Philosophy & Great Books
Stoicism, ethics, classic books, political philosophy, consciousness and AI, and the art of living.
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This reading list brings together items from the sources selected for Philosophy & Great Books. Open each item at its original source for the complete article, episode or video. This is a selection of current coverage, not a complete archive.
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Reasons to Remain Single #animation #love #theschooloflife
The pressure to be in a relationship, and the suggestion that anyone who isn’t in one is weird and pitiable, has very bad consequences for us all, forcing people into choices they shouldn’t necessarily have to make. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/klPNs Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/B6Yz6 FURTHER READING “Anyone who lives alone and manifests no longing to be in a relationship is – in our times – almost automatically (though more or less secretly) viewed as both pitiable and deeply troubled. It’s simply not thought possible to be at once alone and normal. This sets us up for collective catastrophe, for it means that a huge number of people who have no innate wish to live with anyone else, and are at heart deeply ill-suited to doing so, are every year press-ganged and shamed into conjugal life, with disastrous results for all involved...” MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on RELATIONSHIPS in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLrelationships SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Download our App: https://goo.gl/g6MK6V Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ X: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Martin Stacey http://www.martinstacey.co.uk/ Neil Evan http://www.neilevan.com/ #TheSchoolOfLife
You Are Living in the Greatest Museum in the World
What if the everyday objects filling our homes—our toasters, sneakers, and packaging—are actually the artifacts of a future museum? Andy Warhol famously pointed out that if you lock a department store for a hundred years, it becomes a museum. Start your free Membership trial – 2,000+ articles, 1,000+ videos, 50+ courses, free for a week: https://www.theschooloflife.com/membership Yet we often reserve our awe only for historically endorsed relics while ignoring the peculiar brilliance of the present. In this film, we explore a revolution in living: learning to view our daily lives not as mundane routines, but as an extraordinary exhibition waiting to be appreciated right now. "One of the most penetrating things Andy Warhol once said was: ‘If you lock the doors of a department store for a hundred years, when you open them up again, it will be a museum.’ In other words, all those objects of everyday use - our toasters and sneakers, our tights and perfumes - will eventually speak to our successors of an era we don’t even notice ourselves living in..." 📖 Go deeper – read the full article (Members get full access): https://www.theschooloflife.com/article/you-are-living-in-the-greatest-museum-in-the-world/ ✉️ Weekly Lessons + 10% off your first order: https://www.theschooloflife.com/signup OUR COLLECTIONS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpcEwc0qydf2jSszQFSht81E https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpckOvZZ_AZjD7WM2p9-6NBv https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpeUL1vz9Su7OmeghBDgmj7X https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpeypJMHfNbJ4RAFkRtmAN3P https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpcpxBm1RoGRx4mVKNRIrKkG https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28Xmpcp7jXVszdNruKUtHZ2zuZb https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28Xmpfv2COuuJaKzy6E2n8nSMdi https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28Xmpc1qCJ6RYYh4rKNOOlKtFIK SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon Facebook: https:/
Why We Pick Difficult Partners #theschooloflife #facts #love
In theory, we're nowadays allowed to get together with pretty much anyone we like. And yet, at a psychological level, we aren't free to love just any suitable person. We have a type - and strangely and awkwardly, these types are often not those who stand a chance of making us maximally happy. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/m0DiQ Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/Gp6LI FURTHER READING “Theoretically we are free to select the kind of person we love. We might have chosen someone else. We’re not being forced into this by social convention or match-making aunts or dynastic imperatives. But in reality our choice is probably a lot less free than we imagine. Some very real constraints around whom we can love and feel properly attracted to come from a place we might not think to look: our childhoods. Our psychological history strongly predisposes us to fall for only certain types of people…” You can read more on this and other subjects here: https://goo.gl/g7D7CP MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on RELATIONSHIPS in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLrelationships SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Alexandra Balan https://www.sashaanimates.com/ https://vimeo.com/sashaanimates #TheSchoolOfLife
The Cure for Unrequited Love #animation #facts #fearofintimacy
The real cruelty of unrequited love is that we don’t get to know our beloveds well enough to find out their flaws – and therefore to lose interest in them gradually. The best cure for love is in essence: get to know them better. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/iWdtx Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/P6FFo FURTHER READING “For intense periods of our lives, we suffer the agony of unrequited love. Our sorrow is accompanied by a certainty that if only the elusive being would return our smiles, come for dinner or marry us, we would know bliss. Epochal happiness seems tantalisingly close, wholly real and yet maddeningly out of reach. At such moments, we are often counselled to try to forget the beloved. We should – given their lack of interest – try to think of something or someone else. Yet this kindness is deeply misguided. The cure for love does not lie in ceasing to think of the fugitive lover, but in learning to think more intensely and constructively about who they might really be…” You can read more on this and other subjects here: https://goo.gl/NVxJUw MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on RELATIONSHIPS in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLrelationships SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ X: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Andrew Foerster http://www.rewfoe.com/ #TheSchoolOfLife
Why We Go Cold On Our Partners #theschooloflife #animation #fearofintimacy
Going cold on our partners is often a sign not that we have stopped caring, but that we are - somewhere deep down - furious or hurt. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/ho0r2 Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/sIgLc FURTHER READING “The story of the path to coldness in love is well known. We start off full of affection for one another and then – with time – feelings fade. We start prioritising work; we check our phones while they’re speaking; we don’t especially want to hear how their day went…” MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on RELATIONSHIPS in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLrelationships SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ X: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Produced in collaboration with Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat http://tomatico.net/ #TheSchoolOfLife
What Years of Heartbreak Actually Teach Us
Relationships are profoundly complicated, but when they finally end, we often find we can summarize years of turmoil into a single, compact sentence on a Post-it note. Start your free Membership trial – 2,000+ articles, 1,000+ videos, 50+ courses, free for a week: https://www.theschooloflife.com/membership The tragedy is that while every lesson of love is simple to state, each one takes years of heartbreak and exhaustion to truly learn—and there are well over a hundred traps waiting on the syllabus. In this film, we explore the bittersweet reality of emotional education and why we secretly just want an uneducated, illiterate happiness to finally have its turn. "Relationships are hugely complicated but sometimes, when they’re over, we find that we might be able to summarise what we think the whole thing was about into pretty compact sentences. For example, we may find, to our surprise, that six years with someone is capable of being captured on something not much bigger than a post-it note like this: Never believe the promises of someone who is still working out who they are..." 📖 Go deeper – read the full article (Members get full access): https://www.theschooloflife.com/article/the-curriculum-of-love/ ✉️ Weekly Lessons + 10% off your first order: https://www.theschooloflife.com/signup OUR COLLECTIONS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpcEwc0qydf2jSszQFSht81E https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpckOvZZ_AZjD7WM2p9-6NBv https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpeUL1vz9Su7OmeghBDgmj7X https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpeypJMHfNbJ4RAFkRtmAN3P https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpcpxBm1RoGRx4mVKNRIrKkG https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28Xmpcp7jXVszdNruKUtHZ2zuZb https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28Xmpfv2COuuJaKzy6E2n8nSMdi https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28Xmpc1qCJ6RYYh4rKNOOlKtFIK SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon Facebook: https
What Is It to Be Emotionally Mature #theschooloflife #animation #facts
Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/s_nMb Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/xK6Mo FURTHER READING You can read more on this and other subjects here: https://9qq0.short.gy/j24Tal “Emotional maturity is a state few of us ever reach - or at least not for very long. But it may help us to try to lay out what some of the ingredients are so that we have an idea what we might aim for: If we were to grow into emotionally mature people, this is some of what we would have learnt how to be: - We would understand the key role of self-understanding in helping us to grow into more reliable and predictable partners, parents, friends and colleagues. Our greatest ambition would be to reach a heightened understanding of our own minds. - We would constantly be aware of not being able to complete more than a fraction of this elevated goal and would hence be deeply cautious in all our assertions and conclusions. ‘Sorry’, ‘perhaps’ and ‘maybe’ would be some of our favourite words. - We would recognise what unfaithful allies our conscious minds are for the project of self-discovery; how much of us wants to know ourselves and how very much more doesn’t want to in the least. We would be humbled by the strength of our inclinations to distraction and denial. - We would properly realise that we were going to die and would put this terrifying thought to use on a daily basis to nudge us towards greater appreciation, authenticity and focus. It would help us to say, at points, and at last, ‘no.’ - We would realise, with considerable dark humour, that we were fools. We are idiots now, we were idiots then and we will be idiots tomorrow. There are few other options for a human being. - We would shed our pride; we would realise how much we const
How to Get Out of a Despairing Mood #theschooloflife #animation #facts
In moments of despair, we may be suffering not from a failure of spirit, but a failure of imagination. The way out lies in exercising our creative capacities. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/cfnni Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/w8uJR FURTHER READING You can read more on this and other subjects here: https://bit.ly/2IvSflV “It may sound strange to locate the problem here, but some of our most despairing moods are caused by failures of the imagination. We are not merely ‘sad’; we cannot picture any better life than the agonised one we currently have. What we really mean by imagination is the power to summon up alternatives. When we are sad, we can’t imagine finding another job; we can’t imagine retraining or shifting profession. We can’t imagine not minding what the gossip says about us. We can’t imagine finding another partner and letting ourselves trust someone again. We can’t imagine getting by in a wheelchair. We can’t imagine living on a very modest budget or relocating to another country. We can’t imagine having to make a completely new set of friends…” MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on SELF in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLself SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ X: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Gabriella Marsh https://gabriellamarsh.com/ Title animation produced in collaboration with Vale Productions https://www.valeproductions.co.uk/
Why Every Couple Struggles With Closeness and Distance
In every relationship, a deep tension exists between two contrasting needs: the desire for complete togetherness and the vital necessity of separatedness. We want to merge, yet we also need our own space to think, work, and stay intact. Start your free Membership trial – 2,000+ articles, 1,000+ videos, 50+ courses, free for a week: https://www.theschooloflife.com/membership When couples run into trouble, it is often because these dual forces—like a car's accelerator and brake—are out of sync, leading to panic, distance, or acting out. In this film, we explore how to master the art of moving between closeness and autonomy without derailing the car of love. "In the life of every couple, and individual, lies a tension between two central and contrasting needs: the need for ‘togetherness’ on the one hand, for ‘separatedness’ on the other. We all want, at one level, a lot of togetherness. We want to merge bodies, to sleep tightly entwined, to share every moment, to break down the barrier between I and you: to get back to what we all had at the start, complete union with someone else..." 📖 Go deeper – read the full article (Members get full access): https://www.theschooloflife.com/article/the-challenge-of-separatedness-and-togetherness/ ✉️ Weekly Lessons + 10% off your first order: https://www.theschooloflife.com/signup OUR COLLECTIONS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpcEwc0qydf2jSszQFSht81E https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpckOvZZ_AZjD7WM2p9-6NBv https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpeUL1vz9Su7OmeghBDgmj7X https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpeypJMHfNbJ4RAFkRtmAN3P https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpcpxBm1RoGRx4mVKNRIrKkG https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28Xmpcp7jXVszdNruKUtHZ2zuZb https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28Xmpfv2COuuJaKzy6E2n8nSMdi https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28Xmpc1qCJ6RYYh4rKNOOlKtFIK SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesch
Why Heartbroken People Make the Best Lovers
When we hear a tragic dating story about an ex who betrayed or abandoned someone, our immediate reaction is pure sympathy. But there is another thought that should quietly cross our minds: this might be one of the most promising things we could ever learn about a potential partner. Start your free Membership trial – 2,000+ articles, 1,000+ videos, 50+ courses, free for a week: https://www.theschooloflife.com/membership While we rarely learn how to love from only being loved well, true heartbreak teaches us deep gratitude, responsibility, and the true value of kindness. In this film, we explore why people who have survived the journey through heartbreak often make the most understanding, attentive, and resilient partners. "When you are looking out for a partner: try to look for one who has had their heart very badly broken by one or even better two or three exes… Imagine you are on a date across the table from someone with a truly tragic story to tell. Their ex pursued them intensely for a year, proposed after six months, bought a house with them and spoke excitedly about children. Then it emerged that, from the very beginning, there had been another family..." 📖 Go deeper – read the full article (Members get full access): https://www.theschooloflife.com/article/why-heartbroken-people-make-the-best-lovers/ ✉️ Weekly Lessons + 10% off your first order: https://www.theschooloflife.com/signup OUR COLLECTIONS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpcEwc0qydf2jSszQFSht81E https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpckOvZZ_AZjD7WM2p9-6NBv https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpeUL1vz9Su7OmeghBDgmj7X https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpeypJMHfNbJ4RAFkRtmAN3P https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28XmpcpxBm1RoGRx4mVKNRIrKkG https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28Xmpcp7jXVszdNruKUtHZ2zuZb https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwxNMb28Xmpfv2COuuJaKzy6E2n8nSMdi https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwx
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