Philosophy: Guide to Happiness
We tend to accept that people in authority must be right. It's this assumption that Socrates wanted us to challenge by urging us to think logically about the nonsense they often come out with, rather than being struck dumb by their aura of importance and air of suave certainty. This six part series on philosophy is presented by popular British philosopher Alain de Botton, featuring six thinkers who have influenced history, and their ideas about the pursuit of the happy life.
Socrates on Self-Confidence - Why do so many people go along with the crowd and fail to stand up for what they truly believe? Partly because they are too easily swayed by other people's opinions and partly because they don't know when to have confidence in their own.
Epicurus on Happiness - British philosopher Alain De Botton discusses the personal implications of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus (341-270BCE) who was no epicurean glutton or wanton consumerist, but an advocate of "friends, freedom and thought" as the path to happiness.
Seneca on Anger - Roman philosopher Lucious Annaeus Seneca (4BCE-65CE), the most famous and popular philosopher of his day, took the subject of anger seriously enough to dedicate a whole book to the subject. Seneca refused to see anger as an irrational outburst over which we have no control. Instead he saw it as a philosophical problem and amenable to treatment by philosophical argument.
Montaigne on Self-Esteem - Looks at the problem of self-esteem from the perspective of Michel de Montaigne (16th Century), the French philosopher who singled out three main reasons for feeling bad about oneself - sexual inadequecy, failure to live up to social norms, and intellectual inferiority - and then offered practical solutions for overcoming them.
Schopenhauer on Love - Alain De Botton surveys the 19th Century German thinker Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) who believed that love was the most important thing in life because of its powerful impulse towards 'the will-to-life'.
Nietzsche on Hardship - British philosopher Alain De Botton explores Friedrich Nietzsche's (1844-1900) dictum that any worthwhile achievements in life come from the experience of overcoming hardship. For him, any existence that is too comfortable is worthless, as are the twin refugees of drink or religion.
Prophets may advise a step above philosophers. "Spiritual happiness is life eternal. This is a light which is not followed by darkness. This is an honour which is not followed by shame. This is a life that is not followed by death. This is an existence that is not followed by annihilation. This great blessing and precious gift is obtained by man only through the guidance of God." ~Abdu’l-Baha
I found it. All one under the sun, and water if fuel. Hydrogen....Wake up people.
I neeeeverrrr knew that pretty much EVERYONE called Socrates ugly.....including his friends 0.o
I've been enjoying this series a lot, but episode 5 is just plain stupid. I don't care if Schopenhauer came a century before Darwin; I will never be deceived into believing that our experiences are mechanistic- love or any other. Life is like a deep well in which all the distinct echoes eventually reach resonance; at that point the end no long matters and the clarity is brilliant. The end of mystery.
I want to die by lightning.
I want Zeus to end my life.
I want his reasons to prevail because that would be easier than thus..
Wow that was great but too short! I want more. I was just thinking of moving to an uninhabited island before I watched this. :D
I see there are 6 parts now, but still I'm going to look up more on Socrates.
SO helpful, thank you for providing insight. These documentaries are invaluable, and if you can even take 5% of the lessons and adapt them to your own life, you start your journey on leading a more introspective and happier life.
This series are really helpful. This being said the part on love is a big short cut on the matter and does not develop essential components such as the psychological patterns of human beings, their social status and position in the society. Say that love is essentially based on physical appearance as it is in the animal world is very restricting since human being have other much more complex social and psychological characteristics - characteristic that they are (that we all are) seeking in our partners.
Thanks for your valuable information about philosophy
Sufism-Check it out-These are very low earthly thinking processes.Like baby steps in the evolution of thinking.We deserve better.Find the truth.And learn to die before you die.Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
Unfortunately, only Western philosophers are presented here. All of which are flawed and unawake.
Total bulls*it, attraction and love are not necesarelly the same thing, don't buy everything shoppenhauer says, there's been some progress since then...
In Schopenhauer's (and later Nietzsche's) words, the guy who made this documentary is a mere "man of learning". And what a dumb man of learning he is!
By the way, his understanding of Nietzsche is idiotic. Nietzsche is saying quite the opposite: that success comes naturally, easily to people. Has he never read about Nietzsche's "light feet"?
I like this guys approach. He makes the various philosophies a lot less abstract and a bit more practical. Also there's a rather good book out there from him called "How to think more about sex" that does a fantastic job of getting at the things that drive us and where they take us when it comes to sex. Highly recommended.
I like to say question authority. especially, your own.
My main philosophy has always been, "Question authority." If you start out from the premise that authorities know nothing more than anyone else and their main purpose it to protect their authority, you will rarely be wrong or disappointed.
I love to know what Mr. Arthur Schopenhauer has to say about people who fall in love but can't reproduce or "will to life" bulls*it. >_> My man and I have been together for over 9yrs yet we don't have a horde of children as most other couples within our range group in our neighborhood. There is at times a deeper connection between people that goes beyond the "will to life" crap Mr. Arthur Schopenhauer tells us. I love some of Mr. Schopenhauers' philosophies about people, especially on the notion that peoples' opinions of others are superficial and such, but his view on love is limited and bias, and definitely only set up for some people. He over looks a lot on other forms of relationships, people who are infertile (either born that way or by disease or by physical trauma) and people who opt for sterilization (temporary such as IUD or permanent like tubal ligation). The "will to life" for me is utter bulls*it nonsense in our modern world. >_> Clearly Mr. Schopenhauer never heard of abortions, condoms or genital removal, which all would have occurred and existed in his time since they were created and done so many years ago.
Philosophy, not about convincing other people you're right, but about convincing other people they could be wrong.
How do people know about philosophers who are dead? by status?
He mentioned that human and sheeps are related. How they are related?
This montage of advice from Alain de Button's favorite philosophers is sure to bring useful insight for all humans. Why isn't philosophy
more popular than religion? short approximately 25 minute segments
on six world renown philosophers, excellent
What did the main philosophy say about being happy?
just watch on 4OD if ur in the UK
Very nice series.. I founded very light-presented, although the subject was about philosophy.. The first thing I did after watching was to google for Montaigne essays.. and to be a bit critical.. did he really have to wear the same shirt on every journey??