Stoicism proposes an ongoing discipline of deliberately withdrawing one’s desires and aversions from external matters and applying them to what lies within one’s own person. Getting this distinction right—what is in our power and what is not—turns out to be integral to understanding and practicing Stoic philosophy as a way of life.
Books of Wisdom
What good are philosophy books? Can they make us any the wiser? A look at a humorous essay by Robert Wilson Lynd that demonstrates the difficulty of acquiring wisdom from books alone.
Episode 132: Living Stoically with Seneca and Massimo (Part One)
On selected “moral epistles” (from around 65 CE) by Lucius Annaeus Seneca: 4. On the Terrors of Death, 12. On Old Age, 49. On the Shortness of Life, 59. On Pleasure and Joy, 62. On Good Company, 92. On the Happy Life, 96. On Facing Hardship, and 116. On Self Control. We’re joined by Massimo Pigliucci of the How to Be a Stoic blog. How can one most profitably interpret weird-sounding Stoic recommendations about the emotions and about following nature?
Episode 132: Living Stoically with Seneca and Massimo (Citizen Edition)
On selected “moral epistles” (from around 65 CE) by Lucius Annaeus Seneca: 4. On the Terrors of Death, 12. On Old Age, 49. On the Shortness of Life, 59. On Pleasure and Joy, 62. On Good Company, 92. On the Happy Life, 96. On Facing Hardship, and 116. On Self Control. We’re joined by Massimo Pigliucci of the How to Be a Stoic blog, who for a long time was on the Rationally Speaking podcast. How can one most profitably interpret weird-sounding Stoic recommendations about the emotions and about following nature?
End song: “I Lose Control” by The MayTricks from So Chewy! (1993).
Episode 124: The Stoic Life with Epictetus (Part Two)
More on the Manual of Epictetus, aka The Enchiridion, from around 135 CE.
We discuss elements of E’s program including making your will “conformable to nature,” the connection between controlling your emotions and seeing truth, what exactly about our mentality we’re supposed to be able to control, engaging other people (or not), and how to behave at parties.
Listen to part one first or get the Citizen Edition.
Episode 124: The Stoic Life with Epictetus (Part One)
On the Manual of Epictetus, aka The Enchiridion (135 CE). What’s a wise strategy for life? Stoicism says that the secret is mastering yourself. If you let yourself be perturbed by things that happen to you, then you’re a slave to those external things. Your good lies only in the things you can (with practice) control, i.e., your own attitudes, judgments, and opinions. Even a slave can be free, according to this strategy: Nothing external can break your spirit unless you let it. So, how weird and misguided is that advice? With guest Alex Fossella.
Continued on part 2, or get the ad-free, unbroken Citizen Edition. Please support PEL!
Episode 124: The Stoic Life with Epictetus (Citizen Edition)
On the Manual of Epictetus, aka The Enchiridion (135 CE). What’s a wise strategy for life? Stoicism says that the secret is mastering yourself. If you let yourself be perturbed by things that happen to you, then you’re a slave to those external things. Your good lies only in the things you can (with practice) control, i.e., your own attitudes, judgments, and opinions. Even a slave can be free, according to this strategy: Nothing external can break your spirit unless you let it. So, how weird and misguided is that advice? With guest Alex Fossella. Learn more.
End song: “But I Won’t” by Mark Lint from Spanish Armada: Songs of Love and Related Neuroses (1993).
Topic for #124: The Stoic Life with Epictetus
We read Epictetus’s Manual aka the Enchiridion with guest Alex Fossella. Can people really control their emotions? Should they?