Alain De Botton Analysis

Who is Alain de Botton? He's often known for his book, The Consolations of Philosophy, but behind this façade, who is he really? From my point of view, de Botton is an arrogant, self-righteous man. Throughout both his book and a video clip, “Seneca on anger”, in Philosophy a Guide to Happiness, de Botton seems to have rather passive aggressive tendencies. Throughout his book, he gives advice on how you can change your life to make yourself a better person. But is he really one to tell others how to live their lives? How do we know that he has any experience or has the know how to guide anyone through the process of bettering themselves? One way to analyze this is to look into who de Botton really is outside of his writing. Is the book, The Consolations of Philosophy, simply a get rich quick scheme that he has created? To see my analysis, let’s first take a look at one of his largest flaws.

Modern society allows humorists to touch upon offensive topics without receiving much criticism. As Alain de Botton claimed in his 2004 book, Status Anxiety, humorists’ role is not merely to entertain but “to convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.” De Botton’s argument proves legitimate. Many humorists, such as cartoonists and television hosts, decide to use their humor as a tool to prove an idea or express a belief that cannot be voiced candidly in public.

Throughout time, humorists have been able to pull off a phenomenon, which allows for others to laugh about sensitive, stressful topics. With talent, humorists are able to captivate positive emotion from their audience and allow for society to see delicate issues in an unbiased view. Although humorists are commonly seen as people who only intend to entertain, humorists purposefully say things through their work that allow for hard issues to be spoken or illustrated.

Humor has become manifested into nearly all aspects of the secular world. Whether it be in comics, writings, or television, some form of comedy is sure to be seen on a regular basis. It seems the world today depends on a good laugh every now and then, and Alain de Botton argued the purpose of this in his book Status Anxiety. He concluded that humorists are more than just a form of entertainment; They "convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly". These men and women are granted some degree of leeway to speak freely and candidly on ultimately any subject for the preservation of societal stability. Their representation of public sentiment results in the people feeling as if what they long to say is finally being heard on a larger platform. Humorists serve the vital role of being a true reflection of public opinion; however, they are not immune to

In the modern world, individuals are concerned with activities of daily living and become bombarded with daily stress. In Alain de Botton’s contemporary essay, he mentions a quote,“ The sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room,” (De Botton, 60). This quote references the stress and mundane of everyday life. It is difficult to sit in the comfort of one’s home and remain indifferent to the world outside because the outside world still exists. However, instead of thinking about all the problems the world has, it is important to create a perception; a perception that creates a balance between the inside and the outside. A balance between the inside and outside world is necessary

When I first think about why I have a passion for comedy, I think of it as being powerful and special. It is one of those things that can unite people. Laughter doesn’t discriminate, it doesn’t matter your ethnicity, religion, political opinion, etc., this is what I believe makes it so captivating. With humor you can as least for a little while forget about everything going on around you, regardless of the simplicity or complexity of the situation. It is a way for us to keep our sanity and gives us the opportunity to come together and put serious issues aside or be able to look at those issues in a less hostile manner. Laughter is one of those things everyone can appreciate, and should have a healthy amount of

Humorists are everywhere in our society and they are not going anywhere, anytime soon. It is evident that their job is to entertain, inform, and persuade their audience, but sometimes they get carried away in the moment and become unaware of what they’re saying and the impact it may have on others around them. In a perfect world, all humorists would be accepting and kind to people of all differences, but it is clear that may not be happening in a world of ever changing and growing politics. Alain De Botton’s statement on the vitality of humorist is correct in some ways, being that comedians are able to say things that others are afraid to say, but very commonly, they take this ability too far and end up insulting many. The role of humorists should be to poke light hearted fun that people of all differences can appreciate, and allow the world to enjoy comedy as

Humor and entertainment can be found in everyday life. It’s crucial to our lifestyles. In fact, many doctors have found that humor and entertainment is part of keeping ourselves healthy. It can be found if we are controlled by the government or if we are self-reliant. Being self-reliant is appropriate in most cases. You have to vote, you have to manage your own money and you have to make sure you are healthy. These are all examples of the appropriate time to be self-reliant.

In Jenny Allen's essay "The Trouble With Nature" humor is utilized in order to entertain the reader and inform them, and let them know that in nature no matter what you try to dodge and ignore there is always going to be something else. This is because nature goes as it pleases and there really is no boudaries or rules that it has to go by.

Humor is essential in order to live life to the fullest, and this is because of laughter. Laughing is so imperative because “the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health" (Smith 1). Humor has been a huge part of my life because it has helped me out of countless awkward situations, been apart of every inside joke, made bad times good, and good times better. Although I enjoy mostly all humor, I associate my favorite types of humor with movies or videos.

" . . . ;a sense of humor can be a great help—particularly a sense of humor about (oneself). William Howard Taft joked about his own corpulence and people loved it; took nothing from his inherent dignity. Lincoln eased tense moments with bawdy stories, and often poked fun at himself—and history honors him for this human quality. A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done."

Despite this there are some interesting anecdotal evidence that humor was used as a means to express wit and learning. Consider French writer Voltaire or even in relatively modem times Oscar Wilde and his extremely witty characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray. These writers used wit and humor to influence people, to stir emotions in their readers and their conversing abilities were fresh and exciting. Humor typically has an element of shock and awe and readers or listeners are shaken beyond their limits of self-control to burst into laughter. Uncontrollable laughter as related to humor was against the strict moral laws of Plato. Even Aristotle seemed to believe in some restrictions on humorous conversation. Humor was suited to a clown in restricted scenarios and serious self-respecting men and women did

Humor is considered as a form of social deviance that can lead to positive sanctions as well as negative sanctions. Humor allows individuals to discuss controversial or taboo subjects. Humor works as a mechanism to address subject areas that a society regards as upsetting. These areas have been constructed as a psychologically or socially out of norm. It also allows oppressed social groups to undermine the ideologies of their oppressor. Humor can be born out of experiences expressing grief and sorrow. It allows individuals to express contempt towards other individuals, social groups, and societies and allows us to celebrate triumph over enemies. Controversial humor is humor that can be used to expose and

Humor has the ability to humanize by humiliating. It targets by humiliating the “butt” by lampooning flaws whether they are physical characteristics or psychological foibles. When an individual is attacked the target is weakened, power relations are subverted, the marginal can temporarily subvert their social condition. Humor has a democratizing function. Humor creates an in-group and an out-group distinction with group solidarity. Humor has the power to forms a bond and draws a line simultaneously. Laughter is a compromise that renders its audience less threatening through laughter, its a step towards

Comedy can transcend social boarders because it appeals to an intrinsic part of humanity—emotion. Granted, many variables factor into a person’s display of an emotion: personality, temperament, maturity and circumstance, nevertheless there is a status-quo. We still have set expectations of people—how they will react to this, or that. In his article, “Laughter and the Brain” Richard Restak claims all humor plays on the expectations or “assumptions [we have] about the world and how it works” based on our previous life experiences (linguists refer to these expectations as scripts) (21-22). Nevertheless, you don’t need to have personally experienced the given scenario to understand and appreciate a joke because we also develop scripts from interpersonal experience. For example, a child might feel jealousy over the attention another one receives, or a toy the other has. As an adolescent might envy the status of someone more popular, or the attention of a significant other. Similarly, an adult could envy the: wealth, job or promotion of another received etc. The object of desire may change, but the emotion remains the same. Therefore, we can empathize with each other despite our differences.