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Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations
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Product Description
Review
"A brilliant and timely book" --Tom Hodgkinson, author of How to Be Free
"Great insight, honesty and humour..."--Louise Chunn, editor, Psychologies Magazine
"Unputdownable!"--Kristjan Kristjansson, author of Aristotle, Emotions and Education
"Packed with wisdom yet up to date with the latest thinking"--Tom Butler-Bowdon, author of 50 Philosophy Classics
"Great insight, honesty and humour..."--Louise Chunn, editor, Psychologies Magazine
"Unputdownable!"--Kristjan Kristjansson, author of Aristotle, Emotions and Education
"Packed with wisdom yet up to date with the latest thinking"--Tom Butler-Bowdon, author of 50 Philosophy Classics
Book Description
A dynamic guide to philosophy for everyday life - using key ideas to live well and happily
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Excellent book on philosophy as an everyday tool - an invitation to a real "dream academy"
10 May 2012
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book sets out to teach you things you certainly aren't likely to have been taught at school, or at university for that matter. It draws on the ideas of a dozen thinkers: Socrates, Epictetus, Musonius Rufus, Seneca, Epicurus, Heraclitus, Pythagoras, the Sceptics (treated as if one person - the original one was Pyrrho), Diogenes, Plato, Plutarch and Aristotle.
Evans says the aim is to convey "what it would be like to get a day-pass to the School of Athens". Rather than merely being dry and academic, this book constantly shows an awareness of how philosophy can be brought to bear on everyday situations. Evans has interviewed all manner of people (astronauts, soldiers, the politician Rory Stewart) and profiled plenty of others - such as a Chicago firefighter who gives classes in Stoic resilience - to see where philosophy fits (or can fit) into their lives.
The book is appealingly structured like a day's lessons or tutorials. The writing is fresh and thoughtful, pretty accessible, largely unpretentious and of a genuinely practical kind. This reminds me of Alain de Botton's Consolations of Philosophy, except that it has a much keener sense of philosophy's place and utility in the real world.
As a primer in Greek philosophy, the book works well, but is a good deal more than that - a wise, honest, original and helpful guide, which provides ample food for thought and has inspired me to do further reading (about which Evans provides a handy guide at the end of the book).
Highly recommended.
Evans says the aim is to convey "what it would be like to get a day-pass to the School of Athens". Rather than merely being dry and academic, this book constantly shows an awareness of how philosophy can be brought to bear on everyday situations. Evans has interviewed all manner of people (astronauts, soldiers, the politician Rory Stewart) and profiled plenty of others - such as a Chicago firefighter who gives classes in Stoic resilience - to see where philosophy fits (or can fit) into their lives.
The book is appealingly structured like a day's lessons or tutorials. The writing is fresh and thoughtful, pretty accessible, largely unpretentious and of a genuinely practical kind. This reminds me of Alain de Botton's Consolations of Philosophy, except that it has a much keener sense of philosophy's place and utility in the real world.
As a primer in Greek philosophy, the book works well, but is a good deal more than that - a wise, honest, original and helpful guide, which provides ample food for thought and has inspired me to do further reading (about which Evans provides a handy guide at the end of the book).
Highly recommended.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Really enjoyable and engagingly written primer on what philosophy can practically teach us today. Personal and honest - made me both think and smile.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a wise, humane and often inspirational book. Though it tackles big and difficult questions - why are we here? how can we be happy? - it does so in such a clear and engaging way that it's always enjoyable and often gripping reading. Evans's subject is ancient Greek philosophy, but what he seeks in this philosophy isn't abstract truth but a practical, useful "medicine for the soul" that can help people exert more control over their emotions, feel better about themselves and lead happier and more flourishing lives. He shows that the central tenets of Greek moral philosophy - that we can know ourselves, change ourselves and establish better, healthier habits of thinking and acting - now form the basis of modern Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and in a series of compelling interviews threaded through the book he talks to people around the world of very different backgrounds whose lives were changed by an encounter with a particular philosopher or set of ideas. The book is organized as a series of lessons on the major Greek philosophers, and I think most readers will find Evans a congenial and stimulating instructor. I learned a great deal from it - it made me think hard about the way I live my life and what I could do to make myself a happier, saner person. Highly recommended!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A superbly readable introduction to ancient philosophy as a way of...
Jules has written a superb introduction to practical philosophy. This book is perhaps quite unique, although it's written in a very accessible style. Read more
Published 17 hours ago by Donald Robertson
Enlightening
Having never delved into Philosophy, I found this to be an illuminating and lucid introduction into the many schools of thought founded by the ancients. Read more
Published 1 day ago by Dan
Wonderful overview of Greek Philosophy and its direct relevance for...
It is a rare achievement to write so clearly, directly and simply about what can be perceived as difficult or challenging concepts. Read more
Published 10 days ago by Roger Bull
Entertaining and thought-provoking
This book offers a good introduction for readers who are interested in practical philosophy. Ancient philosophies offer a way to approach questions that matter.
Published 26 days ago by Steven Leysen
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