The Ideas of Socrates
[10:55] In this lecture we examine the ideas of Socrates. We look at his exhortation to ‘care for your soul’…
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Steven Pinker and Rebecca Newberger Goldstein: The long reach of reason
[15:23] Here’s a TED first: an animated Socratic dialog! In a time when irrationality seems to rule both politic…
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A Guide to Happiness – Seneca on Anger
[24:14] A practical guide to adopting the principles of the Roman philosopher Lucious Annaeus Seneca (4BC — 65A…
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A Guide to Happiness – Epicurus on Happiness
[23:59] Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus (341-270 BC) advocated “friends, freedom and thought” as t…
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A Guide to Happiness – Nietzsche on Hardship
[24:02] Alain de Botton explores Friedrich Nietzsche’s (1844-1900) dictum that any worthwhile achievements …
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A Guide to Happiness – Schopenhauer on Love
[24:06] A survey of the 19th century German thinker Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) who believed that love was the mos…
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A Guide to Happiness – Montaigne on Self-Esteem
[24:13] Alain de Botton discusses the issue of low self-esteem from the perspective of the French thinker Michel de Mon…
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A Guide to Happiness: Socrates on Self-Confidence
[24:13] Alain de Botton shows how the ancient Athenian philosopher Socrates (470-399 BC) can help us acquire all the se…
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Metaphysics: Ship of Theseus
[8:06] Jennifer Wang (Stanford University) introduces us to a puzzle that has bedeviled philosophy since the ancient …
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Stephen Fry: The Importance of Unbelief
[14:26] If you assume there’s no afterlife, Stephen Fry says, you’ll likely have a fuller, more interest…
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