Philosophy for Addiction Recovery, Self-Respect and Flourishing — Peg O’Connor | Ep 17

Join the Magnify Your Magnificence community: Get more conversations and practical wisdom to help you know your worth, trust yourself, and become more fully who you already are at https://magnifywithsue.com What if recovery is about more than stopping a behaviour—and also about rebuilding the relationship you have with yourself? In this conversation, Sue Paulson sits down with philosopher, author, and recovering alcoholic Peg O’Connor to explore how philosophy helped Peg recover from addiction, restore self-respect, and rethink what it means to live well. Peg shares how curiosity, faith, personal responsibility, and understanding what we can and cannot control can help us move through uncertainty and make different choices. They also explore why asking for help is not weakness, how addiction can erode self-respect, the importance of interdependence, and why recovery can begin with something as small as believing that a different life might be possible. If you’ve ever struggled with self-worth, change, uncertainty, or finding your way back to yourself, this conversation offers a thoughtful reminder: you deserve to flourish. Connect With Peg O’Connor Learn more about Peg, explore her writing, and take the free Ready to Recover Quiz: ⁠https://pegoconnorauthor.com⁠ The 15-question quiz is designed to help people understand where they are between recognising a problem and becoming ready to make a change. Chapters 00:00 Philosophy, wisdom and the questions we all ask 02:12 Why philosophy is more practical than we think 06:00 Understanding addiction through different perspectives 09:37 AI, information overload and learning how to think 13:00 Why curiosity matters more than having all the answers 15:39 Learning to live the questions 17:47 Wisdom, ageing and the value of intergenerational connection 19:01 A different definition of faith 20:37 How possibility can create change in recovery 23:32 How philosophy helped Peg get sober 25:33 The turning point in Peg’s recovery 26:57 Freedom, choice and intentional living 28:28 Focusing on what you can control 30:17 Why asking for help is not weakness 31:27 Independence vs interdependence 36:10 Addiction, stress and older women 38:38 Peg’s Ready to Recover Quiz 41:50 Self-forgiveness, self-respect and recovery 43:41 Why moral philosophy belongs in conversations about addiction 44:08 Why we all deserve to flourish