logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2025
19m 10s

Ancient solutions for modern problems | ...

Iai
About this episode

How to be a Stoic

What can Marcus Aurelius teach you about the iPhone?

Join philosopher and author Massimo Pigliucci for part one of a series on the ancient practice of Stoicism, exploring and analysing ideas from Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Zeno of Citium.

Massimo Pigliucci is an American philosopher and biologist who currently works as professor of philosophy at the City College of New York. He is also the former co-host of the Rationally Speaking Podcast, and former editor-in-chief for the online magazine Scientia Salon. He is a critic of pseudoscience and creationism, as well as an advocate for secularism and science education. Massimo's recent work has focused on stoicism, having written three books on the topic, including 'The Stoic Guide to a Happy Life' and 'How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life'.

To witness such talks live, buy tickets for our upcoming festival: https://howthelightgetsin.org/festivals/

And visit our website for many more articles, videos, and podcasts like this one: https://iai.tv/

You can find everything we referenced here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Up next
Aug 20
The limits of nothingness | Peter van Inwagen
From philosophy to science, metaphysics to psychology, the idea of 'nothing' is central to the universe, existence and experience as a whole. But the nature of 'nothing' is even more bewildering than we might first imagine. Parmenides argued that non-being is impossible because t ... Show More
27m 44s
Aug 12
Is free will an illusion? The chemistry of freedom | Patrick Haggard, George Ellis, Jennifer Hornsby
The question of free will - and whether we have it or not - is age-old across philosophy, religion, and human thought in general. Having free will allows us to have meaning, responsibility, reward and punishment. Yet discoveries in neuroscience have put our ability to choose, out ... Show More
40m 10s
Aug 5
Has the world gone to Hell? | Slavoj Žižek on fascism, shame, and dirty jokes
Žižek: "Trump did what The Left couldn't"As we look around at the state of the modern world, it's very easy to get disheartened - and that's putting it lightly! From pointless wars and endless suffering to the decline of social bonds and trustworthy institutions, there really is ... Show More
41m 11s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2025
Untimely Reflections #32: Dr. Gregory Sadler - On Stoicism & Philosophy as a Guide to Life
Very pleased to finally be joined by Gregory Sadler on the podcast! Greg is one of the more popular teachers of philosophy in the modern age, and given his recent courses on Stoicism, we decided to make that the focus. I hope you all enjoy our conversation: about philosophy as a ... Show More
1h 34m
Feb 2025
Philosophy Series: Stoicism for Revolutionaries
Breht listens to, reflects on, and critically engages with a public lecture by the late philosopher Michael Sugrue titled Marcus Aurelius' Meditations: The Stoic Ideal. He discusses the philosophy of Stoicism, its insights as well as its limitations, its commodification and basta ... Show More
2h 2m
May 28
#417 — Philosophy for Life
Sam Harris speaks with Donald Robertson about Stoicism and the good life. They discuss the relationship between wisdom and virtue, ancient versions of psychotherapy, parallels between Stoicism and Buddhism, practical vs. analytical styles of philosophy, CBT’s origins in Stoicism, ... Show More
22m 30s
Nov 2024
Donald Robertson on Socrates, Philosophy, and Modern Self-Help
Send us a textIn this episode, I sit down with Donald Robertson, renowned author, psychotherapist, and expert in ancient philosophy, to dive deep into the life, methods, and lessons of Socrates. Donald brings his unique perspective, blending cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and ... Show More
2h 57m
Dec 2024
The Wisest Man Alive (Yet Not Without Flaws)
Socrates is considered the man who brought philosophy down from the heavens. He made philosophy practical, accessible, urgent, but he was also contradictory, confusing, and complicated. Today's audiobook excerpt is from How to Think Like Socrates: Ancient Philosophy as a Way of L ... Show More
26m 44s
Jun 2021
Peter Adamson on How to Form Opinions When It’s Impossible to Know Everything
Peter Adamson, host of the History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps podcast and professor of late ancient philosophy and Arabic philosophy at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, discusses stoicism, the dangers of rationalism, and the importance of understanding when to thin ... Show More
52m 57s
Feb 2025
Socrates vs. The Thirty Tyrants | Philosophy in an Age of Fear
The Thirty Tyrants were a ruthless group that crushed anyone who opposed them. Socrates had personal ties to some of its leaders but refused to take part in their brutal actions. Yet, his silence in the face of their regime would later come back to haunt him when he was put on tr ... Show More
30m 17s
Jul 2023
A Stoic Life: Real-world Applications of Stoic Principles with Donald Robertson
Send us a text"Stoicism provides us with a kind of psychological toolbox. It's full of strategies for helping us cope with anxiety, anger, pain, and all sorts of emotional problems.""People who love Stoicism often read the Meditations over and over. You can squeeze more and ... Show More
1h 19m
Jul 2023
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations - Analysing Things One Encounters - Sadler's Lectures
This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Stoic philosopher and Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius' work, Meditations (or To Myself) It focuses specifically on a passage in book 3, in which he suggests that we engage in analysis of things that we encounter in our experiences. ... Show More
11m 48s
Sep 2024
Jean-Paul Sartre: 'Being and Nothingness'
This week, a chapter from a new LRB audiobook, Becoming a Philosopher: Spinoza to Sartre by Jonathan Rée. This collection of ten biographical pieces, read by Rée, describes the lives of some of most influential thinkers of the past four hundred years and the radical and sometimes ... Show More
35m 41s