Massimo Pigliucci's Blog, page 14

The problem with Deepak Chopra

Deepak Chopra in 2006, Wikimedia, CC license.

Deepak Chopra, the renowned author of ninety (!) books, including several New York Times best sellers, has done it again: he has once more shot at science in a recent article entitled “The New Atheism and the Delusions of Science.” His target, in part, is the movement known as New Atheism, which is strange since there hasn’t been anything new about the New Atheism for years, and two of the four original “Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” have now passed aw...

Suggested Readings

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

Even the smartest AI likely won’t be “alive.” Here’s why. Is life itself, sentient or not, something that can be represented in a machine? In other words, is life computable? Whatever life is, can it be reduced to a series of mathematical operations carried out by a computer? Today, I want to introduce you to a remarkable thinker who asked this question more than 30 years ago and whose answer remains important, in...

Practice like a Stoic: 16, Contemplate death, and how to live

An old and wise human being, by DALL-E

[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 ...

On the Stoic God (or absence thereof)

Pantheism, by DALL-E

I consider myself a Stoic practitioner, with more than a pinch of Skepticism added to my philosophy of life. Yet, I just finished reading a book that basically tells me that unless I believe in the ancient Stoic God I’m not really a Stoic, but rather someone who just uses Stoic-inspired life hackery to muddle through existence.

So let’s settle this matter once and for all, shall we? Just kidding. Of course we will never settle this sort of things, because people will believe w...

Book: The Expedition of Cyrus

The Expedition of Cyrus, by Xenophon, translated by Robin Waterfield.

Summary:

The Expedition of Cyrus tells the story of the march of the Ten Thousand. The exploits of this famous army of Greek mercenaries in modern-day Turkey, Syria, and Iraq were described by one of their leaders, the Athenian historian and philosopher Xenophon.

They were recruited at the end of the fifth century BC by a young Persian prince, Cyrus, who rose in revolt against his brother, the king of Persia. After Cyrus' death,...

Practice like a Stoic: 15, Remind yourself of impermanence

Image courtesy of DALL-E

[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 book for d...

How to be healthy with Galen

[Based on How to Be Healthy: An Ancient Guide to Wellness, by Galen, translated by Katherine D. Van Schaik. Full book series here.]

I’ve made it a personal project for a while now to read, and comment on, all of the entries in the ongoing “Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers” series being put out by Princeton University Press. Besides, the editor of the series, Rob Tempio, has promised me a nice lunch out if I keep going, so…

The question can reasonably be raised, though, as to why anyone would thin...

Suggested Readings

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

Pompeii: Breathtaking new paintings found at ancient city. Stunning artworks have been uncovered in a new excavation at Pompeii, the ancient Roman city buried in an eruption from Mount Vesuvius in AD79. Archaeologists say the frescos are among the finest to be found in the ruins of the ancient site. Mythical Greek figures such as Helen of Troy are depicted on the high black walls of a large banqueting hall. The ...

Practice like a Stoic: 14, Evaluate your goals

The Choice of Hercules (between vice, right, and virtue, left), by Annibale Carracci, 1596. Image from Wikimedia, CC.

[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 p...

On the worth of comedy and tragedy

An Ancient Greek tragedy being performed in a grand open-air theater in ancient Athens, generated by DALL-E.

We tend to think of Marcus Aurelius as a philosopher-king, and in a sense he was, though the ancient Romans were allergic to the word “king” and preferred Imperator, which technically just meant supreme commander of the troops, the equivalent of a modern American President being hailed as “commander-in-chief.”

Emperors ever since the first one, Octavian Augustus, the adopted son of Julius C...