Philosophy : The Guide to Happiness

[ponda]

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. Episode 1: 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.


Part 1 : Socrates on Self-Confidence


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2808374571100926940#

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2808374571100926940#



Episode 2: 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.


Epicurus on Happiness


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3535764476733084568#

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3535764476733084568#


Episode 3: 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. He thought anger arose from certain rationally held ideas about the world, and the problem with these ideas is that they are far too optimistic. Certain things are a predictable feature of life, and to get angry about them is to have unrealistic expectations.

Seneca on Anger


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6877249402964035542#

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6877249402964035542#

[atlantianferret]

It has been a while since I have read and studied them. Looking back, it is amazing how much of this type of thinking I have taken on my pursuit of truth.

[ponda]

It has been a while since I have read and studied them. Looking back, it is amazing how much of this type of thinking I have taken on my pursuit of truth.


Yes atlantianferret if only the politicians etc would take notice as well

[ponda]

Episode 4: 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.



Montaigne on Self-Esteem


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6436583611449448580#

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6436583611449448580#


Episode 5: 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'.


Schopenhauer on Love


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8358646220672429933#

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8358646220672429933#



Episode 6: 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.



Nietzsche on Hardship


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2975222748330605245#

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2975222748330605245#

[ktlight]

Here is a link to the only country which progresses policies through the 'happiness' filter.

http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?24308-Prime-Minister-of-the-Kingdom-of-Bhutan-Jigmi-Y.-Thinley-at-World-Leaders-Forum

[toothpick]

Really fantastic set of video,s, by british plilosopher Alain de Botton, great find ponda.
Just love philosophy.

"To achieve anything worthwhile you must go through untold hardship". Nietzsche.

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple". Dr. Suess.

toothpick

[ponda]

ktlight

Most of the worlds current politicians appear to believe in the philosophy of 'greed is good' and 'economic growth can be permanent'.I like how Bhutan has banned the plastic shopping bag and isn't a profit at 'any' cost society.


toothpick

imho it's a pity that our so called 'leaders' don't take a more philosophical and long term approach to current day problems.


There's more to the truth than just the facts. ~Author Unknown

[CosmicKat]

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. Episode 1: 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.


Part 1 : Socrates on Self-Confidence


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2808374571100926940#

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2808374571100926940#



Episode 2: 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.


Epicurus on Happiness


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3535764476733084568#

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3535764476733084568#


Episode 3: 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. He thought anger arose from certain rationally held ideas about the world, and the problem with these ideas is that they are far too optimistic. Certain things are a predictable feature of life, and to get angry about them is to have unrealistic expectations.

Seneca on Anger


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6877249402964035542#

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6877249402964035542#



¤=[Post Update]=¤

[/COLOR]Have you ever wondered why emotion was to be made such a huge part of the Human Body's make-up? In my opinion, if emotion didn't play such a big roll in who we are, we would be hundreds if not thousands of years more advanced than we are today.
Looking at other Civilizations and not necessarily from this Earth are 100x more advanced than we could ever imagine.
Happiness comes from deep within ones self. I sometimes wish we could all just pull it out and make it stay. Who knows what the world would be like.

[ponda]

Good questions Cosmickat.

Yes we do get the full range of emotions here and it appears to me that we might be being manipulated so as to be under the influence of certain emotions a lot of the time which has limited our progress.I suspect that there must be a deeper reason for this rather than just pure chance.

I would be very interested in the philosophies of much more advanced beings.It would be very interesting to get their perspectives on everything.

I do agree with some of the philosophers who say that you can get a more balanced perspective of positivity if you have experienced negativity as well.

cheers