On René Descartes’s Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One's Reason and of Seeking Truth in the Sciences (1637). This narrative summary of Descartes's intellectual life was his first actual publication, four years before his Meditations. Unlike the unpublished Rules for Direction of the Mind (1629), this text doesn't actually dwell on his method at length, though Continue Reading …
Ep. 205: Suicide with Dr. Drew (Durkheim et al) (Citizen Edition)
We are rejoined by Drew Pinsky to discuss philosophical, psychological, and sociological readings on suicide. Is suicide ever morally permissible? If it's a symptom of mental illness rather than a chosen behavior, is it even appropriate to morally evaluate it? Last time Drew joined us, he helped us add clinical depth to an area that we'd already talked about Continue Reading …
PREVIEW-Ep 201 Marcus Aurelius’s “Meditations” (Part Three)
Mark and Seth build on parts 1 and 2 of our discussion of Marcus to get further into the specifics of his metaphysics and how this is supposed to relate to behavior. Can Stoic directives really come solely "from reason," as he claims? How does this interact with the behaviors that we pursue (appropriately, according to Marcus) "by nature," i.e., without conscious deliberation Continue Reading …
Ep. 201 Follow-Up: More on Marcus Aurelius’s “Meditations” (Citizens Only)
Mark and Seth get further into the specifics of Marcus's metaphysics and how this is supposed to relate to behavior. Can his directives really come solely "from reason," as he claims? How does this interact with the behaviors that we pursue (appropriately, according to Marcus) "by nature," i.e., without conscious deliberation required? Seth is concerned with how individualistic Continue Reading …
Ep. 201: Marcus Aurelius’s Stoicism with Ryan Holiday (Part Two)
More on The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (180 CE) and Ryan's The Daily Stoic (2016). We talk Stoicism as "pre-mourning," love of fate even with trauma, are Stoics committed to a divine plan, Stoic political ethics, ethical models for emulation, and the idea of overwriting your brain with the Stoic operating system. Hear part 1 first, or get the full, unbroken Citizen Continue Reading …
Ep. 201: Marcus Aurelius’s Stoicism with Ryan Holiday (Part One)
On The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (ca. 180 CE) plus Ryan's The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living (2016), which was co-written with Stephen Hanselman and features original translations and interpretations of passages from Marcus, Seneca, Epictetus, and others. What does Stoicism look like in practice, in both ancient and modern Continue Reading …
Ep. 201: Marcus Aurelius’s Stoicism with Ryan Holiday (Citizen Edition)
On The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (ca. 180 CE) plus Ryan's The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living (2016), which was co-written with Stephen Hanselman and features original translations and interpretations of passages from Marcus, Seneca, Epictetus, and others. What does Stoicism look like in practice, in both ancient and modern Continue Reading …
“Mind Games” and “Word Games”: Practical Philosophers, Give Philosophy a Chance!
In preparation for our episode #201 with Ryan Holiday about Marcus Aurelius, our third bout with Stoicism, I have been listening to many episodes of The Practical Stoic podcast, which features among other things, very good interviews with Ryan, with our previous guest Massimo, and with friend-of-our-podcast Gregory B. Sadler. If you're looking for a quick historical overview of Continue Reading …
Life-Hack Stoicism—Is It Worth It?
Millennials in the West have graduated into or grown up in one of the worst and most prolonged recessions. Granted, this isn’t 1929, and most young people caught up in it are stuck in their parents’ basement and not on the breadline. And, with that, any notion of public sympathy is generally tossed aside and replaced with calls of “toughen up” and “get over Continue Reading …
Episode 158: Boethius: The Consolation of Philosophy (Part One)
On the Consolation, written as Boethius awaited execution in 524 CE. Do bad things really happen to good people? Boethius, surprisingly, says no, for Stoic (anything that can be taken away can't be of central importance; you can't lose your virtue in this way), Aristotelian (all things tend toward the good, and the best thing for a person is achieving his or her innate Continue Reading …
Ep. 158: Boethius: The Consolation of Philosophy (Citizen Edition)
On the Consolation, written as Boethius awaited execution in 524 CE. Do bad things really happen to good people? Boethius, surprisingly, says no, for Stoic (anything that can be taken away can't be of central importance; you can't lose your virtue in this way), Aristotelian (all things tend toward the good, and the best thing for a person is achieving his or her innate Continue Reading …
What Epictetus Really Thinks Is in Our Power
The distinction between what is "up to us"—"under our control", "in our power," or if you prefer, "our business" (ep'humin in Greek)—and what is not up to us (ouk ep'humin), eventually becomes a central doctrine of the Stoic school and tradition of philosophy. This particularly so in the thought of the late Stoic Epictetus, where the presently much-discussed "dichotomy of Continue Reading …
Episode 144: Guest Martha Nussbaum on Anger
On Anger and Forgiveness: Resentment, Generosity, Justice (2016). What role should we allow anger to play in our public life? Should systems of punishment be strictly impartial, or should they be retributive, i.e., expressive of public anger? Nussbaum thinks that anger necessarily involves the desire for payback, and that this is nearly always unhelpful. We should instead use Continue Reading …
Ep. 144: Guest Martha Nussbaum on Anger (Citizen Edition)
On Anger and Forgiveness: Resentment, Generosity, Justice (2016). What role should we allow anger to play in our public life? Should systems of punishment be strictly impartial, or should they be retributive, i.e., expressive of public anger? Nussbaum thinks that anger necessarily involves the desire for payback, and that this is nearly always unhelpful. We should instead use Continue Reading …
Episode 132: Living Stoically with Seneca and Massimo
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 Continue Reading …
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 Continue Reading …
Entering the Stoic World, Part 2: Metaphysics
This post examines the metaphysics or philosophy of nature behind the Stoic views on community and detachment described in Part 1, and how this metaphysics changed in the later centuries of the school's history. Before going into detail, it will be helpful to contextualize the Stoics' metaphysics within their broader tradition of philosophy. Despite preferring their porticoes Continue Reading …
Entering the Stoic World, Part 1: Cynicism 2.0
Monday the 2nd to Sunday the 8th of November 2015 is the fourth annual international Live Like A Stoic Week. The organizers, Stoicism Today, have provided lots of resources on mental exercises and principles of virtue to assist you in the endeavor, along with psychological reasons for aspiring to this practice in the modern world. So, why I am here? To provide some less Continue Reading …
Parables as a Guide to Jesus the Philosopher, Part 8: More Possessiveness
This part continues straight on from the previous one, exploring the virtue of nonpossessivenes in relation to Jesus's parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13–21), but also takes a look at some similarities between this virtue and ideas from other ancient traditions. Continue Reading …
Take on da Noise
According to Seneca, the need for absolute quiet as a prerequisite to serious reflection signals that one's thoughts and emotions, not environmental conditions, are in turmoil. Seneca lived above a Roman bathhouse and was, one assumes, daily (and nightly) serenaded with the sounds of splashing water, the snapping of wet towels, the emetic gurgling of drains—and probably a few Continue Reading …