The consolations of

philosophy
Book review
 Consolation of philosophy
• Written by Boethius
• 524 AD
• Conversations
between Boethius
and lady philosophy
• Discusses transitory
nature of fame and
wealth
 The consolations of philosophy
• Author – Alain de
Botton
 Consolations for
• Unpopularity
• Poverty
• Anger/Frustration
• Inadequacies
• Broken heart
• Hardships
 Consolations for unpopularity
• Socrates (469 BC to
399 BC)
• Main contribution –
The Socratic method
of questioning
• Thinking logically
about our lives may
make us more certain
of ourselves, more
independent, less
conformist
 The Socratic method
• Statement – Being virtuous requires money
• Where could this statement not be true ?
– Is it possible to be virtuous and not have money
– Is it possible to have money and not be virtuous
• People who have money are virtuous only if they
acquired it in a virtuous way and people who are
virtuous may have lived through professions or
situations where it was impossible to make
money
 Homework Exercise
• Try the Socratic method on the following
statements
– The best jobs are the ones highly paid
– Having ones own business is better than a
salaried job
– Marriage brings happiness
 Execution of Socrates
• Accused of
– Not worshipping the
Gods
– Introducing religious
novelties
– Corrupting young men

Don’t listen to dictates of public opinion but only to the dictates of reason
 Consolations for poverty
• Epicurus - 341 BC-270
BC
• Pleasure is the
beginning and goal of
a happy life
• However, Intuitive
answers to “ What will
make me
happy/healthy” not
correct
 Consolation for poverty
• The best things in life are free
– Natural and necessary
(Friends,Freedom,Thought)
– Natural but unnecessary (Grand house,
banquets, Servants, fish and meat)
– Unnatural and unnecessary (Fame and
power)
• Happiness may be difficult to attain,
however the obstacles are not primarily
financial
 The way to happiness
• Happiness is a tricky issue
– We aren’t good at knowing what will make us happy
– What we want is not what we need
– A philosopher may help you find it more easily than a credit card would
• Modern ideal of having all the money to go shopping may be wrong
• Pleasure is the most important thing in life, not luxury
• Blame advertising – It makes us feel there are all sorts of things
missing in our lives
– Bacardi and friends, Tommy Hilfiger and Freedom, Whisky (after the
tussle)
– Solution (?) –
• Disclaimers – House advt. that says “Happiness not included”
• Advtertisements that reminded you of the value of friends, freedom and a
thoughtful life
 Consolations for anger
• Seneca (3 BC – 65
AD)
• Tutor to Nero the
Roman emperor
• “What need is there to
weep over parts of life
? The whole of it calls
for tears”
 Consolations for anger
• What makes us angry are dangerously optimistic
notions about the world
• We will cease to be angry when we cease to be
so hopeful
• Stoic philosophy - tenets
– We do not always control our world
– We should be prepared for disaster to strike at any
point
• Not meant to depress but to prepare for reality
 The wheel of fortune
“Nothing ought to be unexpected
by us. Our minds should be sent
forward in advance to meet all the
problems, and we should
consider, not what is wont
happen, but what can happen.
What is a man? A vessel that the
slightest shaking, the slightest
toss, will break. A body weak and
fragile”
Pompeii, AD 79
Execution of Seneca
 Consolations for inadequacy

• Michel de Montaigne
(1533 -1592)
• Popularized the essay
as a literary genre
• Influenced Descarte,
Pascal, Emerson and
Neitzche (among
others)
Chateau (Castle)
 The three inadequacies
• Bodily inadequacy
– Our bodies hold the mind hostage to its whims and
rhythms
• Cultural inadequacy
– Spanish slaughter of Incas and Aztecs (whose
population dropped from 80 to 10 million)
• Intellectual inadequacy
– Goal of education should be to make us good and
wise, not learned
• A virtuous life, striving for wisdom but never far
from folly is achievement enough
Consolations for a broken heart
• Arthur Schopenhauer
(1788 – 1860)
• Read a few pages of
the Upanishads every
night
• Key work – “The
world as will and
representation”
– Inspiration from Tat
Twam Asi (Chandogya
Upanishad)
 Schopenhauer on Love

• The ultimate aim of all love affairs ... is

more important than all other aims in
man's life; and therefore it is quite worthy
of the profound seriousness with which
everyone pursues it.
• What is decided by it is nothing less than
the composition of the next generation ...
 Love and happiness
• Love is biological
– Sole purpose is propagation of human race
• The will of the species is more powerful than the
will of the individual
– Leads to overlooking all faults in the lover
• Love has nothing to do with happiness
– The person who is very suitable for our child is never
suitable for us
• “It seems in the making of a marriage, either the
individual or the interests of the species must
come off badly”
 Consolations for hardships
• Friedrich Neitzche ( 1844-
1900)
• Misfortune is better than
good fortune
– A necessary evil
– “That which does not kill
me, makes me stronger”
• “Instant cures produce a
far greater worsening of
the complaint”
 Consolations for hardships/failure
• Any worthwhile achievement was borne out of
constant struggle and hardwork
• A successful life will involve failure at some level
• Many great people were not born gifted, they
acquired greatness
• Suffering is not enough, the challenge is to
respond well to suffering
– Use dark situations to create something beautiful
(much like gardeners)
 Advice from Neitzche
• Build house on slopes of Mt. Vesuvius
– Life is a risky affair
• Our worries are vital clues pointing the way to
the ultimate improvement
• Bad response to a failure
– Head for the pub (religion is very similar)
– Dousing pain douses energy that can give real
happiness
– Happiness does not come from escaping trouble, it
comes from cultivating them
 Other ideas from Neitzche
• Dichotomy of good and evil is a
catastrophic error
• Nihilism – Nothing has any intrinsic
importance and life has no purpose
• Will to power
– Desire to expand ones power more important
than adaptation and struggle to survive