One of the virtues of stoicism is justice and the stoics of old were renowned for speaking truth to power.While I do not really speak truth to power here, these words are adressed to someone I love and who, by the rules of our culture, is above me in status. …
Well, two weeks into my (hopefully) Year of Minimalism™ and temperance is in action. I was actually not aware how often you just give in to unnecessary purchases every time you go shopping. It is the little things, the extra bar of chocolate, the premium yogurt etc. But then also …
A few weeks ago I drastically decreased my engagement with Facebook and instead went to a friendlier competitor, MeWe, because Professor Massimo Pigliucci had founded a group there, How to Be a Stoic. The group is great and refreshingly troll-free. Through this group I have met a few wonderful and …
Yesterday I failed to live up to stoic ideals by becoming angry at a colleague. The situation was the following: The colleague in question had last week loudly proclaimed that they were not willing to do any extra work concerning working with the new computer system and remote teaching tools …
One may rightly wonder, if the teachings of a school of philosophy that was founded about 2300 years ago are still relevant today. 2300 years is a speck in evolutionary time and we as a species have not changed much. We still face the same problems, behave in the very …
In common usage, “being stoic” describes someone who displays no or little emotion even during the most dire of circumstances. While this usage has little to do with actual Stoicism, not being too affected by negative circumstances certainly is part of it. The ability to face negative circumstances and endure …
The Roman philosopher Epictetus had something to say about what differentiates government from tyranny, as Massimo Pigliucci points out here in another excellent stoic meditations podcast, listen and contemplate: I can only agree. Right now we see tyranny in what used to be the greatest democracy on the planet, ruled …
War today is, as always, driven by the interests of the wealthy and powerful to further their own agendas in one way or the other. Many great thinkers have through the ages recognized that war is ultimately futile and only increases suffering. Seneca has something very poignant to say on …
The life of Marcus Aurelius is as interesting, epic and historically significant as you may expect from one of Rome’s most famous emperors and one of the few philosopher kings history has to offer. Biographics, a highly recommendable YouTube channel just released a biography of Marcus Aurelius, check it out:
Most of us are sitting at home right now, going out only when necessary. But even now, it can happen that we overhear somebody telling someone else off for real or imagined breaches of quarantine rules. Or maybe someone thinks they have special rights and do not have to stick …