“There is no profit in philosophy when it doesn’t expel the sufferings of the mind,” claimed Epicurus. Some 2,300 years later, plenty of people still agree, most notably Alain de Botton, who in 2000 splashed this quote on the back cover of his book The Consolations of Philosophy. But when I hear this line trotted out, far from soothing my psyche, it provokes a dangerous surge in my blood pressure.
ReadSUMMER NIGHTS – BBC RADIO 4, 23 AUGUST. Discussing “Do We Fear Boredom?” with host Giles Fraser, Naomi Alderman, Camila[…]
ReadDelayed gratification is a Janus-faced virtue, used both as a tactic by hedonists to maximise pleasure and a strategy by ascetics to minimise it…
ReadRunning away is sometimes exactly the right thing to do, and it can take courage to leave the familiar behind and go in search of something more uncertain, more unknown. Perhaps the taunt hurled at the ignoble knight Sir Robin – “He bravely ran away” – is not such an oxymoron after all.
ReadCompassion may be more at home in the corporate world than is commonly expected. It’s true that businesses can be more concerned with looking good than doing good. But when you have to answer to stakeholders, there is at least some pressure to show not just that you take the welfare of others seriously, but that you are actually doing something constructive about it and not merely wasting resources on empty gestures.
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