Summary of Alain De Botton's The Consolations of Philosophy

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 I once visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and while I was there, I found a painting that had been painted in Paris in the autumn of 1786 by the thirty-eight-year-old Jacques-Louis David.
#2 The death of Socrates marked a defining moment in the history of philosophy. It was significant enough that it was painted by the French painter Charles-Alphonse Dufresnoy in 1650.
#3 The postcard depicted the last edifying moments of a transcendent being. It contrasted sharply with my own behavior, which was to be liked rather than to speak the truth. I did not publicly doubt ideas to which the majority was committed.
#4 The Greek philosopher Socrates was the first to question authority, and his life and death were an invitation to become wise through philosophy.

Sujets

• Général

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 26 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669365235
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Alain De Botton's The Consolations of Philosophy
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I once visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and while I was there, I found a painting that had been painted in Paris in the autumn of 1786 by the thirty-eight-year-old Jacques-Louis David.

#2

The death of Socrates marked a defining moment in the history of philosophy. It was significant enough that it was painted by the French painter Charles-Alphonse Dufresnoy in 1650.

#3

The postcard depicted the last edifying moments of a transcendent being. It contrasted sharply with my own behavior, which was to be liked rather than to speak the truth. I did not publicly doubt ideas to which the majority was committed.

#4

The Greek philosopher Socrates was the first to question authority, and his life and death were an invitation to become wise through philosophy.

#5

The idea that we should all believe in and follow the same set of conventions is called common sense. It is a vast collection of ethical and practical judgements that are considered plainly too sensible to be the targets of scrutiny.

#6

The ancient Greeks had many common-sense conventions, and they would have held on to them as tenaciously as we do. They would have considered it normal to dress in the city states of Greece in the fifth century BC.

#7

The Greeks had many gods, and they were militaristic. They worshiped courage on the battlefield, and considered an adequate male to be one who knew how to scythe the heads off adversaries.

#8

We may be intimidated by the hostility of others, but we also must be aware of the fact that we may be suppressing our own doubts and questions. We cannot imagine ourselves as pioneers of new, difficult truths.

#9

Socrates was a Greek philosopher who lived in Athens around the 4th century BC. He was a pupil of the philosopher Archelaus, and he never wrote any of his lessons down. He was poor, but he had little concern for material possessions.

#10

Socrates was a philosopher who lived in Athens. He was known for his habit of approaching people and asking them why they held certain common-sense beliefs, and what they took to be the meaning of life.

#11

The playwright Aristophanes, who was a critic of intellectuals, wrote that they drift further from sensible views than those who have never ventured to analyze matters in a systematic way. Socrates was accused of a perverse hunger for complicated, inane alternatives.

#12

The philosopher Plato came across two generals named Nicias and Laches. The generals had fought the Spartan armies in the battles of the Peloponnesian War, and had earned the respect of the city’s elders and the admiration of the young.