seen from Switzerland
seen from Maldives
seen from Denmark
seen from Brazil
seen from Russia
seen from Belgium
seen from Germany
seen from Philippines
seen from United States
seen from Chile
seen from China
seen from Philippines
seen from China
seen from El Salvador
seen from Jordan
seen from Russia
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Belarus
seen from United States
How To Be A Stoic, Re-read, Final Notes, Week 16
There are several themes that I would like to highlight as we wrap up the re-read of How To Be A Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci. The first and perhaps the most important is the impact of an exceptional bookstore. I picked this book up at Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, MI. But for that small bit of serendipity, my life would have been different. Support your local bookstore and if you don’t have…
How To Be A Stoic Re-read, Chapter 14, Practical Spiritual Exercises, Week 15
“Admit not sleep into your tender eyelids till you have reckoned up each deed of the day large – how have I erred, what done or left undone? So Start, and so review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad.” – Epictetus I have read and re-read the opening quote from Epictetus several times. I interpret the quote as a call for daily retrospectives. This is a practice…
View On WordPress
How To Be A Stoic Re-read, Chapter 13, Love and Friendship, Week 14
This is the second to the last chapter of How To Be A Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci. The question of which book we should re-read next naturally comes to mind at this point. Please let me know your suggestions. In Chapter 13, Love and Friendship, we continue to address the third Stoic discipline, Assent (how to react to situations). The central core of the chapter is to show how a Stoic should…
View On WordPress
How To Be A Stoic Re-read, Chapter 12, How To Deal With Anger, Anxiety, And Loneliness, Week 13
This is an interesting chapter to be re-reading in early November 2024. Anger, anxiety, and loneliness are difficult topics because they are personal. It is easy to take a myopic view and tell ourselves that these are someone else’s problems. Or worse that they need to be walled up. They aren’t and they shouldn’t be. Continue reading How To Be A Stoic Re-read, Chapter 12, How To Deal With…
View On WordPress
How To Be A Stoic Re-read, Chapter 11 On Death and Suicide, Week12
Chapter 11, On Death and Suicide, begins Part 3 of How To Be A Stoic. Death and suicide are not popular conversation topics at lunch even during the worst project. However, as I read this chapter for a second time I considered the topic from two directions which helped me extract ideas from the chapter that made the topic less likely to clear the room. Continue reading How To Be A Stoic…
View On WordPress
How To Be A Stoic Re-read, Chapter 10: Disability And Mental Illness, Week 11
The author begins this chapter of How To Be A Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci reminding us that Stoicism’s goal is to help people live the best life possible. He uses the stories of three people to illustrate how Stoicism can help people deal with difficult problems. I see this chapter as related to chapter 9’s discussion of role models. Continue reading How To Be A Stoic Re-read, Chapter 10:…
How To Be A Stoic Re-read, The Role of Role Models, Chapter 9, Week 10
Chapter 9 of Massimo Pigliucci’s How to Be a Stoic (buy a copy and read along) wrestles with the source of human virtue. The author, Massimo Pigliucci, is a professor of philosophy who holds PhDs in philosophy, genetics, and evolutionary biology and has published extensively on nature versus nurture. In this chapter, he uses science as a lens to explore Stoic ideas focusing on role models as an…
View On WordPress
How To Be A Stoic Re-read, Chapter 6 – God or Atoms, Week 7
Chapter 6 of How To Be A Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci, titled God or Atoms?, discusses the Stoic view of God. As I have discussed this chapter with friends it becomes easy to conflate Stoism with religion. I remind myself in these conversations that Stoicism is not a religion. The difference is that philosophy seeks to understand and question while religion often provides answers and a framework…
