AQA 63336 celebrity answers - Alain de Botton

Given that one of AQA's most frequently answered questions is "What is the meaning of life?" we thought it would be a good idea to approach a philosopher to see what they would say to some of the questions we get asked. Alain de Botton is famous for making philosophy relevant to everyday life. He's a writer and television producer whose work includes "How Proust can change your life" and "The Art of Travel". He also has the advantage over many other philosophers we admire of actually being alive. See his answers below, and if you'd like to find out more about Alain go here. Q. Who is Alain de Botton? A. A writer trying to answer some of the big, but everyday questions of life in a clear, elegant and entertaining way. Q. What's the meaning of life? A. To find work you enjoy and are good at – and to be kind towards people you can relate to.

Q. If you could have AQA 63336 answer any question for you, what would it be?
A. How much does a Eurostar train cost to build (I need this question answered for a book I'm currently writing).

Q. What book are you reading now?
A. Infrastructure by Brian Hayes, a fabulous guide to all the machinery that makes our civilisation possible: airports, power stations, water purification plants etc.

Q. Is it better to travel hopefully, than to arrive?
A. Happiness is mostly derived from pursuing a goal. As soon as you've achieved it, within 15 minutes, the mind starts to get restless for a new challenge.

Q. Who would win in a fight between Marcel Proust and Soren Kierkegaard?
A. Proust would immediately surrender and try to charm Kierkegaard by telling him how much he had enjoyed his work. In that way, surreptitiously, he would win.

Q. Is philosophy the preserve of the middle and upper classes?
A. Artists and thinkers have always come from all social classes and there are few groups more boorish than the old-fashioned English gentry.

Q. Which experiment could provide the most important philosophical answers to humanity, regardless of practicality and/or morality?
A. It would be fascinating to run experiments about how much nature and nurture influence upbringing. You could try out educating the same child in a number of different ways and plot the results.

Q. Is there a god?
A. Not in my eyes, but that's not to say that religion ceases to be interesting at that point. For me, the most uninteresting thing about religion is the issue of whether god exists or not. Everything else is fascinating.

Q. What is beauty?
A. Beauty is a material version of what we call 'good' more generally. Beauty is also a promise of happiness.

Q. How do you feel Londoners have changed in your lifetime?
A. It's becoming increasingly impossible for the professional middle classes to maintain their standard of living. A journalist or lawyer does not enjoy the kind of lifestyle which was possible 20 years ago.

Q. What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
A. The advice not to worry so much.

Q. Do you think being called Bert Grimes would have set you on a different career path? If so, what?
A. Under that name, I would almost certainly have followed my alternative career path: to be an architect. Grimes has a solid sounding name that would be a perfect way to reassure clients.

For more information on AQA 63336 please contact:

Donald Parish donald.parish@shinecom.com
Shine Communications Tel: +442071007100