Alain de Botton:

Atheism 2.0

In 1997, Alain de Botton’s first non-fiction book, How Proust Can Change Your Life became a bestseller in the US and UK. In The Consolations of Philosophy (2000) he showed how the teachings of philosophers such as Socrates, Epicurus, Montaigne, Nietzsche and Schopenhauer can be applied to modern everyday woes such as unpopularity, feelings of inadequacy, financial worries, broken hearts -- and the general problem of suffering.

In The Art of Travel, de Botton lyrically examines themes in the psychology of travel, and in Status Anxiety (2004), the almost universal anxiety about what others think of us. The Architecture of Happiness (2006) discusses the nature of beauty in architecture as this relates to the well-being and contentment of the individual and society. The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (2009) looks into the beauty, interest and occasional horror of the modern work world.

In July 2011, he spoke at TED about Atheism 2.0, an atheism that incorporates our human need for connection, ritual and transcendence. Sound rather  Buddhist to you?...Make up your own mind. Entertaining and smart.