Can a woman be a Stoic? “What a ridiculous question,” I can imagine debaters on both sides saying. I was reading an old book the other day describing a Stoic woman as a contradiction in terms, like “sweet vinegar.” I actually don't think this particular fusty gentleman was being a chauvinist, but rather that he…
Stoicism for crises
It has been an eventful, challenging past few months. I have been wondering for a while how Stoicism would help me deal with an actual crisis--but to be honest, I fell short of wishing for a crisis to come so that I could be tested. I’m soft, and it’s the holiday season. Needless to say,…
Objects of devotion in Stoicism
Erich Fromm When one’s own rationality is obscured, it is hard to turn to a system of thought such as Stoicism, which prizes human reason and logic as the means of rising above adversity. When we are in a rational frame of mind, its precepts make sense and form a worldview that is solid and…
Reflections on Stoic beginnings
As I prepare mentally to attend my first “Stoicon,” taking place tomorrow in New York City (including Stoic acceptance of the reality that I need to take a 7 a.m. train into the city on a Saturday), I pause to reflect on what led me to Stoicism in the first place. It’s a complicated stew…
