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Massimo Pigliucci

Goodreads Author


Born
in Monrovia, Liberia
Website

Genre

Influences

Member Since
June 2022

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Massimo Pigliucci is an author, blogger, podcaster, as well as the K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York.

His academic work is in evolutionary biology, philosophy of science, the nature of pseudoscience, and practical philosophy. His books include How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life (Basic Books) and Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk (University of Chicago Press).

His new book is How to Be a (Happy) Skeptic: The Power of Doubt in a Meaningful Life (Penguin).

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Massimo Pigliucci There aren't any mysteries in my life, I'm afraid. I'd rather write books than be the subject of one.…moreThere aren't any mysteries in my life, I'm afraid. I'd rather write books than be the subject of one.(less)
Average rating: 3.98 · 21,554 ratings · 2,090 reviews · 80 distinct worksSimilar authors
How to Be a Stoic: Using An...

4.03 avg rating — 15,348 ratings — published 2017 — 3 editions
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Nonsense on Stilts: How to ...

3.89 avg rating — 1,237 ratings — published 2008 — 11 editions
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A Handbook for New Stoics: ...

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4.05 avg rating — 1,183 ratings — published 2019 — 11 editions
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A Field Guide to a Happy Li...

3.75 avg rating — 1,120 ratings — published 2020 — 18 editions
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How to Live a Good Life: Ch...

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3.73 avg rating — 1,007 ratings — published 2020 — 5 editions
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Think like a Stoic: Ancient...

4.02 avg rating — 522 ratings3 editions
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Answers for Aristotle: How ...

3.76 avg rating — 354 ratings — published 2012 — 10 editions
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The Quest for Character: Wh...

3.95 avg rating — 257 ratings9 editions
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Beyond Stoicism

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3.65 avg rating — 164 ratings4 editions
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Philosophy of Pseudoscience...

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3.74 avg rating — 84 ratings — published 2013 — 5 editions
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Suggested Readings

Stoicism and beauty, image from Stoicism for Humans by Brittany Polat

“I would prefer not to”: The mystery behind literature’s most famous act of refusal. “I would prefer not to.” Those words, printed in white capital letters on a black T-shirt, are worn by a man surrounded by crates full of books in Zuccotti Park, downtown Manhattan. It is late October 2011, and the man doesn’t know it yet, bu

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Published on August 15, 2026 03:00
Marcia su Roma e ...
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Jailbird
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Shinto - Simple G...
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Suggested Readings



Stoicism and beauty, image from Stoicism for Humans by Brittany Polat“I would prefer not to”: The mystery behind literature’s most famous act of refu Read more of this blog post »
How to Think Like Socrates by Donald J. Robertson
" The "amateur philosopher" is clearly an amateur, as well as a reckless, commentator. I read the book before it came out, it ain't AI. ...more "
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Un Anno sull'Altipiano by Emilio Lussu
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Non sapevo di Emilio Lussu fino a che, poco tempo fa, un amico non me lo ha menzionato. Sono subito andato a leggermi Un Anno sull'Altipiano e l'ho trovato importante e affascinante. Affascinante perché è raro avere resoconti di prima mano sulla prim ...more
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Marcia su Roma e dintorni by Emilio Lussu
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Un Anno sull'Altipiano by Emilio Lussu
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22 Cells in Nuremberg  by Douglas M. Kelley
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This is one book that everyone ought to read, even though it had been out of print for a while before its recent re-release. If you have seen the movie "Nuremberg," starring Rami Malek and Russell Crowe, you have already met the author: US Army psych ...more
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Jailbird by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
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M. La fine e il principio by Antonio Scurati
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Penultimo volume della pentalogia di Antonio Scurati sull'ascesa e caduta del fascismo in Italia. Anche se si tratta di una versione romanzata (e comunque molto ben scritta), è bene notare che la documentazione storica è puntigliosa, con ogni capitol ...more
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Jainism by Sherry Fohr
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I was perplexed about Jainism before reading this book and my perplexity, if anything, has increased a bit. Setting aside the unusual practices for which the religion is known, especially among "renouncers," that is, monks and nuns who made strict vo ...more
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Shinto - Simple Guides by Ian  Reader
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Quotes by Massimo Pigliucci  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“If a theory purports to explain everything, then it is likely not explaining much at all.”
Massimo Pigliucci

“Better to endure pain in an honorable manner than to seek joy in a shameful one.”
Massimo Pigliucci, How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life

“[T]he nature of science is not that of a steady, linear progression toward the Truth, but rather a tortuous road, often characterized by dead ends and U-turns, and yet ultimately inching toward a better, if tentative, understanding of the natural world.”
Massimo Pigliucci, Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk

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“We should not be too confident in our belief of anything. (Cicero, Tusculan Disputations I.32)”
Marcus Tullius Cicero

“It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brains fall out.”
Carl Sagan

“UWTB, or the Universal Will to Become. UWTB is what makes universes out of nothingness—that makes nothingness insist on becoming somethingness.”
Kurt Vonnegut Jr., The Sirens of Titan

“I myself don’t know the facts of these matters, but I’ve never met anyone, including the people here today, who could disagree with what I’m saying and still avoid making himself ridiculous.”
Ward Farnsworth, The Socratic Method: A Practitioner's Handbook

“Renouncing the honors at which the world aims, I desire only to know the truth, and to live as well as I can, and, when I die, to die as well as I can. And, to the utmost of my power, I exhort all other men to do the same.”
Ward Farnsworth, The Socratic Method: A Practitioner's Handbook

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