PRODUCER: Three, two, one, action.

NARRATOR: AzzyLand presents

most of what you need to know about philosophy

in around five minutes.

The word philosophy tells us why the subject matters.

It's originally a word from Ancient Greek.

The first part, "philo," means love.

The second part "sophia" means wisdom.

So, philosophy means, quite literally,

"The love of wisdom."

But what does wisdom mean?

NARRATOR: Let's begin at the beginning, shall we?

Plato.

For Plato, the essence of living a wise life

came down to the command, "To know yourself."

His big idea was that our lives so often go wrong

because we don't give ourselves time

to think carefully and logically.

Meaning that we often end up with the wrong values,

careers and relationships.

I want to marry the princess.

You? Marry the princess? [LAUGHING]

AZZYLAND: Plato observed how proud

people were about their instincts,

making snap decisions based on how they felt.

He compared this to being dragged along

by a group of blindfolded wild horses.

[HORSE NEIGHS]

NARRATOR: Daoism.

AZZYLAND: Daoism, or "The Way,"

is based on the concept of wu wei,

which means "non-doing" or "doing nothing."

But it doesn't mean being lazy.

Wu wei is connected to reverence

for the natural world.

We should behave like bamboo that bends in the wind

or the plant that adjusts itself to the shape of a tree.

Instead of trying to force things,

we must put our egos aside

to be at one with the environment.

We can be like water, which is submissive and weak,

but it has the power to wear down

what is hard and strong.

NARRATOR: Stoicism.

Stoicism flourished for around 400 years

in Ancient Greece and Rome.

But it's still a useful guide for teaching us

how to be calm and brave

in these uncertain and anxious times.

What we need to do is systematically

and intelligently crush every last vestige of hope.

It is far better, the Stoics proposed,

to courageously come to terms with every worst possibility

and then make ourselves entirely at home with them,

embracing what could happen if our worst fears came true.

We would cope.

Vogue break!

[MUSIC PLAYING]

NARRATOR: Machiavelli.

Machiavelli said, wicked people use lies,

threats and violence to get their way.

And that's why they rule the world.

Machiavelli's most famous book...

The Prince.

[DRUMROLL]

The Prince gave advice to princes,

who ran things in those days, on how to get things done.

The Prince was not a guide to being a tyrant.

It's a guide about what nice people

need to learn from tyrants,

so they can be effective.

[SNAPS] Manstool?

NARRATOR: Nietzsche.

Nietzsche's boldest assertion was that God is dead

and we killed him.

This was not some kind of boast.

Nietzsche thought that religious beliefs are very useful.

And he called for a reformation

in which people would fill the gaps

created by the disappearance of religion

with the wisdom and healing beauty of culture.

NARRATOR: Existentialism.

The Existentialists focused on the agony of choice.

They asked us to reject the delusion

that perfection is within reach.

That sinking feeling that we had

that option to choose correctly, but failed,

is an illusion.

Disappointment is just an inevitable characteristic

of the human condition.

[EXHALES]

[LAUGHS]

Philosophy used to be [BLEEP] cool,

with people like Socrates out in the streets

in Ancient Greece asking people real questions

and discussing [SNAPS] big ideas.

Over time, those big ideas

have become stuck in universities

and debated by people with no interest

in actually improving the world.

But the Internet is turning the tables

and philosophy is back, baby,

with ordinary people asking deep questions

in discussions just like this one.

Right here, on YouTube.

NARRATOR: So, now that you've had a crash course

in what philosophy actually is,

catch up on the rest of the series,

as some of YouTube's most popular creators

tackle some of philosophy's most intriguing ideas,

right here, on The School of Life.

Want to know more? Of course you do.

Click the link below.