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For those of us who live our lives in the real world, there is one branch of philosophy created just for us: Stoicism. A brief synopsis and definition on this particular school of Hellenistic philosophy: Stoicism was founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early 3rd century BC, but was famously practiced by … Continued
We know what you’re thinking: WTF. The theatrics. The emotions. The snap judgments. The nonsense. The name-calling. The bickering. The baby-kissing and back-slapping. Politics and stoicism seem to have nothing in common, especially in our overheated era of “fake news” and “alternative facts.” And some of that might be true. But it’s worth pausing to … Continued
This is a guest post by Joshua Strommen MD, FACEP. His tour of duty in Afghanistan introduced him to the Stoic Philosophers, and a new way to see his specialty. *** Keep yourself simple, good, pure, serious, unpretentious, a friend of justice, god-fearing, kind, full of affection, strong for your proper work. Strive hard to remain the … Continued
This is a guest post by Matt Joyner I didn’t expect to lose my mother when I was 16—it took me completely by surprise. While still in the formative years of my adult life, cancer came out of left field and took someone who I never imagined I would be forced to live without. It … Continued
Author Jules Evans, best known for his fantastic book Philosophy for Life and blog of the same name, was one of the first people we interviewed here for the site. Now Jules has a new book out, The Art of Losing Control, and we reached out to learn more about it. Both our interview and … Continued
It’s for good reason Laura Kennedy has earned herself an enormous following for her thoughtful “Coping” column in The Irish Times. She first started the column in early 2016 at age 27 after the passing of her mother, as an “attempt to use philosophy as the pragmatic skill it is to navigate the very natural … Continued
Two decades before the current resurgence of Stoicism, philosophical writer and performing musician Sharon Lebell translated Epictetus and put together The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness, which contains 93 instructions to face each day and the challenges that it presents in a virtuous way. It’s a beautiful book that … Continued
This is a guest post by Philip Ghezelbash. *** Stoicism is an ancient Greco-Roman philosophy. The ideal for the Stoic, as with the Buddhist, is to show complete equanimity in the face of adversity. The four virtues of Stoicism are wisdom, justice, courage and temperance. Temperance is subdivided into self-control, discipline and modesty. I think … Continued
It is hard to spend any time online and not encounter the works of James Altucher, easily one of the most prolific, vulnerable and fascinating writers working today. He is one of the few people who is extremely open about many of his losses and failures (his first answer in our interview is a story … Continued
As we mentioned in our last interview with Dr. Alex Lickerman, we have been fascinated with the parallels between Stoicism and Buddhism and are eager to learn more. Our guest today, Professor John Sellars, has also made similar observations by pointing out analogies between Stoicism and Zen Buddhism. But that’s only one of the numerous … Continued