Eric Weiner’s journey into the ways philosophy compels us to live better

“The more we try to seize happiness, the more it slips from our grasp. Happiness is a by-product, never an objective. It’s an unexpected windfall from a life lived well.” –Eric Weiner

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Eric discuss why practicing (rather than just studying) philosophy is important (2:00); which philosophies make the most sense during pandemic, and Nietzsche’s notion of “Eternal Recurrence” (10:00); aging versus staying young, and the similarities between Greek and Buddhist philosophy (21:00); how travel underpins the philosophical journey, and how train travel promotes deep thinking (31:00); how walking enables thinking and reflection, and the value or art and music (42:00); and loving life while also coming to terms with death (53:00).

Eric Weiner (@Eric_Weiner) is an award-winning journalist, bestselling author, and speaker. His books include The Geography of Bliss and The Geography of Genius, as well as the spiritual memoir Man Seeks God and, his latest title, The Socrates Express. Eric is a former foreign correspondent for NPR, and reporter for The New York Times. For more about Eric, check out https://ericweinerbooks.com/

Notable Links:

• Stoicism (school of philosophy)
• Friedrich Nietzsche (philosopher)
• Albert Camus (philosopher)
• Groundhog Day (film)
• Thích Nhất Hạnh (Buddhist monk)
• Epicurus (philosopher)
• Simone de Beauvoir (writer / philosopher)
• Falling Upward, by Richard Rohr (book)
• Henry David Thoreau (essayist / philosopher)
• Arthur Schopenhauer (philosopher)
• Adagio for Strings (string orchestra arrangement)
• Michel de Montaigne (philosopher)
• Eric Hoffer (philosopher)
• Søren Kierkegaard (philosopher)
• Bhagavad Gita (Hindu scripture)
• Socrates (philosopher)
• Plato (philosopher)

This episode is brought to you by AirTreks, an industry leader in multi-stop international travel. AirTreks is a distributed travel company with employees working from all corners of the world to help with your flight planning, specializing in complex routes with up to 25 stops. The AirTreks website offers suggested pre-planned travel itineraries to help you get started, but can customize to fit your journey.

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

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