The Tao Te Ching or Laozi is a Chinese classic text and foundational work of Taoism traditionally credited to the sage Laozi, though the text's authorship, date of composition and date of compilation are debated. The oldest excavated portion dates to the late 4th century BC.
Laozi, also romanized as Lao Tzu and various other ways, is a semi-legendary ancient Chinese philosopher and author of the Tao Te Ching (Laozi), the foundational text of Taoism along with the Zhuangzi. A Chinese honorific typically translated as "the Old Master (zi)", the name and text were likely intended to portray an archaic anonymity that could converse with Confucianism. Modern scholarship generally regards his biographical details as later inventions, and his opus a collaboration. Traditional accounts addend him as Li Er, born in the 6th century BC state of Chu during China's Spring and Autumn period. Serving as the royal archivist for the Zhou court at Wangcheng, he met and impressed Confucius on one occasion, composing the Tao Te Ching in a single session before retiring into the western wilderness.
Zhuang Zhou, commonly known as Zhuangzi, was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BCE during the Warring States period, a period of great development in Chinese philosophy, the Hundred Schools of Thought. He is credited with writing—in part or in whole—a work known by his name, the Zhuangzi, which is one of two foundational texts of Taoism, alongside the Tao Te Ching.
Fajia, or the School of fa, often translated as Legalism, is a school of mainly Warring States period classical Chinese philosophy. Often interpreted in the West along realist lines, its members works contributed variously to the formation of the bureaucratic Chinese empire, and early elements of Daoism. The later Han takes Guan Zhong, associated with the Guanzi, as forefather of the Fajia. Its more Legalistic figures include ministers Li Kui and Shang Yang, and more Daoistic figures Shen Buhai and philosopher Shen Dao, with the late Han Feizi drawing on both. Later centuries took Xun Kuang as a teacher of Han Fei and Li Si. Succeeding emperors and reformers often followed the templates set by Han Fei, Shen Buhai and Shang Yang, but the Qin to Tang were more characterized by their traditions.
Alain de Botton is a Swiss-born British author and public speaker. His books discuss various contemporary subjects and themes, emphasizing philosophy's relevance to everyday life. He published Essays in Love (1993), which went on to sell two million copies. Other bestsellers include How Proust Can Change Your Life (1997), Status Anxiety (2004), and The Architecture of Happiness (2006).
Han Fei, also known as Han Feizi, was a Chinese Legalist philosopher and statesman during the Warring States period. He was a prince of the state of Han.
Affluenza describes the psychological and social effects of affluence. It is a portmanteau of affluence and influenza, and is used most commonly by critics of consumerism. Some psychologists consider it to be a pseudo-scientific term, however the word continues to be used in scientific literature.
Status Anxiety is a nonfiction book by Alain de Botton. It was first published in 2004 by Hamish Hamilton; subsequent publications have been by Penguin Books.
Steven Poole is a British author, journalist, and video game theorist. He particularly concerns himself with the abuse of language and has written two books on the subject: Unspeak (2006) and Who Touched Base in My Thought Shower? (2013).
Alain LeRoy Locke was an American writer, philosopher, and educator. Distinguished in 1907 as the first African American Rhodes Scholar, Locke became known as the philosophical architect—the acknowledged "Dean"—of the Harlem Renaissance. He is frequently included in listings of influential African Americans. On March 19, 1968, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed: "We're going to let our children know that the only philosophers that lived were not Plato and Aristotle, but W. E. B. Du Bois and Alain Locke came through the universe."
Traditionalist conservatism, often known as classical conservatism, is a political and social philosophy that emphasizes the importance of transcendent moral principles, manifested through certain posited natural laws to which it is claimed society should adhere. It is one of many different forms of conservatism. Traditionalist conservatism, as known today, is rooted in Edmund Burke's political philosophy, which represented a combination of Whiggism and Jacobitism, as well as the similar views of Joseph de Maistre, who attributed the rationalist rejection of Christianity during previous decades of being directly responsible for the Reign of Terror which followed the French Revolution. Traditionalists value social ties and the preservation of ancestral institutions above what they perceive as excessive rationalism and individualism. One of the first uses of the phrase "conservatism" began around 1818 with a monarchist newspaper named "Le Conservateur", written by Francois Rene de Chateaubriand with the help of Louis de Bonald.
Gilbert de Botton was an Egyptian-Israeli-Swiss financial pioneer, who is considered the inventor of the open architecture model of asset management, whereby a financial institution offers third-party products to their clients. He was also a prominent art collector.
The Consolations of Philosophy (ISBN 0-140-27661-0) is a non-fiction book by Alain de Botton. First published by Hamish Hamilton in 2000, subsequent publications have been by Penguin Books.
Tom Butler-Bowdon is a non-fiction author based in Oxford, England.
John Armstrong is a British writer and philosopher living in Hobart, Australia. He was born in Glasgow and educated at Oxford and London, later directing the philosophy program at the University of London's School of Advanced Study. Armstrong was philosopher in residence at the Melbourne Business School and senior adviser to the vice-chancellor of Melbourne University until 2014. In 2014 he became a professorial fellow at the University of Tasmania. He is the author of several books on philosophical themes.
Philippa, Lady Perry, is a British integrative psychotherapist and author.
Religion for Atheists: A non-believer's guide to the uses of religion is a book by Alain de Botton published in 2012. It argues that while supernatural claims made by religion are false, some aspects of religion are still useful and can be applied in secular life and society. Religion for Atheists was published in the UK in hardback edition by Hamish Hamilton, and in the US by Pantheon. Religion for Atheists was a New York Times non-fiction bestseller, and has been widely reviewed, with mixed results.
Ibram Xolani Kendi is an American author, professor, anti-racist activist, and historian of race and discriminatory policy in the U.S. He is author of books including Stamped from the Beginning, How to Be an Antiracist and Antiracist Baby. Kendi was included in Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2020.
The Department of Philosophy is an academic division in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at King's College London. It is one of the largest and most distinguished centres for the study of philosophy in the United Kingdom.
Think Big and Kick Ass: In Business and in Life is a non-fiction book by Donald Trump, then head of The Trump Organization and later President of the United States, and Bill Zanker, The Learning Annex entrepreneur, first published in hardcover in 2007 by HarperCollins. Another edition was subsequently published in paperback in 2008 under the title Think Big: Make It Happen in Business and Life. Trump and Zanker had prior business ventures together before writing the book; Zanker's company helped gain Trump speaking engagements around the world with large audiences.
