An Evening with Alain de Botton

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9 жыл бұрын

Few thinkers have succeeded in bringing the world of ideas beyond the ivory tower with such clarity and grace as Alain de Botton. In an event that extends one of the Wheeler Centre chief themes for the year, de Botton brings his light touch and intellectual pirouettes to religion. In his only Melbourne appearance, he discusses the provocative ideas in his latest book, Religion for Atheists, arguing why atheists and agnostics should stop mocking religions and steal from them instead.
De Botton begins his presentation by framing the central purpose of his argument - which is to address how one can live a good life having eschewed the structures and values of religion. It’s a question that he contends most secular societies are still grappling with.
He explains his belief that atheists can treat religions like a buffet of ideas to be picked and chosen from, before taking his audience on a tour of this buffet. De Botton then, in sequence, considers education, the arrangement of time, rituals (‘an outer event that is aiming to facilitate an inner change’), oration and aesthetics.
De Botton contemplates secular notions of what art should be and compares it to religious art, which stylises and delivers messages. In doing so, he notes the conflicted understanding of art in contemporary society, wherein it is considered important without a clear sense of the basis of that importance.
He declares no problem with propaganda - as long as it’s used to say ‘nice things’ - before adding to his plate religions' approaches to architecture, organisation and collectivity and the functions of gathering.
Joined by facilitator Michael Williams for audience questions, de Botton shares his views on paganism and indigenous cultures and how to deal with the failures of religion as seen frequently in newspaper headlines around the world.
By de Botton’s account, atheism is as prone to factions and fundamentalism as religions can be, as he recalls being told he can ‘no longer be an atheist’ due to what he characterises as his ‘soft’ atheistic beliefs.
Continuing, de Botton answers further questions about sport fanaticism, how to pursue a love of excellence in culture whilst remaining egalitarian, various religious personality types and his thoughts on rock music and lyrics. (The philosopher is apparently unfamiliar with the Christian Rock genre.)
He closes the hour by explaining that religion, rather than his central concern, is but one ‘resource’ of many; each and all ripe for exploration in his search for ways to assist ‘the individual who lives and suffers and dies’.
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Пікірлер: 79

@beldonhuang Жыл бұрын

Alain de Botton, such an amazing, hilarious man and, arguably, one of the greatest philosophers of our times

@tracesprite6078 Жыл бұрын

What a terrific talk! I love those ideas about hosting people so they have a way of meeting each other.

@rudyardharrison4177 2 жыл бұрын

Hard to express my appreciation of Alain's contribution to society. Thank you dear friend! Your starting point in life is mine too.

@avafan8219 7 жыл бұрын

Brilliant guy who is also talented in his ability to communicate his ideas.

@natyspaghettighetti6726 7 жыл бұрын

this was a pleasure, thanks so much for the upload!

@mdn4937 2 жыл бұрын

Man what a great speaker

@gryphon8483 5 жыл бұрын

Excellent! An independent thinker who unapologetically communicates very useful ideas and is hilarious and engaging to boot. Eagerly awaiting the follow up: Atheism for Christians.

@pushthetempo2 5 жыл бұрын

Alain is spot on with his observations as always!

@estherwiskel6550 3 жыл бұрын

Best presentation with intellectual/credibility, and honest conviction 👏👏👏good application to be full-blast in the media👏👏✔️

@tomasfay139 6 жыл бұрын

First atheist I’ve heard make any sense on religion. Great talk, thank you

@Ghrainne 3 жыл бұрын

obviously, you do not like people who see the deficits and horrors of what religion is responsible for. LOL You are funny

@tomasfay139 3 жыл бұрын

@@Ghrainne as humans we are pretty deficient and horrific History will show you. We are the darkness, but we're also the light. Fact remains all human are religious one way or the other🙏👍

@herbieshine1312 3 жыл бұрын

@@tomasfay139 please can you give your reasons for your assertion that "all humans are religious one way or another" I can assure you you are wrong. I'd like to know how you have come to the conclusion

@teresajohnson1352 3 жыл бұрын

SUPERB MAN!!!!

@mf-h3659 9 жыл бұрын

Ive watched most of de Botton's talks on youtube - i love the guy. One thing he's got right down is the repetition part - all his talks are the same!

@bolivar1789 9 жыл бұрын

Martin Houlden Oh Martin please:-) If a band goes on tour they sing the same songs in every city too. Nobody complains about that:-) So if he is talking about his latest book, or about a particular subject on which his opinions are asked , he has to repeat the ideas he is trying to spread in every city too. We should rather praise his energy and his will to help people!! Besides he is probably the most versatile philosopher we have in the world today. If you wish, when you have some time just check his youtube channel The School of Life. They have lessons about everything you can imagine! All of them are written by Alain. Best wishes to you.

@mf-h3659 9 жыл бұрын

***** i love the guy! I was just having a little joke :)

@bolivar1789 9 жыл бұрын

Martin Houlden I understand:-) Thank you for reading and writing back. All the best!

@MIOLAZARUS 8 жыл бұрын

+Martin Houlden Hahahaha XD

@SooperToober 5 жыл бұрын

Hehehehe repetition is the bastard child of creativity - love Alain at his repetitive best! 🥰

@cassieoz1702 3 жыл бұрын

He's clearly much appreciated in Australia. See the lectures out of Sydney Opera House too.

@mentorman6285 6 жыл бұрын

That Introduction was great William thank you

@cantastorie1848 5 жыл бұрын

Great!

@liliane1240 4 жыл бұрын

Marvellous

@jennyjohnson5428 6 жыл бұрын

i love this maniac

@johannessmith2777 3 жыл бұрын

Likewise

@susanrichard1653 3 жыл бұрын

I am so grateful not to be cruel and hateful. You are toxic human being

@diggerby126 7 жыл бұрын

Loved this. Alain is a wonderfully engaging speaker with some excellent insights. Matter of opinion whether or not God exists, but I do know Peter Gabriel had nothing to do with Trick of the Tail, that was Collins.

@user-dl3oc7sb5s 4 жыл бұрын

Fantastic 😃

@tomokilabruce4853 8 ай бұрын

Wow!...

@anuvydehi 8 жыл бұрын

He really is something! This is a more leisure version of his 'Ted talk Atheism 2.0', and it's as wonderful. Repetition is good for me too anyway, right ; )?

@ThuyLuu-yw6fo 8 жыл бұрын

+Anu Vydehi He just got the best bit from the religions'buffet: Repetition.

@shuyixie5042 4 жыл бұрын

The very important he stressed in the talk is repetition. I was told to repeat things I find important or things I have to learn all the time if I want to bear them by heart. However I didn't take the idea until now. Alian had put it in a very convincing way for some reasons.

@lawrence18uk 4 жыл бұрын

42:56 "I think that Religions are far too complex, wise, interesting, full of richness, to be abandoned simply to those who happen to believe in them. That would seem a real shame. They are for all of us, especially for the non-believers, like myself, among us." :-D

@goodgrief888 Жыл бұрын

I’ve always said “I’m not spiritual, but I am religious.” I think that those of us who were born without the spiritual gene in our bodies can get a lot out of religious practice. I used to love going to Catholic mass and was perfectly fine with attending all of the catechism classes before the Catholic Church decided to become more evangelical and take after the more fundamentalists in other religions, and absolutely force their parishioners to declare that they were true believers in order to go through the rite of confirmation. Which, as luck would have it, changed just after all of my older siblings had been confirmed at age 13, and right before I was supposed to get confirmed at age 17 (they also moved the age back to ensure that people were fully aware adults before being confirmed.) So I was like “Oh, well, no, I don’t actually believe any of this stuff. I was willing to go along with it, but no, now that you actually ask, I absolutely do not believe in any of it.”

@gozderdogan 8 жыл бұрын

world science festival usually start off with some artistic performances which engage the audience in the process. it is not only hard core physics, so it is good.

@gozderdogan 8 жыл бұрын

starts*

@elmtrain 9 жыл бұрын

excellent stuff: religion from the perspective of the sociologist or the anthropologist

@rightmindset- 2 жыл бұрын

❤

@josoffat7649 3 жыл бұрын

As someone who does not prescribe to any particular religion, it sickens me to see extremism in any form. However, I am not an atheist. I believe it is more complicated than our somewhat limited brain can comprehend. It is undeniable that all religions have fundamental common themes that can help to make this world a better place, it's sad that everybody is so focused on being morally superior when in fact we are all wrong.

@cassieoz1702 3 жыл бұрын

I think it comes down to whether you believe in the intervention of the supernatural or not

@teresajohnson1352 3 жыл бұрын

👍⚘🦋🤗

@mikell.6064 7 жыл бұрын

Who else put their thumb in the side of his head to see what he would look like bold 😂 I still love him

@estherwiskel6550 3 жыл бұрын

Ps. I do differ in one aspect... It is, I have FAITH-TRUST IN ‘GOD’ because HE represents how we humans are to behave, love, forgiving and be our brothers keeper. 🙏✝️♥️ Have you read Milton’s Paradise Lost? I recommend it.

@sbaran6933 6 жыл бұрын

Really interesting points like the importance of rituals against spontaneity... the idea of "monkey minded"... really convincing speech at many levels for an atheist 😉😉

@cassieoz1702 3 жыл бұрын

I don't get what you mean, 'for an atheist'

@Jan96106 9 жыл бұрын

He;s correct. One of the ways of being religious is creating community through myth an ritual. (That literally is the title of the book on the subject Ways of Being Religious, and the author is Streng.

@joshsancho7931 8 жыл бұрын

+Jan96106 What say you to the idea that someone could create a community support and gardening network that posed as a formidable religious ponzi scheme? If such a thing could be done, then it should be called the Hypothetical Hypocritical Church of Irony. Basically all religious and non-religious people can join and support it either with donations or getting stuck in and providing members with the means/know-how to grow no-til gardens, or free therapy, or well-being healthcare sessions, and so on. Whatever the neighbour might need to feel healthier, fuller and brighter. The 'holy' scriptures will just be the texts of Philosophy's finest, as their words are very likely to be far more prophetic than any Holy book has ever been. The only way to prove that statement correct is to make philosophy mainstream (i.e. by blending weed culture with philosophy - it's a match made in heaven just itching to happen). Alain de Botton will most likely be a 'prophet', and Ricky Gervais and Jamie Oliver would be 'apostles' [for good reasons]. But what would such an organisation believe in? All that is required is the curiosity to explore 1 very simple idea: Dark Matter = Irony. In other words, it's all just Irony; God, Nature, Spirits, Energies, Cosmos, The Force. All of it. They are all grasping at the same universal fundamental truth. They all provide answers to questions but none of them really provide THE Answer to THE question. This 'Church' would suggest that since THE Answer can, in fact, be answered, then we might as well get busy making life a much more pleasurable and laughable indulgence for ourselves. Therefore anyone and everyone can join, and instead of the wealth being funnelled up to the top, it is instead all dedicated to spreading the needed communal support networks out to the people who need them.

@Albeit_Jordan 2 жыл бұрын

I was waiting for a giant monty-python-esque foot to come and squash him the entire time

@Readmybumpersticker 7 жыл бұрын

Mate, it's still known as the Koolin nation.

@shawn6669 8 жыл бұрын

Alain, I love your stuff, but you're mischaracterizing Hitchens views on religion. He doesn't say that poison comes from religion but rather that the requirement of religion that forces us to give up our rational faculties in place of credulity as though it were a virtue, poisons us in our deepest integrity...and he's absolutely right. That being said, temples to human well being that teach philosophy would be a fine thing. FWIW.

@yeziu3475 5 жыл бұрын

shawn6669 which is poison that comes from religion~

@LeaLittleDanishGirl 2 жыл бұрын

7:37

@shipaskof8371 2 жыл бұрын

I thought that jewish bath was some ritual that only applies to women. Ill have to re check. Alain may be incorrect.

@mariely6747 6 жыл бұрын

Why atheists are such good teachers to believers despite being nonbelievers?

@Dman9fp 3 жыл бұрын

Open-mindedness. Saying "despite" poses an expectation, maybe the expectation that essentially "all good teachers must know how to tie their shoes perfectly and believe in something and not like pineapple on pizzas" is reaching/ perhaps flawed

@HussainFahmy 6 жыл бұрын

*Oil and Water does not mix just as Religion and Culture.*

@kohnfutner9637 Жыл бұрын

I think everyone here needs to check out Mark Passio. Maybe a good start, even tho it's not really a good start but most relevant to this video i think, is cosmic abandonment.

@joshsancho7931 8 жыл бұрын

33:00 - 40:00: I had a thought on this quite a while ago. What if someone could create a community support and gardening network that posed as a formidable religious ponzi scheme? If such a thing could be done, then it should be called the Hypothetical Hypocritical Church of Irony. Basically all religious and non-religious people can join and support it either with donations or getting stuck in and providing members with the means/know-how to grow no-til gardens, or free therapy, or well-being healthcare sessions, and so on. Whatever the neighbour might need to feel healthier, fuller and brighter. The 'holy' scriptures will just be the texts of Philosophy's finest, as their words are very likely to be far more prophetic than any Holy book has ever been. The only way to prove that statement correct is to make philosophy mainstream (i.e. by blending weed culture with philosophy - it's a match made in heaven just itching to happen). Alain de Botton will most likely be a 'prophet', and Ricky Gervais and Jamie Oliver would be 'apostles' [for good reasons]. But what would such an organisation believe in? All that is required is the curiosity to explore 1 very simple idea: Dark Matter = Irony. In other words, it's all just Irony; God, Nature, Spirits, Energies, Cosmos, The Force. All of it. They are all grasping at the same universal fundamental truth. They all provide answers to questions but none of them really provide THE Answer to THE question. This 'Church' would suggest that since THE Answer can, in fact, be answered, then we might as well get busy making life a much more pleasurable and laughable indulgence for ourselves. Therefore anyone and everyone can join, and instead of the wealth being funnelled up to the top, it is instead all dedicated to spreading the needed communal support networks out to the people who need them. But obviously nobody needs to follow this Hypothetical Hypocritical Church of Irony like a fundamentalist nutbag (like say, perhaps, I might); people can still practice their belief systems or scepticism or feel free to think/believe/know whatever they want. The key is that people are brought together under the guise of a 'serious' 'organised' religion, so that they might receive the things that they really need to alleviate their hardships or enrich their lives. Plus, I think, if a large enough group of people were to unite in their worship/fear of Irony, then we might just kickstart our time into the Birth of the very much belated era of Modern Enlightenment. An era where Deep Thought was found to be off by a factor of 10. An era where the Beeb's Big Questions was actually entertaining and made some existential progress. An era where Anxiety dies, along with Consumerism, and collaboration is rejuvenated along with 'Fulfillerism'. An era where the whole of humanity rejoices in laughter after finally 'getting' the most obvious, most embarrassing, most blindingly obvious yet frustratingly illusive joke that has beguiled our species since the day we started looking up and questioning what it is really all about. This could work. It's not like it definitely absolutely couldn't. So at least there's that.

@lawrence18uk 4 жыл бұрын

46:24 a non-believer living well - cf "The Three Hermits" by Lev Tolstoy ;-)

@nancymohass4891 5 жыл бұрын

Dear Mr.Botton, it's so amazing that you ignore the fact that if religion was successful , the world would be a better place and you would need doing this talk ! I think the solution is to think about the fact of " Religion" the way a real philosopher whom you know them well do. If you didn't , so you're inviting us to act a dishonest, double faced life to be happy !!??

@ICanSeeSharp 4 жыл бұрын

I don't think that Buddhism is a religion, is it?

@samsonwilkinson8090 2 жыл бұрын

Indeed not.

@jinamatcharia8027 4 жыл бұрын

@tullebukk6522 3 жыл бұрын

The main gist seems like too much of a dichotomy between religion and late stage capitalism as if those are the only possible models for society. Maybe it's realistic, but I find it deeply cynical. Edit: last part was better.

@edwardrussell7168 5 жыл бұрын

Someone asked my ..Does God exist? I thought for a moment and said... the question should be.. what kind of a god I want. God does exist otherwise this universe and everything in it will never exist which includes us. We give meaning to this earth and universe. Now the question is why do we die? And what lies beyond death?? To find an answer which appeals to our intellect read the recently published book What is Islam by G A Parwez...

@anthonyscully2998 8 жыл бұрын

i wish the wheeler centre would get some challenging speakers such as andrew bolt. other wise you just get left wing speakers who have the same perspective

@WheelerCentre 7 жыл бұрын

We have had plenty of speakers from both sides of politics! Plus - making an invitation is only one half of the process…