Donald J. Robertson's Blog, page 60
March 8, 2018
Lady Stoics #3: Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor
We don’t know much about female Stoics, except perhaps some of the daughters of famous Stoics who appear also to have been influenced by Stoics. For example, Porcia Catonis, the daughter of Cato of Utica, is portrayed in a manner that suggests she may have been a Stoic, as is Fannia, the daughter of Thrasea, …
February 25, 2018
The Stoic Socrates
Socrates was a hugely important figure for the ancient Stoics. We’re told that Zeno, the founder of Stoicism, was inspired to become a philosopher after a chance reading of Book Two from Xenophon’s Memorabilia of Socrates. Emulation of Socrates as a role model was clearly central to later Stoicism and perhaps goes right back to …
February 22, 2018
The Life and Opinions of Socrates
The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius is one of our main sources of anecdotes about ancient Greek philosophy. It was written around the first half the 3rd century AD but draws heavily on earlier sources. The information Diogenes gives us isn’t always reliable. Nevertheless, he remains one of our most important sources …
February 8, 2018
Enrolling Now: How to Think Like a Roman Emperor
I’m pleased to announce that my course on the life and Stoic philosophy of Marcus Aurelius, How to Think Like a Roman Emperor, is now enrolling, and starts on Sunday 18th February 2018. It only runs once or twice per year, though – so don’t miss out! The course will teach you how to apply philosophical …
February 7, 2018
Free E-book: The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
Free download available for one week only! This is the classic George Long translation of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations in e-book format. It’s the complete unabridged text. Get my E-book This translation is in the public domain but I wanted to create my own e-book edition so that I can upgrade it over time with notes, …
February 1, 2018
Stoicism Simplified
People often ask me for a very simplified description of Stoicism. To help newcomers to the subject, I created a free Crash Course in Stoicism with a video, quiz, popular quotes, etc., that takes less than ten minutes to complete. However, sometimes what’s called for is an “elevator pitch”, a one or two sentence description. That’s tricky! …
January 29, 2018
Podcast: Code of Character
Podcast on Stoicism for Code of Character: https://codeofcharacter.com/donaldrob... Some discussion points include: Stoicism vs. stoic The discipline of desire in an Instagram world How do we live in agreement with nature?
January 28, 2018
Notes on Stoic Ethics in Cicero’s De Finibus
These are my rough notes summarizing the discussion of Stoic Ethics in Cicero’s De Finibus. Cicero puts these words in the mouth of his deceased friend, the Stoic republican hero Cato of Utica. It’s very interesting to compare this to the similar discussion in Diogenes Laertius, our other major source for Stoic Ethics. The main …
January 27, 2018
Free Mini-Course on the Stoic Contemplation of Death
This is a free mini-course about the Stoic Contemplation of Death. It’s the text of a book chapter divided across several screens, with the ability for your to add comments on each section and discuss with others. Beginners will be able to follow this but it’s probably also suitable to more experienced students of Stoicism because …
January 26, 2018
Free E-book: Marcus Aurelius in the Roman Histories
Free download available for one week only! Marcus Aurelius in the Roman Histories is a new e-book that I created, which contains the main excerpts from historical sources describing the life of Marcus Aurelius and his reign as emperor of Rome. This mini-course contains download links that you can use to obtain copies of the …
