Massimo Pigliucci's Blog, page 9

Practice like a Stoic: 31, Act with reservation

Tyche, the goddess of fortune. Image from picryl.com, 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 philo...

Cicero on the value of philosophy

“For my part, Brutus, I am perfectly persuaded that it is expedient for me to philosophize; for what can I do better, especially as I have no regular occupation? But I am not for limiting my philosophy to a few subjects; for philosophy is a matter in which it is difficult to acquire a little knowledge without acquainting yourself with many, or all its branches.

Philosophy would never have been in such esteem in Greece itself, if it had not been for the strength which it acquired from the contenti...

Stoic role ethics: a primer

Panaetius (left), Cicero (center), and Epictetus (right), our sources for Stoic role ethics. Images from Wikimedia, CC license and by the Author.

We all play a number of roles in life, whether we explicitly think about them or not. For instance, I am, at least: a son, a father, a husband, a friend, a teacher, a colleague, a writer, and a citizen of two nation-states (Italy and the US). You can tell a lot about a person by identifying their roles and observing how they play them. In fact, arguably...

Practice like a Stoic: 30, Do whatever political good you can

Demonstrators holding signs during the March on Washington, 1963. Image from picryl.com, 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...

Plato's Laches

The Athenian general Nicias, a co-protagonist, together with Laches and Socrates, of this dialogue. 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 listeners can go back to t...

Video chat: Michael Fontaine on Cicero, jokes, and grief

Welcome to another entry in our occasional series of video chats with authors and translators who have written about the philosophy, culture, and history of the Greco-Roman tradition.

In this episode I talk to Michael Fontaine, a Latinist with broad interests in Ancient Rome, the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Enlightenment. Michael’s latest books are on willpower and free speech, both for Princeton University Press. Previous books covered wine, swine, grief, mind, breakups, and a good lau...

Practice like a Stoic: 29, Review your actions nightly

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 pertinent philosophical background. Check the b...

Aristotle on practicing virtue

“Virtue, then, is twofold, intellectual and moral. Both the coming-into-being and increase of intellectual virtue result mostly from teaching—hence it requires experience and time—whereas moral virtue is the result of habit, and so it is that moral virtue got its name [ēthikē] by a slight alteration of the term habit [ethos]. It is also clear, as a result, that none of the moral virtues are present in us by nature. …

For as regards those things we must learn how to do, we learn by doing them—for ...

Plato’s Academy as political think tank

Plato (left) and Socrates (right) in front of the modern Academy in Athens. Image from Wikimedia, CC license.

Plato’s Academy is arguably the most famous institution of higher learning in the history of humanity. And rightly so. Even though it certainly was nothing like the modern university, it gave us the very word, “academic,” to indicate the pursuit of intellectual excellence. (Naturally, the same word is also used disparagingly, as in “this is just academic”…)

According to the Online Etymolog...

Practice like a Stoic: 28, Put the sage on your shoulder

Cato the Younger, Stoic role model. Bronze bust from Volubilis, dated to the 1st century, Musée de l'Histoire et des Civilizations in Rabat, Morocco. 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 ...