Alain de Botton turns his utilitarian eye on the everyday experience. He carefully analyzes a wide spectrum of topics, including envy, friendship, sex, systems, structures, desire, self-help, and inadequacy. But no matter the subject, he always seeks to answer the same question: what makes life meaningful?

De Botton published his first book, Essays in Love, at 23. A “novel,” the book is a singular blending of fiction and nonfiction that intricately inspects human emotion. Global success came with his next book, How Proust Can Change Your Life, which showcased his considerable gifts as a philosopher. For his book A Week at the Airport he lived in at Heathrow airport, as their first Writer-in-Residence.

In 2013 he released, Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believer’s Guide to the Uses of Religion, which investigates peoples’ relationship to religion. The book looks at faith from a secular point of view, and suggests an alternative for atheists: steal the best of religion’s ideas and customize your own blueprint for belief without labeling it “religion.” The book covers a lot of terrain, including de Botton’s idea of building a temple to atheism in London and new proposals for community building by rethinking restaurants, hotels, and schools, among other institutions.

In addition to his writing, de Botton has founded the nonprofit organization Living Architecture, where renowned architects design unique homes for holiday rentals; Philosophersmail.com, a porthole for news written exclusively by philosophers, and The School of Life, a center for people actively exploring and engaged in ideas. He is an advocate for dismantling the current university system, and believes students should be rewarded for learning how to live. His most recent book is The Course of Love, a sequel to Essays in Love and an exciting return to the novel. The book examines life after marriage and questions the modern notion of love.

For the following interview, de Botton and I discussed big ideas, including his relationship to love and religion. We met for lunch at a restaurant in midtown Manhattan, and later followed up by email. There was a lot to discuss. —Amanda Stern

I. Bibliotherapy

THE BELIEVER: What kind of student were you?

ALAIN DE BOTTON: Well, at one level I was a very good student. I was dutiful. I had to please my parents—psychologically, for me—so I couldn’t be a bad student. But I knew that it was completely fake. I got really good grades because I became an expert at faking what the school, and then the university system, did.

BLVR: Did you learn anything?

ADB: Yes, I learned a lot, but it was...