Is it necessary to endure pain to achieve good things in life? Ancient Roman Stoic philosopher Musonius Rufus seems to think so, and in fact wonders why the same people who will suffer for the sake of an illicit affair or to gain fame--things that will provide little of value--will not suffer as readily for…
Greetings! An essay I wrote on Chrysippus, one of the influential early Stoics, appeared on the 3 Quarks Daily site this week. Here is a link. On a separate note, anyone going to Stoicon-X in New York next week? Here is a link to more information. Donald Robertson, Bill Irvine, and Massimo Pigliucci will be…
Dear readers, I apologize for my absence, but I have been busy with a new writing gig at 3 Quarks Daily. I have had a monthly column there since the summer. Somehow it has taken up a lot of my time, but I love it. I had been feeling a little limited on this blog…
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,…
I'm new at this guest-posting thing, but I wanted to let my readers know that Leah Goldrick at Common Sense Ethics has graciously published a post that I wrote on Musonius Rufus' take on the ideal job and the ideal marriage. The post is here. Her blog is terrific and well worth a bookmark.
What I’m realizing lately is that it’s a good mental exercise to apply a Stoicism overlay to any theme: How would a Stoic react to [x]? I’ve enjoyed reading others analyze such diverse topics as suicide, waiting tables, and Angry Birds. In that spirit of discovery I thought I’d take on technology and our complex relationship to it. Technology…
I mentioned in my last post that I had ordered a copy of John Sellars’ Stoicism (University of California Press, 2006). I’m enjoying it very much, and while I haven’t made much progress yet, I was struck by several things that I thought I would share. Sellars begins his overview of Stoic philosophy by emphasizing…
