A history of the philosophy of happiness

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Philosophers have suggested various ways to live, and attitudes to hold, in order to maximise happiness. Here I go though what many of them have said over the years in the western world, starting with Socrates.
I probably should not have written the notes with the dates of all the people I planned to talk about - I used few of the dates, and ended up being distracted by them.
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Socrates image by Sting, CC BY-SA 2.5, commons.wikime...
Plato image by Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Aristotle image by After Lysippos - Jastrow (2006), Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Epicurus image by Marie-Lan Nguyen (2011), Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Zeno of Citium image by the Fondo Paolo Monti, owned by BEIC and located in the Civico Archivio Fotografico of Milan., CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikime...
Stoa of Attalos image by Lloyd (AKA Lindybeige)
Cicero image by José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikime...
Epictetus image by William Sonmans - archive.org/de..., Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Marcus Aurelius image by Daniel Martin - Photothèque du musée Saint-Raymond, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikime...
Saint Augustine image by Philippe de Champaigne - Los Angeles County Museum of Art: online database: entry 171584, Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Thomas Aquinus image by Carlo Crivelli - www.nationalgal..., Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Martin Luther image by Lucas Cranach the Elder - GalleriX, Public Domain, commons.wikime...
John Locke image by Godfrey Kneller - Own work, Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Jeremy Bentham image by Henry William Pickersgill (died 1875) - Public Domain, commons.wikime...
John Stuart Mill image by George Frederic Watts - National Portrait Gallery, Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Jean Jaques Rousseau image by Maurice Quentin de La Tour - Unknown source, Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Goethe image by Joseph Karl Stieler - Transferred from nds.wikipedia to Commons..org by G.Meiners at 12:05, 15. Okt 2005., Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Imanuel Kant image by Unknown, possibly Elisabeth von Stägemann (Anton Graff school) - original from the Norwegian Digital Learning Arena (NDLA) ndla.no/image/..., Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Derren Brown image by Andrew West
David Strauss image by Die Gartenlaube, Nr. 4 /1908, S. 83 (Rudolf Krauß: David Friedrich Strauß / Zu seinem hundertsten Geburtstage), Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Karl Marx image by John Jabez Edwin Mayal - International Institute of Social History, Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Nietzche image by Friedrich Hermann Hartmann - s-media-cache-..., Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Sigmund Freud image by Max Halberstadt - www.christies...., Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Phineus Parkhearst Quimby image courtesy of George A. Quimby, Quimby's son - Willa Cather and Georgine Milmine, The Life of Mary Baker Eddy, Doubleday, 1909, between pages 48 and 49., Public Domain, commons.wikime...
Daniel Kahneman image by nrkbeta - IMG_4330, CC BY-SA 2.0, commons.wikime...
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[@lindybeige]

Every purchase of a NordVPN 2 year plan will receive 4 additional bonus months! Visit nordvpn.com/lindybeige to learn more.

[@Itssmial_Ova]

I heard that NordVPN makes you 40% more happier,

[@xxxhoodooxxx]

My favorite KZbin channel. 🍻

[@arnijulian6241]

Funny thing is stoicism isn't always used for the pursuit of happiness if even often though can help. I'm rather stoic but I see it as a means to control yourself to make a better decision based on your & other experiences. To put mind before sentiment to gain a better outcome. Honestly everyone want happiness but it is fleeting thing you should recall fondly & enjoy when you can but life is much easier if you are content. Hardship will come but the stoic prepares for it to challenge it unlike other philosophies or beliefs that avoid hardship or think hard ship is a punishment for original sin or default state. Being an Englishmen i certainly am stoic but I consider it more tool in my assortment of mentalities to adopt in life depending on what the moment calls for. I'm a private person with my emotions want & cares to those not familiar-important to me but my mind I share freely for recollection from memory is marvellous thing we should all share freely even if some fantasists don't like it as it doesn't conform to their false comforts like religion or some contrived hoopla. Do I belief in an personified great sage like the early Greek stoic then off course not but the Romans refined it to a very useful mind set in trying times. Stoicism is for the Person that want to achieve against great odds not because they are guaranteed success but that challenges of life present opportunity to put your mental preparations against. People think me soulless or uncaring but if I knew what was coming & steered myself for it then why would lose composure at what came to be? When what comes is known & new I simply treat it as another trail to consider to be better prepared for in the future. mind I am flawed so even I lose my composure in the most trying of times on occasion. I'm only Human but you will be surprised what a mere human can achieve & do that will surprise. Christian haven't even accepted reality craving non existence of the afterlife. They fear defeat so much that they do not participate in life which death is a part off. They crave a probable fantasy of a perfect paradise that has no evidence or grounding. The ancients has their God's but even they openly questioned if they are real unlike those of the church for Abrahamic faith to not have blind fate is worse then any sin being laughable in it's inability to consider. Be content & know what you can & can't do then perhaps you should aim for happiness if that is your goal. Happiness is secondary to what I desire that I prefer to keep private but to those I trust & hold dear to me.

[@auturgicflosculator2183]

Although it also costs more than other confirmed no-log VPNs, Nord is a solid solution with a simple, user-friendly interface.

[@elmaxidelsur]

ok, so the stoics got it right, thanks.

[@monkofmayhem1373]

25% on topic, 75% side track. Perfect, don’t ever change Mr.Beige

[@12many4you]

And all that in an hour long rant. Absolute perfection

[@Sari36YT]

Finally, a classic, long-form Lindybeige video! This is what we want. This is what we need.

[@jeremyayers5353]

This is what we crave

[@danbublol]

This is what turns us on

[@Lewdog.]

His long forms make my week We need to clone him

[@GetterRay]

Speak for yourself, I'm still waiting on another dance video.

[@IronKilt]

Loyd is back in longform talking about philosophy! This pleases me greatly.

[@mannylopez2388]

indeed

[@mrsolodolo5770]

And long may it continue!

[@Oxnate]

Dang. If I knew that sending Lindy a new computer would result in an hour long video, I'd have sent him a computer years ago.

[@Hebdomad7]

Clearly we need to send him more computers ...

[@mbsjanetelizabeth]

😂

[@vincedibona4687]

That happened five years ago. 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@steamrangercomputing]

@@vincedibona4687For you see, it was years ago!

[@MaggotDiggo1]

Send him a car and he might finish the Hannibal comic.

[@BenjaminEmm]

A one hour LindyBeige video? Consider me happy!

[@denisdenak]

Ikr missed those

[@cavaliothorson7755]

Yeah I love this guy

[@FunLovingPotato]

Truly an unnatural necessity!

[@stevenwiederholt7000]

When I was in Basic Training I learned what it took to be happy. A Cold Coke, A Snickers Bar, 10 minutes without someone yelling at you.

[@garrysekelli6776]

Haven't tried it yet but I hear that if you stuff your spacebar in Taylor swift that that is the key to happiness. Also you can substitute for your favorite personal singer.

[@casamurphy]

Watching the weird Trump cult lose their minds over Taylor Swift's suggestion that people vote is quite amusing.

[@More_Row]

Suffering in a planned willingness kind of way often can lead to some happiness after or breaks during. Not just because of the pause, but also your assessment of how well you are holding up considering.

[@stevenwiederholt7000]

@@More_Row "OMG, What Have I Gone And Done!" Aug 25 1967 Lackland AFB(my 1st night in basic I can Still picture it in my head today. Over the decades I have yet to meet a Vet who has not said something similar to that. Thing is, being in the Military is a lot like sex (You ARE going to get screwed at some point). You can read about it,, watch movies about it, Think about it talk about it. BUT unless you have experienced t, you have No Clue.

[@jonnick3634]

Same applies if you live in the Balkans

[@Zakalwe-01]

Having backed a copy of Lindy’s Hannibal book, I’m finding stoicism to be a vital coping mechanism 😁.

[@spikethelizard2770]

Whatever happened with that?

[@EuTrabalhoParaSagres510]

​@@spikethelizard2770What do you think? He got sidetracked 😄

[@nialltownley1788]

This just in: people who enjoy thinking about things think the best way to be happy is to spend lots of time thinking about things!

[@hughbarton5743]

I think they may well be right.

[@edgarbumblefoot7467]

A Beige Interpretation of Happiness is happiness itself.

[@Neetru]

This

[@kinchan4548]

I learn most of my life stuff base on Lindy's rambling. It's life changing

[@colinmackay92]

Incredible to see these classic Lindybeige videos returning

[@jeremyayers5353]

Lindybeige is so British, he’s always gotta make a stab at the French 😂

[@cadileigh9948]

I suspect you mean English, The Celtic colonies have a long history of getting on well with the French

[@Arkantos117]

@@cadileigh9948 True the French would occasionally use the Irish rebels as cannon fodder.

[@DonaldoJTrumpet]

@@cadileigh9948 The English colonised nowhere in Great Britain apart from England, and the plague of Justinian cleared the way for that. The Normans did.

[@cadileigh9948]

we call everyone over the border Sais which you could say is equally inaccurate as describing Lindybeige as British but it is correct Cymraeg@@DonaldoJTrumpet

[@colonelkernel2959]

You released this video on the very same day I was assigned a paper on happiness in my ethics class. I clapped in excitement. Thanks.

[@Champ-0999]

To be honest I'm a bit disappointed that there wasn't even a mention of non-western philosophies, but I understand that creating a continuous narrative is better for a video, and there wouldn't be any time to talk about everything else anyway, as one hour is already a lot. Still, I hope there will be a follow up video talking about more perspectives on this topic from around the world

[@AverageAlien]

If its non western its probably irrelevant

[@EuTrabalhoParaSagres510]

It's Lindy.... If its not British (preferably English) it's probably barely worth a mention. So you're lucky 😅

[@colegudding9510]

I did not know how badly I wanted LindyBeige to do sock puppet theater, but after that peripatetic bit I am convinced it would be excellent!

[@valentinozoboli4592]

A one hour LindyBeige drop! Lets gooooooo.

[@JesseP.Watson]

I came for the curiosity wall backdrop. It is unrivalled, peerless even. How I applaud the wall of Lloyd! All praise Lloyd's curious vertical visual collection!

[@raphaelvulfs5467]

I have not started the video yet but seen a 1-hour video from LindyBeige about philosophy makes me happy. I missed those! Please keep them coming!

[@coreyblaisdell]

First off, I'm a long-time viewer and glad to see another long video. However, I have to say that this is a very old fashioned and wiggish version of the history of philosophy. I am by no means a Christian (agnostic bordering atheist), but the description of the impact of Christianity in this video completely leaves out the fact that almost all modern western moral values are based on ideas that are inherently Christian, even if modern atheists may prefer to call them "humanist." Of course, many bad ideas have also been justified through religion, but Christianity was the basis for abolishing slavery and for the general idea in the west that all people have inherent value. I recommend checking out the book "Dominion" by Tom Holland (an actual full-time historian) if you want a much more historically accurate view of the Christian impact on the evolution of western philosophy.

[@myparceltape1169]

True. I just thought it was too obvious. Neat that you picked it out.

[@GooglyEyedJoe]

Lindy has always had a chip on his shoulder about religion, it came to the surface in this video.

[@Arete1]

Lindy is just your typical snarky british materialist. That whole nation is epitomized by people like Bertrand Russell

[@myparceltape1169]

@@GooglyEyedJoe Religion is one thing. Knowing that Jesus Christ came to save him and accepting it is another.

[@1v966]

​@@myparceltape1169wdym know? I don't think you would be able to find an honest even very old fashioned Christian scholar like Thomas Aquinas claiming to KNOW that, you're supposed to believe, right?

[@goodlookingcorpse]

"Eudamonia" "No, _you_ da monia."

[@tomb7901]

LoL. Well, done! 😁

[@goodlookingcorpse]

@@tomb7901 Thanks!

[@StonedWidowOnDoom]

Stoic philosophy and Nietzsche helped me to overcome a lot of things that held me back. Nietzsche liked to dance a lot. He had a lot of examples linked to dancing. In some cases, he said musicians and dancers are closer to the Ubermensch as anyone else can be. I saw a theatrical play where this Nietzsche figure described the core of his philosophy the best, in my opinion. My philosophy is a thin rope stretched across an abyss (Nihilism). With this rope, you can cross this abyss and dance with joy while you do. Have to say, even when philosophers are obvious, if you never got in contact with these concepts you will never know it is obvious and even miss it. We only know some philosophy is wrong, because we see people experimenting with these concepts and either got happier or not. In my opinion, philosophy is important for all.

[@forthrightgambitia1032]

By all accounts he just danced by himself though. He also saw laughter as important.

[@StonedWidowOnDoom]

@@forthrightgambitia1032 Didn't know that. Fits his character, I guess. :^)

[@myparceltape1169]

Like Lindy dancing in a shiny new suit of armour.

[@lilacheaven222]

Finding the root of psychological distress is important though. It may not be enough to make it go away but working on ways to understand what happened, how it affects you and finding ways, be it exercises or medication, to ease that distress is crucial.

[@robwalker4452]

Lindybeige has made LindyGOLD with this one. Love the subject and the presentation so much... this man DEFINITLEY has more than 1 fan.

[@nicholasricardo8443]

Lloyd I do think you're disregarding an awful lot of philosophical ideas within Christianity that deal with epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics, just within the context of Biblical exegesis and theological writings. I do agree that Augustine and Aquinas are probably the most important two Christians to cover, but there are a great many Catholic philosophers.

[@LeandroCapstick]

I thought Aquinas' main contribution was his study of Aristotle, not the stoics.

[@theangel666100]

Yeah I can't find any info about Thomas Aquinas bringing about the stoics online. Maybe he made a mistake here ?

[@yeetoburrito9972]

I haven't seen the whole video yet, but Aquinas is known for reconciling Aristotelian philosophy with Christian thought, I'm not sure about stoics, I've never heard anything about his connection with stoicism :)

[@philippugh9159]

That's correct. In fact, it was Augustine who Christianized the Stoics, along with Boethius who is best characterized as a Christian Stoic.

[@Ninja-Alinja]

20:09 Lloyd mentions Augustine, the Berber, condemning Stoics, and then suddenly brings up Thomas Aquinas and then a few minutes on he get to TA, he just got the two confused I think.

[@agbook2007]

This. Lloyd did surprisingly well overall but got into the weeds on this one.

[@user-uo9yb2qx8z]

I want a playlist of all Lindy 45 min+ videos to sleep to.

[@rubenskiii]

Just watch his video about beds, that will do it.

[@Brave_Sir_Robin]

Lindy’s sweater game is unparalleled

[@poundlandbandit6124]

Wonder where he gets them?

[@HanzoChop]

Lindybeige's left hand is quite the philosopher

[@LaneLibra]

Thank god... we finally got a proper video.

[@dappledlight8073]

I feel like this was an hour long video teasing a second video. And I am here for it!

[@purshottamadevadhikar5035]

Lindy the enlightenment wasnt just "a british thing". Descartes and Kant were 2 of the enlightenments biggest thinkers. Surely England, France and Germany played pretty equal roles in the enlightment. Even italy contributed with thinkers like Beccaria.

[@charlesporsbjer2416]

It's funny I never realized until now that the whole "Law of attraction" philosophy is pretty much an exact opposite of the stoic philosophy or even buddhist philosophy. AMAZING VIDEO NIKOLAS!

[@oshun459]

Started watching this dude from 2014. Definitely the world’s best storyteller, raconteur.

[@dereinzigwahreRichi]

Maybe... But Beau Miles is very close! ;⁠-⁠)

[@HostileMakeover]

My favorite is still Diogenes of Sinope, the Cynic. His interactions with Alexander the Great are hilarious, and his trolling Plato is even better.

[@jdjones4825]

My all time favourite 😂😂😂

[@King.Leonidas]

sigma male

[@Dap1ssmonk]

The wtf fun fact of philosophers, said nothing of import and did nothing of use but he’s funny so we still need to hear about him.

[@TheDigitalStoic]

"The purpose of life is happiness, which is achieved by virtue, living according to the dictates of reason, ethical and philosophical training, self-reflection, careful judgements and inner calm." - Zeno of Citium

[@MySENNAa]

OMG FINALLY 1 HOUR OF JUST TALKIN ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@bigboi9997]

Finally a lindybeige philosophy video! Waiting years for this one

[@theeyehead3437]

"The Enlightenment was a British thing" is the most British thing I've ever heard

[@TheOldBlackShuckyDog]

I’ve always found philosophy interesting. Everything is obvious once it has been said/done/written. But until that point it was likely markedly less obvious. And in terms of what direct impact it has one one’s life, it has as much impact as you let it have.

[@evghb]

Especially ancient greek philosophy, and I find its larger implications more interesting from the perspective of Mazlow's pyramid. Like for the first time in history, to that point, some people had the means and free time to ponder the greater questions of life. 99.99999% of people were still worrying about farming and surviving, but the trend started to shift upward.

[@whatevsimbulletproof]

Love hearing your long talks!

[@SplendidFellow]

Excellent summary of a lot of philosophies, Lindybeige! And I've missed this long-form lecture content. Bravo!

[@chriscookesuffolk]

Only 5 minutes in and already learning more than the combined pearls of wisdom. This makes me happy.

[@VosperCDN]

His explanation of Stoicism is probably the simplest I've seen/read so far. (edit: spelling)

[@mikemorr100]

Ayy, Ive been watching past Lindy hour long videos to fall asleep, this week. This is great timing.

[@GinoLuccio]

Oooh shit, another long Lindy video! You sir, made the start of my early weekend a good one.

[@sststr]

Remembering self vs. experiencing self - when I did my Ironman, spectators put up all kinds of signs and write stuff on the street in chalk to encourage the athletes, and the one that stands out to me is "Pain is temporary, victory is forever!"

[@joshuagarwood9733]

Amazing video. I've missed these long form ones!

[@arlen_95]

Thank you, Lindy! You put out the exact right video, right when I needed it most :)

[@livingbeings]

I understand your distaste for philosophy in modern practice, but your philosophical videos have always been my favorites. Looking forward to more like this. Thank you.

[@Alulim-Eridu]

I’ve incorporated the Delphic maxim “Know Thy Self” into one of my tattoos. But it’s written in an old Freemasonic script. So it just looks like part of the design of the rest of the tattoo

[@montymontgomeri]

I am so glad that to have also discovered Stoicism. I am excited to hear more about what you have to say. Looking forward to it.

[@belloreos1368]

Lindy, you're an eccentric man with an amazing beard who rambles confusingly for hours on end about a topic, often touching on the human element of that topic. You've always been a philosophy channel.

[@Simon_Nonymous]

Thankyou, its so good to see you back! We have missed you. Really enjoyed this video, very very interesting, especially for my wife, who learnt alot !Please do more of this subject xx

[@gusgusington710]

Amazing video! I could watch you talk about any subject for hours! Please keep making these!!!

[@tomtateson8660]

Great to see you back doing long videos again. An enjoyable and informative perspective as ever.

[@jakobfredriksson2272]

Yes! I've missed a background full of pictures/stuff instead of books (for some reason). Now I'm going to watch the actual video.

[@More_Row]

Awesome video Lloyd. Well done for choosing the topic and going through and condensing it more succinctly from each of the actors you choose to talk about, It did give me some fleeting good feelings. Although my brain instantly trying to pull me back to my depressed anxious state. Noticing patterns or objectivity I feel you skipped a bit. But that can relate to stoicism in a way so i'm also excited for that. Cheers

[@itai4ever16]

I am so happy to hear you in a long form video! I missed those a lot.

[@dmk_games]

Fun fact: (maybe it will be mentioned in the video) - Socrates didn’t write stuff down. Most of the stuff attributed to him is from the works of Plato which used a character named Socrates (who was Plato's teacher). (And other stories starring socrates).

[@myparceltape1169]

The dialogues, pre-Windows.

[@1v966]

could have watched at least the first three minutes first bro

[@shaynehughes6645]

I believe Charles Schulz once wrote, "Happiness is a warm puppy"

[@Raz.C]

A stone-age philosopher left a stone tablet with the following profound philosophy scribed in stone: "Uggh blorg tanga blung! Glorbulang!! Torg glarfin..." I think there's something in that for all of us...

[@rubenskiii]

Your poin about blame culture is quite interesting, it ties into something i am having a bit of trouble with in personal life. No parent is perfect, but some are very far removed from perfect. I had one of the latter. And in therapy it's about that a lot. It's weird because the blame is justified, but what then? It's something i had a lot of discussion about with my therapist. And what he said might be helpful for others: being able to pin why you do, think or feel certain things on someone's (past) behavior towards you is not so much about blame itself, but about understanding where your behavior comes from. It gives more understanding of the self. Being able to understand how the things are wired in your brain can give you a more objective (Stoic?) viewpoint on that. Knowing the root cause helps a lot with adressing problems. But before you can do that it is important to understand what has happened to you, and by who. Especially with people who you care about it can be easier to just point the blame inwards. Instead of understanding that you do a certain thing because in the past certain behavior by for example a parent made that the best reaction you just see yourself as a fool that can't be normal. And that obviously is detrimental to oneself. So a certain amount of blame when it's justified is good. As with almost all things it is about the measure of it and what you then do with it. Just blaming your parents for making you miserabele and then calling it a day is obviously not the answer. Blame is a tool, not a goal.

[@katyamohina6145]

Yes. And it is also about having emotional experience of it (rightful anger and blame that were denied to a person when they were a child, which essentially lead to their current traumatized condition). Shaming blame is stopping person in their first steps of recovery.

[@markwilliams3679]

I’ve recently been getting into reading philosophy so this came out at a perfect time.

[@TheLuigiBrother77]

8:08 Aristotle didn't suggest they were smack in the middle. Cowardice for example was the vice, further away, foolhardiness was the anti-virtue, closer to the virtue, and courage the virtue

[@feckneddy]

I have more than doubled my knowledge of Philosophy. That's Monty Python and Lindybeige .

[@feckneddy]

I've met Bentham He was in a box at the entrance hall to UCL.

[@LeandroCapstick]

I don't agree with your view on what the medieval Christian attitude towards learning and "thinking" was. I mean just keep in mind that many (not all) of these texts by ancient pagan philosophers only survived because of the studious monks that copied them over and over again, which mind you they wouldn't have done, if they didn't see any value in them.

[@More_Row]

He correctly pointed out that the learning and thinking was to be of the religion. Hence all the studying of it and rewriting it over and over mantra like.

[@yeetoburrito9972]

Yes, I concur completely, Christianity was in large part responsible for much of the scientific advances. Likewise the idea that Christian art then had no smiling figures is rather silly, and just not true...

[@More_Row]

@@yeetoburrito9972 Do you mind sharing some of the advancements that happened during Christianity hay-day, seems like the advancements came back as soon as the strictness of the faith was loosened.

[@perniciouspete4986]

No, the 5 elements are earth, fire, air, water, and Leeloo.

[@TomFynn]

Lets not forget the sixth element which is surprise.

[@donweatherwax9318]

No one expects a one-hour-long Lindybeige video!!

[@Bexebeche]

It's Heart. Duh. Go Planet!

[@polartechie]

I am absolutely adding an Etheral entity with vacuum attack to the Campaign. Thank you Lindy

[@PaulTheSkeptic]

Philosophy is important. I can understand your frustration with it. Many of these things are things people have been arguing for centuries and are no closer to an answer. But it's still important that someone understands the nuances of how best to put information together and how mistakes are made via the cognitive process. Philosophy without science is impotent and science without philosophy is just wrong. Philosophy provides the scaffolding upon which science is built so to speak. So it is important.

[@40johnson87]

Crazy, I just started rewatching some of his old videos the other day and started reading Plato yesterday. Wild coincidence to see this get uploaded lol

[@brandoncaulfield9617]

Really appreciate the video lloyd! Amazing work as always

[@baconcatbug]

My Right Ear very much enjoyed this video.

[@The_Opinion_of_Matt]

This video is the first of your's that I've watched with my headphones on. Just wanted to say that it has, by far, the best audio quality I've heard from any KZbin video. It sounds like you are in the room with me. It is so good that it confused me at first because it sounded like the audio was from the room I'm in and not from the headphones. I had my wife listen as well and she said, without prompting, that it sounded like you are in the room with us. My wife also loves your sweaters!

[@gireeshbogu8580]

I wish I had a teacher like this. So much fun and wisdom.

[@mikkel6938]

Great video Lindy! I do love a good talk on philosophy. Now I'm interested in hearing about your thoughts on eastern philosophy such as from hinduism and buddhism. I came to have somewhat of an understanding of these, mainly by listening to the late Alan Watts. I'm assuming you're aware of him, he has had a lot of great long audio files uploaded here on youtube. I suspect you hold a critical view of these types of mystical ideas, but also that you will see a lot of similar conclusions as to what stoicism gives us. Alan has a way of turning the mystical into something more practical I think. Cheers!

[@charliecharliewhiskey9403]

In 2024 true happiness will be receiving a copy of "In Search of Hannibal" :^)

[@SuperDaveP270]

Ah! I love a synthesis! Zeno may have changed the name in his own way, but the Stoics were a Westernized branch of what was spreading throughout Asia around the 5th century BCE: Dhyana. It was called "Jain" in India, "Son" in Korea, "Chan" in China, and became "Zen" in Japan. While Buddhism was a primary vehicle for the spread of this philosophy in Asia, it was considered quite secular even from the beginning, and so its spread westward was equally successful despite losing the ability to trace it with Buddhism. The similarities between Zen and Stoicism are quite strikingly obvious. Stoicism existed in Greece long before Zeno, talked about by Pythagoras two hundred years earlier (it is believed Pythagoras visited India--which some dispute--but even if he didn't, he clearly references the Vedas and has taken up many of the principles of Jain) and may be the real Father of Stoicism. You mentioned Pythagoras and his cult-like institution of his ascetic philosophy, but did not equate this with his fanaticism of Indian philosophies and religion. For example, he believed in metempsychosis, which is basically reincarnation. His belief in the Music of the Universe also had roots in India and the Vedas. Furthermore, Zeno counts Socrates and Plato among his greatest influences, but those both considered Pythagoras a strong influence also (Aristotle considered Plato to be more heavily influenced by Pythagoras than by Socrates), therefore the trail of Jain into Stoicism can be followed in linear progression. There is little doubt that Zeno altered Stoicism significantly by way of his division of the philosophies (logic, ethics, and physics) and giving it the name, but it was indeed already there.

[@Woozy.0]

My heart has grown 3 sizes and my brain is purring like a chinchilla since this channel has returned. Thank you Lindy!

[@niniv2706]

Looking fwd for the follow up to Stoicism ... Mr Beige that was a pleasant experience .

[@favclassisspy9478]

Shout-out to Marcus Aurelius

[@Jsi01]

Great! A nice long video. I rewatch each one at least 10 times and sometimes fall asleep to them, this is nice to mix it up. Thanks Lloyd.

[@markfergerson2145]

I note that you’ve focused on so called Western philosophers. I would submit that Zeno and the Stoics basically echoed the basics of what the Buddha taught, except for the wording. Buddha talked about misery, not happiness, and avoiding misery by detaching oneself from “attachment” to “worldly” goals of wealth, power etc. Of course Zeno did so a couple hundred years after Buddha, and you likely know that it’s strongly suspected that if the Greek philosophers didn’t know the name, they had heard of Buddhism from travelers from the far East.

[@MrDowntemp0]

I am EAGERLY awaiting your deeper dive into the stoics

[@ChairmanKam]

Leave it to the Brit to missread Jefferson as saying gov is responsible for hapiness and not that it should stay out of the individual's pursuit of.😂

[@finlaybond]

44:50 - "The life of Jesus critically examined" really got me.

[@answers_to_penguin]

The part you referred to as nonsense in the edit basically describes virtue ethics, which is also concerned with happiness in the sense of eudaimonia. The mark of an anglophone philosopher is being able to refer to Kant using the correct pronunciation with a straight face

[@erichammer5502]

Glad to see the return of long form content as well! Thank you sir! I am a little surprised your history doesn't include David Hume or the great Adam Smith. Then again, if you are summarizing based on the book I am a lot less surprised; Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments is unknown to most philosophers, and David Hume is "improbably baroque" and thus rather hard for most of them.

[@kmr8740]

Your delivery is dynamic, entertaining and informative. You're obviously very knowledgeable too. Great chronology of philosophers' views. 👏👏👏👏👏

[@ozelhassan8576]

I really enjoyed this and I like listening to what you have to say, usually I won’t watch a hour or more of a other content creators videos but yours always. I can’t wait for the next episode. Thanks very much. 👍👍✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

[@merpius]

Point of fact; the declaration of independence does not claim that it is up to the government to make people happy; it says that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights and that those rights include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (not even happiness itself). That's an admonishing against a government trying to stop those things, not some sort of mandate for a government to provide them.

[@thomasrotweiler]

Terms and conditions apply. Not available to all people in all states. Offer subject to availability.

[@ZestonN]

Lindy actually explained Stoicism better than most Stoic Channels. :)

[@tzviru]

36:24 "I'm french therefore i'm wrong" 😂

[@eliasabbas8450]

20:43 I think this is the first time I've ever seen you stumble and I used to watch you a lot years ago haha. Interesting video so far.

[@dechasrisen4783]

Faith, Hope, and Charity are 1 Cor 13. St Thomas wrote a lot about them, but he was explaining the NT verse when he did so.

[@jubuttib]

8:17 And that's even beyond the point of how would courage really be defined. I personally am a fan of the type of definition, that requires you to acknowledge the fear of something, and then overcome it. So in my scales it might even go closer to the shyness end.

[@TheIgnoramus]

IMO most important video you’ve ever made. Thank you for this entertaining compilation that took me half a decade to sparse out😂. The separation of memory and object experience is a prime question. The feedback of the body, vs the remembrance of the mind. Time perception. In my humble opinion. The Stoics resonate the most with me. If you assume you will always have ignorance within yourself; Stoicism, with a healthy dose of utilitarianism, humanism, and skepticism; A removal from the dichotomy of forced perception, seems the only answer to suffering/the inequality of placement of the individual. One must be able to objectively feel and accept their emotions/situation, as well as practice the opposite when necessary. Balance. Purpose in all things. Unity. The hole in the human heart, inherent separation, can only be filled by the experience of others.The human internal mind, can only heal through its own will, and acceptance of both suffering, and choice, but one can not reach correct conclusions without the other. The Oroborus. This could be expanded to the very analogy of the universe, but this ignoramus waxes poetic on this topic. I Look forward to the next video.

[@VidkunQL]

The ideal of courage changed with the military technology. Before the invention of infantry formations (don't ask me for dates, I don't remember), an army won if every man attacked ferociously. Holding back might improve his personal chances of survival, but if all your soldiers hold back, your army will lose. And in those days, the poets and philosophers proclaimed that the great virtue was ferocious bravery with no regard for one's own safety. The invention of the Hoplite phalanx changed the game. A well-trained group of soldiers in formation could crush an equal number of soldiers attacking in a disorganised swarm, but only by holding formation. A formation could fall apart if even one soldier broke the line, either by turning and running away, _or by charging ahead to engage the enemy._ And the poets and philosophers of the day said the great virtue was the ability to keep a cool head and stand firm, unswayed by personal passions, no matter what the enemy does. I don't know whether the new philosophy spread because the philosophers were listening to the captains, or because the old-fashioned schools of philosophy had to shut down when the cities they had guided got sacked.

[@stadtbekanntertunichtgut]

Good summary Andy! Thanks a lot.

[@murrayscott9546]

Like Einstein was actually quite a spiritual personal person but also rational and analytical. They aren't necessarily separated. One can be both.

[@martinm3474]

Wonderfully shallow, great listening during supper of Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Gratitude for your style, it helps my balance of energy and I find some happiness within this.

[@SpeakyDeak]

lindy cares about our happiness! that makes me happy, nice one, i''m gonna wear beige today.