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Who We Can Love. Philosophical Meditation. Even though our minds ostensibly belong to us, we don’t always control or know what is in them.

Philosophical Meditation

There are always some ideas, bang in the middle of consciousness, that are thoroughly and immediately clear to us: for example, that we love our children. Or that we have to be out of the house by 7.40am. Or, that we are keen to have something salty to eat right now. These thoughts feel obvious without burdening us with uncertainty or any requirement that we reflect harder on them. But a host of other ideas tend to hover in a far more unfocused state. Unfocused thoughts are constantly orbiting our minds, but from where we are, from the observatory of our conscious selves (as it were), we can’t grasp them distinctly. There is one response to dealing with our minds that has become immensely popular in the West in recent years. Eastern Meditation: the mind being emptied of its confused content Western Meditation: the mind’s confused objects being brought into focus 1. 2. 3.

The School of Life - Developing Emotional Intelligence. Know Yourself Prompt Cards These cards are designed to assist us in a journey of self-knowledge; they present us with a range of ideas and questions that can help us to understand ourselves better. £10 Gift E-Voucher An original gift, delivered instantly by email.

The School of Life - Developing Emotional Intelligence

This electronic voucher can be used across any of our London events or spent in The School of Life online or London shops. £25, £50 or £100. Writing as Therapy Journals Writing is ultimately the task of discovering and developing what we think. There could hardly be a more important personal goal. £15 each. Suicide. On Feeling Melancholy. Honest Communication. How Will We Die? Aristotle and Tragedy. Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) Plato’s Allegory of the Cave - Alex Gendler. Want to read the Allegory of the Cave in its complete format?

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave - Alex Gendler

Go to this site and get started. To better understand the allegory’s larger context, try reading the rest of The Republic by Plato and these classic lectures. Then, check out this modern scientific interpretation of what it tells us about human knowledge. Want to see two different visual representations of this allegory? Watch this version of Plato’s allegory in clay animation or this one narrated by Orson Wells! You may also want to read a summary of the Theory of Forms and how it relates to language. Interested in comparing Plato’s Allegory of the Cave to a real-life issue such as alcohol and addiction? PHILOSOPHY - Epicurus. PHILOSOPHY - The Stoics. PHILOSOPHY - Aristotle. PHILOSOPHY - Plato. EASTERN PHILOSOPHY - Confucius. EASTERN PHILOSOPHY - Lao Tzu. EASTERN PHILOSOPHY - The Buddha.

EASTERN PHILOSOPHY - Rikyu. POLITICAL THEORY - Marx. PHILOSOPHY - Nietzsche. PHILOSOPHY - Sartre. PHILOSOPHY - Montaigne. PHILOSOPHY - Augustine. The School of Life. Are You Romantic or Classical? SOCIOLOGY - Max Weber. Against Philanthropy. How to Find Fulfilling Work. The Dangers of Being Too Defensive. How to become a better person. Memento Mori. PSYCHOTHERAPY - Anna Freud. Status Anxiety. How to Defuse an Argument. On the Dangers of the Internet. Views: 4064 Over the past century, technologies have completely changed the way we connect with each other.

On the Dangers of the Internet

The benefits of the internet are obvious and all around us. But the risks and dangers are more subterranean. Here are two videos that consider why we need to start taking digital sabbaths and remember what it is to be bored again: The news is the best distraction ever invented. On Resolutions. Views: 1770 Any occasion to improve ourselves should be seized upon.

On Resolutions

We need resolutions: they are promises we make to our better selves. In the future, we should try to worry less, forgive more, look at things through other people’s eyes and, most of all, learn to appreciate what we have. What is Philosophy for? A Film. From a distance, philosophy seems weird, irrelevant, boring – and yet also just a little intriguing.

What is Philosophy for? A Film

But what are philosophers really for? The answer is helpfully already contained in the word ‘philosophy’ itself: in Ancient Greek, philo means love and sophia means wisdom. Philosophers are people who are devoted to wisdom. Being wise means attempting to live – and die – well. In the pursuit of wisdom, philosophers have developed a very specific skill set: they have over the centuries become experts in many of the things that make people not very wise. 1. There are lots of big questions around: What’s the meaning of life? 2. Public opinion, or what gets called ‘common sense’, is sensible and reasonable in countless areas. Philippa Perry on How to Stay Sane in The School of Life. The School of Life - How to find Fulfilling Work.