Massimo Pigliucci's Blog, page 11

Epictetus’s radical Stoicism—Part II

Epictetus, engraving by Juan de Noort, 1635. Image from boudewijnhuijgens.getarchive.net, CC license.

As I’ve explained in my previous essay, the philosopher Epictetus of Hierapolis has changed my life when I first encountered him a decade ago. He is often presented as a rather “conservative” Stoic, whose philosophy reaches back to that of the third Scholarch of the Stoa, Chrysippus of Soli. But I don’t think that picture is quite right. In my mind Epictetus was a radical innovator, who managed t...

Practice like a Stoic: 24, Premeditate on encountering difficult people

Image from stocksnap.io, CC license.

[This series of posts is based on A Handbook for New Stoics—How to Thrive in a World out of Your Control, co-authored by yours truly and Greg Lopez. It is a collection of 52 exercises, which we propose reader try out one per week during a whole year, to actually live like a Stoic. In Europe/UK the book is published by Rider under the title Live Like A Stoic. Below is this week’s prompt and a brief explanation of the pertinent philosophical background. Check th...

Well, I tried...

Dear friends and supporters,

As you know, The Philosophy Garden (formerly Figs in Winter, here is why we changed name) is an outlet that allows me to pursue what is increasingly becoming my main mission: studying and practicing philosophy as a way of life and helping interested others to do likewise to the best of my abilities.

Several weeks ago I decided to make all posts here at The Philosophy Garden free so that more people could access them and, hopefully, benefit from them. This included thre...

Cicero on burying one’s body

“The opinion of Socrates respecting this matter is clearly stated in the book which treats of his death, of which we have already said so much; for when he had discussed the immortality of the soul, and when the time of his dying was approaching rapidly, being asked by Crito how he would be buried, ‘I have taken a great deal of pains,’ said he, ‘my friends, to no purpose, for I have not convinced our Crito that I shall fly from hence, and leave no part of me behind. Notwithstanding, Crito, if yo...

Epictetus’s radical Stoicism—Part I

Epictetus, ink drawing by Jean Desmarets de Saint-Sorlin, 1653. Image from picryl.com, CC license.

There is no question that the Stoic philosopher Epictetus (50-135 CE) has been a major influence in my life. I first encountered him during a “Stoic Week” back in 2014. Specifically, this passage:

“If you are writing to a friend and are at a loss as to what to write, the art of grammar will tell you; yet whether or no you are to write to your friend at all, the art of grammar will not tell. The same ...

Practice like a Stoic: 23, Don't speak about yourself

Wood engraving after George Du Maurier, image from Wikimedia, CC license.

[This series of posts is based on A Handbook for New Stoics—How to Thrive in a World out of Your Control, co-authored by yours truly and Greg Lopez. It is a collection of 52 exercises, which we propose reader try out one per week during a whole year, to actually live like a Stoic. In Europe/UK the book is published by Rider under the title Live Like A Stoic. Below is this week’s prompt and a brief explanation of the pertine...

Aristotle and the structure of the soul

“Of the non-rational [component of the soul], one part seems to be that which is held in common and vegetative—I mean that which causes nutrition and growth. For someone could posit that such a capacity of the soul is in all things that are nourished. …

A certain virtue belonging to this capacity, then, appears to be common and not distinctive of a human being. …

Yet there seems to be also a certain other nature of the soul that is non-rational, although it does share in reason in a way. For in th...

Suggested Readings

Woman with wax tablets and stylus (so-called "Sappho"), Naples Archeological Museum

The know-how of virtue. How can we be good people who do things for the right reason, when we very often confabulate a good reason for our behavior after the fact? Imagine, for example, that I do not give money to a person in need on the street, and instead rush home. But then, later on, my friend mentions seeing the person who needed help and I express that I saw them too. Then they ask me, ‘why didn’t you help t...

Practice like a Stoic: 22, Roll with insults

Image from ndla.no, CC license.

[This series of posts is based on A Handbook for New Stoics—How to Thrive in a World out of Your Control, co-authored by yours truly and Greg Lopez. It is a collection of 52 exercises, which we propose reader try out one per week during a whole year, to actually live like a Stoic. In Europe/UK the book is published by Rider under the title Live Like A Stoic. Below is this week’s prompt and a brief explanation of the pertinent philosophical background. Check the boo...

Plato's Ion

Clovis Cazes, Le Rhapsode, 1913, Musée des Jacobins. Image from Wikimedia, CC license.

The Practical Wisdom podcast I produce is not for the faint of heart. Each series of episodes presents a deep dive into a single text from the Greco-Roman wisdom tradition. From time to time, as in the case of this post, it may helpful to pause and collect together all the entries referring to the same piece of classical writing, so that people listeners can go back to them at their leisure, listen to them in s...