THE PHILOSOPHY CURE: LESSONS ON LIVING FROM THE GREAT PHILOSOPHERS

French publisher: Presses Universitaires de France

U.S. publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Translator: Jesse Browner

For centuries, philosophers have considered the “big questions” of human life, mulling over everything from ethics to the definition of reality. Their ideas and insights are powerful and innovative, but often inaccessible and far too academic for most readers. In The Philosophy Cure: Lessons on Living from the Great Philosophers, scholar and expert on Cartesian philosophy, Laurence Devillairs has stripped away the convoluted language, translating the core ideas and wisdom of some of the most prominent philosophers into simple concepts for modern readers. She skillfully reveals that far from being impractical or distantly academic, philosophy is, at its heart, a deeply useful discipline ultimately concerned with what it means to live a good and fulfilling life. 

Perfect for readers who are intrigued with philosophy, but who are uninterested in reading dense academic texts, The Philosophy Cure reveals the true wisdom of the best-known philosophers―from Socrates to Kant and Descartes.

Graduate of the École Normale Supérieure, associate, doctor and lecturer in philosophy, Laurence Devillairs is a specialist in Descartes and philosophy of the seventeenth century. She is Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy of the ICP and in the author of The Philosophy Cure along with several other books published in French.