopenhauer on love and rejection
Primary
sources
On
the sufferings of the world
Metaphysics
of the love of the sexes
The
World as Will and Representation
(excerpt)
Exerpts
from Parerga
and Paralipomena,
Selected Essays. (1851)
Secondary
sources
G.J.Mattey's
general lecture
notes on
Schopenhauer and his ethics and metaphysics
Essay
on connection between Schopenhauer and Freud
by
Christopher Young & Andrew Brook
Nietzsche's
evaluation of
Schopenhauer by David Conway
From
the Island
of Freedom
Essay by Kelley Ross
Brief
biographical
details
Erratic
impact on
Schopenhauer
Programme
3 Epicurus on
Friendship
Quote
from Epicurus
(341-271 B.C)
Letter
to Idomeneus (written on death-bed)
On
this blissful day, which is also the last of my life, I write this to
you. My
continual sufferings from strangury and dysentery are so great that
nothing
could increase them; but I set above them all the gladness of mind at
the
memory of our past conversations. But I would have you, as becomes your
lifelong attitude to me and to philosophy, watch over the children of
Metrodorus.
Primary
sources
Fragments from the Philosophy
Garden
The
Epicurus
& Epicurean Philosophy site has
been hosted by Vincent Cook contains links to Diogenes Laertius's
source
material on Epicurus and Last
Will
Letter
to Menoeceus & Principal Doctrines on Intenet Classics
Archives
Secondary
sources
Lucretius's
On
The Nature of Things
-
main source for Epicurean ideas
Critical
article in The
Catholic Encyclopedia
Recommended
Reading
Epicurus.
The Epicurus Reader: Selected Writings and Testimonia. Trans. Lloyd P.
Gerson
and Brad Inwood.
Review of above book
B.Russell
The History of Western Philosophy
See
also references for Nussbaum and Hadot under Seneca & Stoicism
- they also
have material on Epicurus.
Programme
4 Montaigne
(1533-1592)
Quotations
"I
want death to find me planting my cabbage "
"My
life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never
happened.
"
"I
have never seen a greater monster...or miracle than myself."
"When
I am attacked by gloomy thoughts, nothing helps me so much as running
to my
books, They quickly absorb me and banish the clouds from my mind."
"Philosophy
is doubt".
There
is no man so good, who, were he to submit all his thoughts and actions
to the
laws, would not deserve hanging ten times in his life.
More
quotes here
Primary
sources
21
Selected
Essays
(full text in English) also here
On
Cannibals
(with some commentary)
Secondary
sources
Journal
of
Montagne studies
Bill
Uzgalis's site
Lecture
notes on Montaigne
and scepticism
Programme
5
Socrates (469B.C-399
B.C)
Quotations
"The
unexamined life is not worth living" (Apology)
"The
wisest is he who realises, like Socrates, that in respect of wisdom he
is
worthless" (Apology)
(last
words) "Crito, we ought to offer a cock to Asclepius. See to it, and
don't
forget" (Phaedo)
Primary
sources
(strictly speaking, there are none, since Socrates wrote nothing-
however the
received view is that Plato's earlier and middle dialogues are as close
to the
historical Socrates as we are likely to get). Here is a small selection
- See
http://classics.mit.edu/ for full texts of other dialogues of
Plato (and
much more)
Secondary
sources
Richard
Hooker's Greek
Philosophy
site
Reich,
Rob. Confusion
about the Socratic Method: Socratic Paradoxes and Contemporary
Invocations of
Socrates.
The Philosophy of Education Yearbooks.
Betty
Sichel's response
to Reich's essay Your
Socrates, My Socrates, Everyone has a Socrates
Tim LeBon's paper Socrates and Philosophical Counselling
Programme
6
Nietzsche (1844-1900)
Quotations
"God
is dead" (The Gay Science)
"There
are no facts, only interpretations" (Nachlass)
"Whoever
despises himself still respects himself as one who despises" (Beyond
Good
and Evil)
"I
tell you: one must have chaos in one, to give birth to a dancing star"
(Thus Spoke Tharathrusta)
"..
live dangerously ...Build your cities on the slopes of Vesuvius !"
(written 3 years after it exploded)
."What
are man's truths ultimately ? Merely his irrefutable errors" (The Gay
Science)
More
Nietzsche
quotes and an aphorism
a day
Primary
sources
The
Pirate
Nietzsche site
contains English translations of many of Nietzsche's works including
Secondary
sources
Douglas
Thomas's
Nietzsche pages
Journal of
Nietzsche Studies
(from Friedrich Nietzsche Society)
Study
Guide for
Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Links
to other pages on Alain de Botton's philosophical writing &
television
Reviews
of Philosophy: a Guide to Happines
The
Observer
review
Reviews
of Consolations of Philosophy
Miscellaneous
A
good idea from .. Raphael (from Independent on Sunday)
Practical
Philosophy links
Alain de Botton's site
- Alain's own
site
Philosophical
Counselling -
putting philosophy to use
Wise Decision-making
including ethical decision-making
Practical
Philosophy -
journal devoted to philosophy in practice
Society
for
Philosophy in Practice (SPP) - professional UK-based
association
Alain's
Other
Books
all available from amazon.co.uk
Discover more free philosophy and self-help resources at http://www.timlebon.com