Botton Alain: Utjehe filozofije

Alain de Botton: The Consolations of Philosophy

The book by Alain de Botton, a popular philosophical author and philosophy lecturer at the University of London, is a typical example of the so-called easy literature on philosophy that will be despised not only by many philosophers, who hold to the dignity of their pride, but also by some non-professional admirers of names and works and sublime discipline of spirit. However, this is not an a priori lack of the book, the problems of this book and those surrounding it are of a different kind.

In six skilfully and clearly written chapters, which are well read in a pleasant but not always informative translation, de Botton breaks down the assumed common thread that connects different philosophers from different eras, whom he says "would not have anything to say to each other if they were together at a cocktail party", but would "most likely fight after a few drinks" (p. 12). Despite this not very flattering description of the philosopher, de Botton holds philosophy in high esteem. The inner thread among a few philosophers, which he talks about, connects philosophy at the same time externally with what all the normal non-philosophical world is interested in, and that is the question of what practical sense this strange human pursuit has. De Botton believes that he can single out "a small group of people who are separated by centuries and united by a loose allegiance to that vision of philosophy that the Greek etymology of the word points to (...), a group united by a common desire to say a few comforting and practical things about the causes of our greatest miseries" (ibid).

On more than two hundred pages, illustrated with motifs from the history of philosophy, general cultural history and civilization, de Botton breaks down the biographical narratives of three ancient and three modern, that is, modern philosophers — from Socrates, Epicurus and Seneca through Michel de Montaigne to Schopenhauer and Nietzsche; with quotations from works and abundant references from biographies, he finds today's life situations in which a non-philosophical layman can, as it were, in flagrante, recognize the need for a philosophy that will explain conflicts and provide comfort for different situations and feelings of an individual — for "non-acceptance", for "lack of money", for "frustrations", for "inappropriateness", for a "broken heart" and, finally, for "difficulties".