Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5990 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
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

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.

Synopsis
'Witty, thoughtful, entertaining ...a stylish book, which manages to make philosophy both enjoyable and relevant, at the same time providing a very sensible digest of consolations for many of our current psychological ills' - Anthony Clare, "LiteraryReview".

Customer Reviews

Great pop philosophy book
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.

Great fun and enlightening
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.

How philosophy helps us in our life
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."