Soul Sustenance: Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations

Disclosure: I received complimentary products to facilitate this post. All opinions are my own.

Some time ago, journalist and writer Jules Evans went through an emotional crisis, which he made it through thanks to philosophy. This triggered a fascination with philosophy and how schools of thought from thousands of years ago are still appropriate today. Ancient philosophies from Socrates, Stoics, and many more have inspired communities that include the names in their titles - and also are being used, sometimes unknowingly, by everyone from soldiers to anarchists, professionals like psychologists and people in all walks of life.

Life is a very dangerous situation. The book Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations collects philosophies from ancient thinkers Socrates, Epictetus, Rufus, Seneca, Epicurus, Heraclitus, Pythagoras, Sceptics, Diogenes, Plato, Plutarch, and Aristotle. My favorite happens to be Pythagoras, because I love music and math. It was a great refresher on some thinkers I had heard before, and introduction to some new ones. If you're interested in philosophy or history, or even looking at ways to think about things differently, this would be a great book.

Journalist and writer Jules Evans is policy director at the Centre for the History of Emotions at Queen Mary, University of London. He helps run the London Philosophy Club, the biggest philosophy club in the world, with over 3,000 members, and is one of ten BBC Next Generation Thinkers for 2013.