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Philosophy For Life

And Other Dangerous Situations

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Philosophy For Life

By: Jules Evans
Narrated by: John Voce
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About this listen

This audiobook is an invitation to a dream school with a faculty that includes 12 of the greatest philosophers from the ancient world, sharing their lessons in happiness, resilience and much more. Discover how soldiers, psychologists, gangsters, astronauts, anarchists and others use these ideas today. Lively and powerful, this is philosophy for the street, for the workplace, for the battlefield, for love, for life.

©2012 Jules Evans (P)2020 Bolinda Publishing Philosophy Society Stoicism Morality

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Critic reviews

"Instructive and thought-provoking...shows philosophy is not just for stuffy classrooms." (Financial Times)

"This wonderful book shows how modern psychology is consistent with the best that was thought and known in the Ancient World...also beautifully written." (Lord Richard Layard, author)

"An important book, because it reminds us philosophy is not just about analysis. It's also about the good life." (Matthew Syed, Times books of the year)
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First half of the book was really interesting but I struggled to keep with the second half

First half really interesting

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Thoroughly enjoyable and packed with insightful history. Well performed but found it difficult to really lose myself in it. It’s a book I will come back to but a little too academic I feel as an audio book.

A fantastic summary and comparison of ancient philosophy

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Good early chapters, then the 2nd half was less interesting as became a little too deep for me.

Short and straightforward examples

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This book was an absolute delight to read. It strikes the perfect balance between history, personal reflection, real-life case studies, humor, and contemporary insights. What I found most inspiring was how it fueled my curiosity, offering not just knowledge but also practical avenues for further exploration. Whether through joining local communities or diving into rich online resources, this book opened up new pathways for lifelong learning. Engaging, insightful, and thought-provoking, it’s a must-read for anyone eager to grow their understanding and stay intellectually curious.

A good place to start.

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Really interesting and fascinating book gives you a lot of food for thoughts in some inspiring things to look at and understand well narrated and engaging

Interesting book

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As this book was referenced by Ade Edmondson in his autobiography, I thought I would give it a try.
If you are looking for a self help book, look elsewhere.
The guy clearly knows about the ancient Greek philosophers, but he just delivered a stream of references to them and their works with only the occasional reference to modern application.

Disappointed.

Not what I expected

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This is an absolutely brilliant premise and a great whistle-stop tour of philosophy, philosophers and doctrines and fitting those into modern life and the issues we face today.

It's a massive undertaking to tackle such a broad subject and it's set out well.

That said, I had mixed feelings about this book at points. The author did not take a consistently unbiased stance and, at points, use of language such as "claptrap" hinted at his predilections. Although at other points he would appear open to and neutrally describe ideas that I found quite extreme.

As such, I swung from violently agreeing with the author, to disagreeing depending on his lack of neutrality and my own.

For instance, I felt the author was dismissive about 'new age' ideas, and yet surely there is a Venn diagram where the new age and the philosophical naturally overlap? ('There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy')

I think I will read this again and again as there is a lot to digest. It's well written, amusing and clever and, for me, a good starting point to work out which philosophy might be worth a deeper look. I wish this had existed when I studied philosophy at uni!

Whistle stop tour of philosophy

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I found out about this book while listening to Adrian Edmondson’s autobiography.

And I’m glad I listened, as someone who struggles with their own thoughts sometimes. Control, self loathing, anxiety to name a few. I found this book very interesting and helpful. I’m now beginning to look into certain philosophers I resonate with myself to help with my own quirks.

And as a father to a child with autism & PDA, I’m hoping as they get older and begin to understand their emotions more I can help them via the teachings of certain philosophers.

Makes you think.

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Did not know what to expect. The book is educational, thought provoking and entertaining. I purchased the hardback as well. This allows me to dip in and out.

Great listen

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