According to Philosopher Alain de Botton we should not completely reject the nurturing attempts of those in power who supposedly have our best interests at heart (doesn’t stop them raising taxes though).
Personally, this is all well and good at the best of times and I’m all for listening to wise advice from somebody else, as long as I have the freedom to take that advice (after careful consideration) and apply it to my life for the better.
But the problem I have is when that very same person giving the advice is found not to have practiced what they preached, which makes me ever more sceptical about what they told me to begin with. In other words, their credibility goes out the window once their actions and words go opposite ways. Maybe a tad extreme on my part but that’s how I feel – but that does not mean that I cannot learn something of worth from their original advice.
“Learn from man, but do not follow him” comes to mind at this particular juncture.
As for the Government or the Clergy deciding for us what is good for our individual welfare, I for one will respond by saying, “Keep your advice to yourselves. I wish nothing more but to nanny myself, thank you very much!”
The reason for my apparent reluctance to being told what to do by the people who run the state and church? Simply said: both the government and religion go hand in hand with hypocrisy – end of.
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Nietzcshe suggested for us to become like 'Supermen' by using hardship in life to strengthen our 'Will'
Watch the first video of a six part series: Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness (Part 1) – Socrates
This is the 6th and final post featuring a series of documentaries written and presented by popular British philosopher Alain de Botton.
This 6 part series is an entertaining, practical and psychobabble-free self-help course for the philosophically minded.
Here, de Botton, brings us six thinkers who have influenced history, and their ideas about the pursuit of the happy life. Here we have then:
- Socrates
- Epicurus
- Seneca
- Michel de Montaigne
- Arthur Schopenhauer
- Friedrich Nietzsche
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Arthur Schopenhauer was forever the pessimist, as he strikes a familiar pose whilst contemplating human suffering and misery
Watch the first video of a six part series: Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness (Part 1) – Socrates
Continuing onto the fifth part of six posts featuring a series of documentaries written and presented by popular British philosopher Alain de Botton.
This 6 part series is an entertaining, practical and psychobabble-free self-help course for the philosophically minded.
Here, de Botton, brings us six thinkers who have influenced history, and their ideas about the pursuit of the happy life. Here we have then:
- Socrates
- Epicurus
- Seneca
- Michel de Montaigne
- Arthur Schopenhauer
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Read more…
A mecurial looking Montaigne who offered us, in the form of his essays, wisdom and solutions for the maladies of the mind
Watch the first video of a six part series: Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness (Part 1) – Socrates
Continuing onto the forth part of six posts featuring a series of documentaries written and presented by popular British philosopher Alain de Botton.
This 6 part series is an entertaining, practical and psychobabble-free self-help course for the philosophically minded.
Here, de Botton, brings us six thinkers who have influenced history, and their ideas about the pursuit of the happy life. Here we have then:
- Socrates
- Epicurus
- Seneca
- Michel de Montaigne
- Arthur Schopenhauer
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Read more…
A stoic but dying Seneca, who was sentenced to death by his former pupil, Roman emperor Nero
Watch the first video of a six part series: Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness (Part 1) – Socrates
Continuing onto the third part of six posts featuring a series of documentaries written and presented by popular British philosopher Alain de Botton.
This 6 part series is an entertaining, practical and psychobabble-free self-help course for the philosophically minded.
Here, de Botton, brings us six thinkers who have influenced history, and their ideas about the pursuit of the happy life. Here we have then:
- Socrates
- Epicurus
- Seneca
- Michel de Montaigne
- Arthur Schopenhauer
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Read more…
