SOURCE: Ferris, Paul. “A Guided Tour Round Wisdom.” Spectator 284, no. 8956 (1 April 2000): 53-4.

In the following review, Ferris examines the major philosophical figures discussed in The Consolations of Philosophy.

This stroll through the lives and works of half a dozen philosophers [The Consolations of Philosophy] is engagingly done, and as a bonus the publisher promises that the book will help us with ‘some of our most familiar woes’. As I read I did try applying advice to myself and seeing where that got me. Botton does much the same. He is in and out of the book, giving us glimpses of his visits to bookshops, his travels and his love life.

Epicurus (b. 341 BC) is presented as being helpful to those who don't have much money. Botton supplies a knowing wish-list for a 21st-century zillionaire of taste (a Gulfstream IV jet, ‘a half-moon commode by Grevenich’ etc), by way...