This book that we present has had, until now, more than 250,000 readers. Readers who have obtained, through the reflections of great thinkers such as Epicurus or Kant, inspiring ideas to respond and obtain useful advice when living and interpreting life. Answers from before to problems of today. ‘Philosophy for a unique life’ (editorial Maeva, 2022) is a ‘best seller’ that the philosophy professor, very popular in his country, Lammert Kamphuis (Voorburg, Netherlands, 1983) has managed to raise to number one in sales. Philosophy for the relationship with others, philosophy in times of affliction, for cowards and dishonest, philosophy for the relationship with the world… philosophy, after all, which is where we can find all the questions and all the answers for the soul, restlessness or restlessness. “You are already someone, you just have to find out who”, Aristotle assured; And you, do you dare to open these pages and find out? Come and read.
The fact of realizing that the answers already exist, is it a symptom of the lack of knowledge in our society, or of the fragility of memory?
For me the beauty of philosophy is that it is not so much about the answers, but more about asking the right questions. And by living these questions consciously, perhaps in some way you can be living little by little in your answers. As Socrates said: “I know that I know nothing and I am not even sure of it.”
Why is philosophy not as ‘at hand’ as the pseudosciences or mindfulness or yoga?
Western philosophy began in the streets of Athens, literally in the streets. But increasingly it became a high-level academic discourse among philosophers. In this work I try to return philosophy to the street. To the streets where it originally came from.
“In this work I try to return philosophy to the street”
Why is it so difficult for philosophy, so essential in history, to be so in the personal of each one?
We learn a lot of things in school, except the ones that really matter for the art of living. It would be great to have more life lessons in school, since we are all “thrown” into this life without knowing exactly how to live it. In this situation, it is useful to listen to the advice of the philosophers of the last 2,500 years.
You are a ‘best seller’, a ‘modern and popular philosopher in your country’, have you ever felt dizzy about responsibility?
The truth is, no. I love making the great ideas of philosophers more accessible to a larger audience. It is a pleasure to be able to do it in companies, at festivals, at conferences, on television and radio, etc.
Is there something that philosophy cannot answer?
My counter question would be: is there anything that philosophy can answer? Probably not so much. But by having philosophical conversations we learn to put our own ideas into perspective, which allows us to try to see things from someone else’s perspective. Philosophy is a healthy medicine against polarization. Therefore, philosophy helps us to have curious conversations, not to find answers.
«I love making the great ideas of philosophers more accessible to a wider audience»
This book teaches ‘the art of living’, could you give us three keys with which to become invincible in the face of day-to-day challenges?
I’m not sure they’ll make you invincible, but hopefully they’ll be useful:
First: Beware of high expectations. Our feeling of satisfaction is the result of our expectations reflected in reality. The higher our expectations, the more likely we are to be disappointed. We live in a culture where we are encouraged to believe that “the sky is the limit.” However, we could also say that everything is too much for those who do not expect too much. Or as the French philosopher Voltaire said: “The best is the enemy of the good.”
Second: Be aware that sometimes you make yourself freer by committing yourself.
Third: Do not forget that we are ‘homo ludens’ (creatures that play). Keep doing things in life and work that are not necessary, and that you do just for fun. And don’t always take yourself too seriously.
Are there problems intrinsic to a country, to a climate, for example? Are there ‘ad hoc’ solutions to every place in the world?
Each culture, each language, creates its own perspective of the world. This means that there are always differences in the philosophical ideas that resonate in each place. However, we all must face “the great questions of life”: Who am I? Where I am? How to live a meaningful life? How to be a good friend, partner or parent? How to deal with setbacks? etc.
Cicero said that there was a “medical art for the soul” and that this was philosophy. What would you like to remain in each of the readers of this work?
I love this quote from British philosopher Bertrand Russell: “The whole trouble with the world is that fools and fanatics are so sure of themselves, and wise men are so full of doubt.” I hope that the book invites people to think in a new way about themselves, about others and about the world, and that this makes them less secure and more open.
You are very young with a very old philosophy as your life guide, have you got the secret to fade the importance of time?
“We learn a lot of things in school, except the ones that really matter for the art of living”
(Laughs) One of the claims in my book is that we live in an “anti-aging culture.” This means that we seem to assume that being young is good and being old is bad. This is why many of us struggle with our personal aging process. However, everyone will lose this battle against time. It is probably more helpful to accept aging and enjoy the fruits of aging. For example, the older we get, the less we care what others think of us.
Do you know Spain?
Yes, I have been to many places in Spain and I have very good memories of all those trips. That makes it very special that my book is now being published in this beautiful country.