The Consolations of Philosophy book club questions

1. 1.

   De Botton pairs each philosopher with a specific kind of suffering. Which pairing do you find most and least convincing?

2. 2.

   Epicurus taught that friendship and modest circumstances produce more happiness than wealth. Does the evidence of your own life support or complicate that?

3. 3.

   Seneca's premeditatio malorum — mentally rehearsing what could go wrong — is framed as consolation for frustration. Does anticipating failure tend to reduce your suffering from it, or does it produce different anxieties?

4. 4.

   Montaigne's project was an honest account of his own ordinariness and imperfection. Is that kind of radical intellectual honesty rare? What makes it difficult?

5. 5.

   Academic philosophers often criticize de Botton's simplifications. Does it matter for the book's purposes whether the readings are scholarly accurate?

6. 6.

   The book argues that philosophy should be useful for ordinary suffering. Which philosophical tradition do you already draw on, consciously or not, in difficult situations?

7. 7.

   Nietzsche's amor fati is a difficult idea: loving not just accepting, but actively loving what is difficult. Is that psychologically realistic or a useful aspiration?

8. 8.

   De Botton chose six philosophers and six specific problems. What kind of suffering do you think is missing from his list, and which philosopher might have addressed it?

9. 9.

   The book's form — illustrated, essayistic, accessible — has been criticized as philosophy-lite. What is the relationship between accessibility and depth in writing about ideas?

10. 10.

    Socrates was executed for teaching his method. De Botton uses that as evidence that unpopularity does not indicate error. Is that a good argument, or a comforting one that happens not to be valid?

11. 11.

    Which of the six philosophers, as de Botton presents them, has most influenced how you already think, and which seems most foreign to your natural disposition?

How to run the discussion

• Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
• Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
• Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
• Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.