The Consolations of Philosophy - My Review - Walk Away from Fundamentalism

This is a support forum for those who have left
or are in the process of leaving fundamentalist Christianity
Current Forum Since June 2001

Walk Away from Fundamentalism

Today | Member | Search | Who's On |

Walk Away from Fundamentalism
└─Discussion Related to Walking Away from Fundamentalism
└─Open Books for Open Minds
└─The Consolations of Philosophy - My Review

<<Previous ThreadNext Thread>>

Page 1 of 1

<< Prev

Next >>

Title: The Consolations of Philosophy - My Review

Author

Comment

Voltaire	\| Move to Bottom Author
Rank:none Status: Score: 0 Posts: 1490 From: Registered: 07/08/2001 Time spent: 0 hours	(Date Posted:03/22/2005 09:41:31) A lot of Walk Away members have asked for some kind of replacement for the beliefs they lose when they Walk Away. I have always felt at a loss as to any place to start to rebuild a world view, but I think I have found a good place to start.The Consolations of Philosophyby Alain de Botton has appealed to me so much that I've read this book 3 times in about 6 months. Unlike most philosophy books it's easy to read and at only 244 pages it doesn't take long. It cover 6 philosophers, giving short sketches of their lives and their ideas. There's also sime nice classical art work to illustrate ideas that gives the book a comforting, classical kind of feel. More importantly, Botton has a wonderful way of showing how these philosopher's ideas can provide comfort for the problems we all face everyday. It's this combination of story telling, nuggets of philosophical wisdom, and relating to life that has made this book a favorite of mine. I even carried it with me to work for a while so I could read and think about it during my lunch break. The first time I read it I kept pausing to reflect what I had just read; it was like eating fine food and savoring every bite because it was so delicious. I was taught my whole life that the only worthy guidelines for living life are found in the Bible and and any "worldly philosophers" were to be shunned because they might soil my soul with doubt. It is now particularly rewarding to find out that all that was wrong. Not only are they concerned about the well being of humanity, but they hadgood stuffto say and some of them said it 300 years before Christ. Socrates is the first philosopher. I particularly liked the way he rattled some famous Athenians because they simply had never thought much about their beliefs. It reminded me of talking with Christians about their own beliefs. It really brings home the fact that most people think very little about their ideas and have been doing it at least since 300 BCE. It's a consolation for Walk Aways to realize that shallow thinking is nothing new. Epicurus was a surprise to me. I thought he was some advocate of fine food, fine living, and in general anything expensive. Au contrare! Epicurus advocated living very simply and concluded that sources of happiness are friends, freedom, and thought. After being told it was Jesus and God that are the source of happiness my whole life it's refreshing to find a differing view that happiness can be attained in this life and without being wealthy. I think this is particularly important to Walk Aways because I remember one of my biggest fears was losing happiness along with my beliefs. Seneca is the next philospher. I had encountered some of his fine wit before reading this book. I even used one of his sayings in my Walk Away tag line at one point. Seneca is someone to listen to and think about when you're unjustly accused. Tired of being told you're going to ruin the world because you don't believe in your religion? Well, Seneca was accused unjustly of plotting against the Roman emperor and forced to commit suicide while a centurian watched. But before Seneca died he had a lot of wisdom written down that's worth considering. Montaigne was surprise to me when he advanced the notion that being smart isn't much help in being happy and may even make it harder. I also liked the argument between the French and Germans about whether fireplaces or stoves are better. He also pulled philosophy down out of the airy heights and wasn't afraid to talk about things like sex or farting; some of the things he says are hilarious. Schopenhaur expanded some ideas I had about why so many marriages are unhappy: your genes don't give a damn about your happiness. I think Schopenhaur's ideas should be taught to everyone contemplating marriage. Since these ideas are evolutionary in nature I doubt you'll never find them coming from a fundie pulpit. Excellent advice but they can't use them. Sad, real sad. Nietzsche was not only a surprise but the icing on the cake. His idea that suffering and happiness go hand in hand just blew me away. I've started reading some other books because I've found Nietzche's ideas are so startling. He's also the philosopher who is widely misunderstood when he said that god is dead. All in all I recommend this book highly for someone who has just had their whole world view come tumbling down and is looking for a gentle introduction to useful ideas and consolation. -------------------------------------------------------------- Zombies, Unicorns, Devils, Sea Monsters, Satyrs, Dragons, Six Winged Angels, Gods, Demons, Witches, Astrologers, A walking & talking snake, Magical fruit, Talking donkeys, human headed six-winged beasts, Ghosts. All that stuff is in the Bible and yet they tell me it"s not mythology?

Waynus	\| Move to Top \| Move to Bottom 1#
Rank:none Status: Score:0 Posts:173 From: Registered: 06/19/2002 Time spent: 0 hours	(Date Posted:03/23/2005 10:40:17) A wonderful book. The TV series was also great, really demonstrates that philosophy is a practical discipline not just an academic exercise. -------------------------------------------------------------- There is no fire like hatred, no rushing river like craving, and no snare like illusion. Buddha Random thoughts at http://waynus.blogspot.com/

Voltaire	\| Move to Top \| Move to Bottom 2#
Rank:none Status: Score:0 Posts:1490 From: Registered: 07/08/2001 Time spent: 0 hours	(Date Posted:03/27/2005 09:03:56) A wonderful book. The TV series was also great, really demonstrates that philosophy is a practical discipline not just an academic exercise. I didn't know there was a TV series. Was it base on the book, or was it idependent of it? -------------------------------------------------------------- Zombies, Unicorns, Devils, Sea Monsters, Satyrs, Dragons, Six Winged Angels, Gods, Demons, Witches, Astrologers, A walking & talking snake, Magical fruit, Talking donkeys, human headed six-winged beasts, Ghosts. All that stuff is in the Bible and yet they tell me it"s not mythology?

Waynus	\| Move to Top \| Move to Bottom 3#
Rank:none Status: Score:0 Posts:173 From: Registered: 06/19/2002 Time spent: 0 hours	(Date Posted:03/31/2005 01:14:36) Based around the book, with real people trying out some of the ideas in practice. The girl he meets on the show and asks out he was still living with last year when he was in Australia. -------------------------------------------------------------- There is no fire like hatred, no rushing river like craving, and no snare like illusion. Buddha Random thoughts at http://waynus.blogspot.com/

Voltaire	\| Move to Top \| Move to Bottom 4#
Rank:none Status: Score:0 Posts:1490 From: Registered: 07/08/2001 Time spent: 0 hours	(Date Posted:03/31/2005 06:40:24) I'd be fascinated to see the series. The book has given me a lot to think about and I've already been incorporating some of the ideas into my own life. -------------------------------------------------------------- Zombies, Unicorns, Devils, Sea Monsters, Satyrs, Dragons, Six Winged Angels, Gods, Demons, Witches, Astrologers, A walking & talking snake, Magical fruit, Talking donkeys, human headed six-winged beasts, Ghosts. All that stuff is in the Bible and yet they tell me it"s not mythology?

Waynus	\| Move to Top \| Move to Bottom 5#
Rank:none Status: Score:0 Posts:173 From: Registered: 06/19/2002 Time spent: 0 hours	(Date Posted:04/04/2005 12:40:42) In the episode on Seneca he went driving with a courier in London. The guy really lost his temper as he was caught in the traffic. So Alain explained the basic idea of expecting the worst and being prepared and then the guy tried to apply it in his life. The man then came back at the end of the episode and spoke about how the approach suited him. The practical experiements with real people really added to the ideas under discussion. His second series Status Anxiety was excellent. It looked at the changing role of social status and it's influence on the lives of westerners. Also available as a book. -------------------------------------------------------------- There is no fire like hatred, no rushing river like craving, and no snare like illusion. Buddha Random thoughts at http://waynus.blogspot.com/

Voltaire	\| Move to Top 6#
Rank:none Status: Score:0 Posts:1490 From: Registered: 07/08/2001 Time spent: 0 hours	(Date Posted:04/04/2005 23:57:41) His second series Status Anxiety was excellent. It looked at the changing role of social status and it's influence on the lives of westerners. Also available as a book. I have the book, but haven't read it yet. Too busy reading about Nietzche, who's a way cool philosopher. -------------------------------------------------------------- Zombies, Unicorns, Devils, Sea Monsters, Satyrs, Dragons, Six Winged Angels, Gods, Demons, Witches, Astrologers, A walking & talking snake, Magical fruit, Talking donkeys, human headed six-winged beasts, Ghosts. All that stuff is in the Bible and yet they tell me it"s not mythology?
	Welcome to The Collection of Flashlights!Wolf-eyes ,your eyes break the darkness!

Hop to:

<<Previous ThreadNext Thread>>

Page 1 of 1

<< Prev

Next >>

Quick Reply

Topic:

Comment:
(Allow UBB Code)

Subscribe to this topic and be notified when it is replied to by email. Allow signature