In the following month, I will review The Consolations of Philosophy, by Alain de Botton.

From the author’s perspective, one of the tasks of philosophy is to shed light on how to lead a peaceful life, especially when our wishes collide with reality. The book is categorized by 6 life problems: unpopularity, not having enough money, frustration, inadequacy, a broken heart, and difficulties, and the author endeavors to present us soul-touching, yet reasonable consolations by revisiting the works and life experiences of the great philosophers in western history. Each life problem mentioned above will be the weekly topic of my following writings.

  Two reasons for choosing this book: (1) these nagging problems seem to be personal and trivial, yet in nature fundamental and external; (2) the related philosophical thoughts are valuable, because we all need self-justification from time to time.

Philosophy alone, however, will not suffice: Though it is always on values and meanings, it seldom empirically tells us what something is and how to do. On the same life problems, I am going to add other perspectives. My purpose is to give you a broader view and to address the issues of “what and how” at the same time.

A few words at last: We are living in an age when attention and patience are of severe scarcity and it is the modern industrialization that we are to blame. Therefore, I strive to keep my following writings short, easy-to-read, quick-to-retrieve, and free of jargons. I signed up an online psychology course on Coursera, so in addition to the book reviews, I want to share things I’m to learn with you in the future. Hope you enjoy them.