060429-2

이 사람 책을 읽어보지 않았는데, 라디오서 그가 썼다는 책 이야기가 나온다. 느긋하고 흥미로운 마음에 찾아보다 재미있는게 있다. :) Alain de Botton이라는 작가가 꽤 인기가 있구나. 이 젊은 작가-철학가의 번역이 제법 많이 되어있는걸. 그러고보니 현대외국소설과 너무 떨어져 지내는 건 아닌지.. 원. 앞의 링크에 걸려있는 것이지만... 뭐 어때...

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Alain de Botton joined us after Philosophy for some deep thinking...

Alain de Botton : Thanks very much for coming and hello everybody!

Chat Ed : Hello Alain ! Right... you seem to have some female admirers here... :)

Malarky : welcome alain *snog* Ribena Gurl : I want to ask alain if he's too deep a thinker to get involved in the everyday hassle of a relationship. If not *hello*!

Alain de Botton : I think like Socrates you can be grounded in everday life and do some philosophy so yes! Alain de Botton laughs at Malarky

Malarky : u is gorge alain

Alain de Botton : Ooooo I say! Alain de Botton laughs Alain de Botton : I feel this isn't very philosophical!!! Alain de Botton : heheh

Chat Ed : And now for something more serious. Graeme Payne : The programme is billed as 'A Guide To Happiness' - what solace can Alain offer to those suffering from depression?

Alain de Botton : Well I think clinical depression wouldn't neceassrily be solved by the 6 philosophers I look at in the series. But for everyday despair a lot of the philosphers have very nice things to say. Often what's nice about them is that they are quite pessimistic - in a way that cheers you up. Seneca for example 'What need is there to weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears'.

Chat Ed : Blimey. Nick McKay : Hi Alain. Any philosophers have any thing on how to deal with parental aspirations for your career and life?

Alain de Botton : Erm let me see, probably Socrates. He asks you to challenge the dominant views of what a good life is. He asks us to ask lots of questions and at the end of that process we might realise that our idea of a good career and life is quite different of that which we pick up in the pages of the Daily Telegraph or The Guardian.

hilary : why was Socrates accused of corrupting the youth of athens?

Alain de Botton : Because he hung out with a lot of young people who began to imitate his questionning methods and to annoy their parents - as a result he was hauled up on it.

psbateson : i wish to congratulate you on excellent series

Alain de Botton : Thank you.

ed : You mentioned being shy, has philosophy helped you ?

Alain de Botton : No, but making a TV programme has! There's nothing like being made to drive a motorbike through a flock of sheep to help you over any kind of reserve.

Stuart : Alain I think the content and the style of the show is just right to get people questioning. I am sure you will have lit a gentle fire in a few bellies Natalie Dee : I have started reading your book and find the whole concept of philosophical thought as interpreted by you far more interesting and understandable than I ever did at University. How did you come to interpret these ideas in such layman language?

Alain de Botton : Basically by forgetting everything I had ever been taught at University. Anyone who likes the series or the book that goes with it would strongly be advised not to enroll in a Philosophy degree.

hatman : I heard that since logical posivitism that phillosophy had been reduced to the meaning of language. Do you agree?

Alain de Botton : Philosophy should have room for a lot of activities. Many philosophers spend their time analysing language, but there should also be times to analyse relationships, career, death, children, as I and many other philosophers have been looking at.

Helena : I am going to be doing philosophy at Cambridge next term and I enjoyed your programme , what should I do now?

Alain de Botton : Set your expectations low! There's lots to enjoy from going to Cambridge, but most of these things are not the actual course.

baba : Please tell me the name of your book.

Alain de Botton : The Consellations of Philosophy. A bargain 7 quid at Amazon.co.uk!!!! (even Philosophers need to live!!!)

Chat Ed lols darren carter : Mr Botton were you aware that by beaming out and manipulating certain frequences you can create mind control, and brainwashing, this negates the concept of free thinking.

Alain de Botton : Me and Channel 4 are intending to take over the world!

selfish : lol

Alain de Botton : So, your paranoid suspicions are completely correct!

frescoflyer : I am currently reading a book called 'The Feeling Good Handbook' by David D Burns, M.D. His opinion is that self-esteem / happiness etc can be achived through Cognitive Behavioural Techniques (CBT). Have your read this book and what is your opinion of CBT

Alain de Botton : Never heard of it, sounds interesting, I'll look into it.

peter : It seems that wisdom can extract a high price , but it must be tried. Or must it?

Alain de Botton : I think we all try to be wise with varying degrees of success. But as Socrates thought, true wisdom is knowing just how little you know or understand.

Anna Greenwood : Can ignorance REALLY ever be bliss?

Alain de Botton : No of course not. Most of us start thinking because we run into problems. There's nothing like being sacked or dumped in a relationship to make philosophers of us!

Cristina : Alain, I read your book 'Essays in love' and I loved it, i think your mix of a love story with philosophy is perfect... Congratulations skunc : Alain - I just watched the programme on Socrates and i was fascinated. I am 18 and i have always believed that the unexamined life is not worth living, i have also always believed in following my own decisions. For this i am often accused of being arrogant! If i listen to the opinions of those i respect, yet still follow my own decision which differs from any suggestions i am offered, am i arrogant?

Alain de Botton : To Christina, thanks and to everyone else you can also get that on Amazon.

Chat Ed chuckles

Alain de Botton : Skunc - don't worry about being thought arrogant.

Zparki : what prompted you to do this program?

Alain de Botton : My friend Neil the producer who I met at a aprty - and he said 'Fancy turning your book into a TV programme?' He said, 'You'll be mobbed once it goes out on air!' Sadly, this hasn't happened! Although, I have been called the Naked Philosopher!

Peter Cooper : I feel I must congratulate you on the C4 series and your book, 'Consolations ...'. I was particularly impressed by your courage to 'expose' yourself. The trip with L, your weeping, like my own, when thinking on the death of Scorates, shades of Montaigne perhaps? I am in the 4 quartile of my life and still have unresolved questions. It's thanks to your scholarship, your search for the rightness of things that so impressed me. I would be proud to call you friend. Best wishes, Peter.

pjmcg : Nice programme Alain - What question do you not want to be asked?

Alain de Botton : So many... Someone's asking me whether a wig would help me - now that's a tough question!!! Two out of the six philosophers in the programme were bald so I feel I am in good company.

Danoclese : I would like to ask Alain - is there an easy way to live a 'perfect' life? We may not be able to change the world but ultimately over time we can learn by being aware and thinking. Is there any one book (other than yours) with the answers?

Alain de Botton : Well the books of the Philosophers I discuss are pretty good. Read Montaigne's essays.

airwaves : In one program you mentioned self-image and eating disorders. What can philosopy offer someone with such a severe illness?

Alain de Botton : Montaigne tells us to accept our bodies. He tells us, 'Even Kings and Philosophers shit - and so do ladies'.

jamesmasters : Do you feel there is a lack of philosophy in Britain's schools?

Alain de Botton : I know there is. No-one is taught philosophy at school, maybe they should be but it would probably be the wrong kind - the boring kind. So maybe it's best if people just discover it for themselves.

Grimyglass : How about anxiety, agoraphobia, panic? Can you panic and be a philosopher?

Alain de Botton : Yes, anxiety is all part of the rollercoaster of life. Another quote from Montaigne, 'We are partly wise and partly mad'.

Stevo : Alain - Can philosophy ever really hope to find definitive 'answers'?

Alain de Botton : No, but asking questions is good enough.

Brian : Are you planning another series?

Alain de Botton : If Channel 4 will allow me. Please write to Tim Gardam and ask him to give me a cookery show - he's the boss!

Gurchat : Is Montaigne the most relevant philosopher for you personally?

Alain de Botton : He certainly is the nicest Philosopher to hang out with, but, I love all of them equally.

Anvil : have you ever asked the world to stop so you can get off?

Alain de Botton : Er.. no! Alain de Botton laughs

Malarky : have you been stopped in the street and asked deep questions?

Alain de Botton : I've never been stopped in the street but i wouldn't mind! I've only ever been canvassed by polling organisations or charities. Street philosophy is a good idea.

frescoflyer : Alain, simple question, harder to answer! 'What is the meaning of life?'

Alain de Botton : It doesn't fit on a mug.

random1470 : Forty-two!

Alain de Botton : I think you are really saying how can you be happy and happiness is like the sea, many rivers feed into it.

pete : How do you feel about death ?

Alain de Botton : Not great! Still coming to terms with it. I'm not yet ready to take it as well as Socrates or Seneca.

Doctor humilis : Do you think Socrates' criticisms of democracy hold any water today?

Alain de Botton : Sometimes it's clear that the majority view isn't exactly correct. There is majority support for the death penalty for example.

henry : Do you think that Socrates was really Plato in disguise?

Alain de Botton : Er... we'll never know!

jason palmer : would you rather be happy than right ?

Alain de Botton : You can be happy taking drugs and drinking a lot but the problem is that that kind of happiness is out of tune with reality and you tend to end up with a bad hang-over or worse!

pivot : alan- are you religous, atheist or agnostic?

Alain de Botton : Agnostic.

skunc : alain... we were just discussing the sexual potency that a deep thinker projects. do you find a curious personality attractive?

Alain de Botton : Why are you so curious? Maybe...

Ribena Gurl : I'M CURIOUS!

lain de Botton : We could drink Ribena together!!! Though I prefer orange juice.

Anvil : What do you feel the practical uses of subliminal messages are?

Alain de Botton : No use.

AndyG : What do you think of classical Chinese philosophy?

Alain de Botton : I'm woefully ill-read in classical Chinese philosophy so I'd rather not comment.

edouard88 : i am a member of mensa, but find that modern life seems to have little use for high intelligence. i am bored.

Alain de Botton : You can do a lot else with people other than have intelligent conversations with them.

Cristina : What do you think being a good person means?

Alain de Botton : Trying not to hurt other people if you possibly can. Picking up the bill sometimes.

Russell : Do you find philosphers contradictory or do you believe that there are common threads which most philosophers agree on

Alain de Botton : If you put them all in a room I'm sure the conversation would be lively but there is surprising similarities in the views of the 6 Philosophers I looked at.

Peter Nicholson : Philosophy doesn't lead to an obvious career (which pays money). Any ideas?

Alain de Botton : Try to make a TV show! A job which leaves you time in the evening, or a very very cheap and simple life in the countryside growing your own vegetables.

simonparker : alain - will originality exist in the 21st century?

Alain de Botton : Yes.

Cristina : What is your view on beauty?

Alain de Botton : It's in the eye of the beholder. The people I find beautiful are not to everyone's tastes.

Martin Hall : Aren't there any well-known female philosophers?

Alain de Botton : Women are on the whole far too wise to be philosophers! You have to be pretty derranged to want to be a philosopher!

John de Botton : Did you become bald by scratching your head too much?

Alain de Botton : I think your name is made up!

UJK_JediBob1 : lol

Alain de Botton : But, to answer your question I think I began to scrath my head and think because I was going bald. As I said before, great disasters are a great way to start thinking.

Ribena Gurl : I think it's good that people like you, the lovely Alain, are trying to enlighten *ordinary* people about thought provoking issues. Was that sentence too long??

Alain de Botton : Thank you Ribena Gurl - you are as lovely as the drink!

Chat Ed : Fabulous. Thankyou Alain, that was very enjoyable! Baz : Thanks Alain Malarky : bye alain *snog* Owen : Cheers random1470 : So little time; but I enjoyed it! Thanks!

Alain de Botton : Sorry for all the people I didn't get a chance to answer. Remember to tune in next week and buy the book!

Cristina : bye Alain, Congratulations on the series Michael Campbell : okidoke Gurchat : Make a new series please pjmcg : cheers Alain - look forward to the next episode Cristina : bye Alain, Congratulations on the series Michael Campbell : okidoke Gurchat : Make a new series please

Alain de Botton leaves the room

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