The Consolations of Philosophy
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Consolations of Philosophy is a non fiction book by Alain de Botton. It is best described as a work of popularisation, an attempt to develop original ideas about friendship, art, envy, desire, and inadequacy for example, with the help of thoughts of other thinkers. The title of this book is a reference to Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy, in which philosophy appears as an allegorical figure to Boethius to offer him consolation before he faces his impending execution. In The Consolations of Philosophy, de Botton attempts to demonstrate how the teachings of philosophers such as Aristotle, Epicurus, Montaigne, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Seneca, and Socrates can be applied to modern everyday woes, such as unpopularity, feelings of inadequacy, financial worries, broken hearts, and the general problem of suffering. The book has been both praised and criticized for its therapeutic approach to philosophy.
