Alain de Botton

Alain de Botton is a Swiss-born British philosopher and author. His books include Essays in Love (1993), How Proust Can Change Your Life (1997), Status Anxiety (2004) and The Architecture of Happiness (2006). He is also co-founder of The School of Life and a winner of "The Fellowship of Schopenhauer" annual writers' award.

On the consolations of philosophy

In 2002, Unesco declared the third Thursday of every November as World Philosophy Day, to celebrate "the enduring value of philosophy for the development of human thought, for each culture and for each individual". In celebrating the day, which falls on November 15 this year, In Focus publishes some excerpts from Alain de Botton's The Consolations of Philosophy, published in 2000, which examines everyday problems of our lives, and through the teachings of philosophers ranging from Socrates to Nietzsche, offers insight and understanding to the reader.

11 November 2018, 18:00 PM