Massimo Pigliucci – Think like a Stoic: Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World

The ancient Greco has been stripped down to its essence.-Stoicism, a Roman philosophy, is a The philosophy of personal improvement. It helps us to navigate the daily challenges of life and reflect on the greater meaning and direction in our lives. In contrast to standard ethics, which is focused on answering questions about actions, this one focuses more on the deeper meaning of life.“Is human cloning right or wrong?”Virtue ethics is a focus on character (“How can I become a better person?”). Examining virtue ethics makes any exploration of Stoicism not just illuminating—but also incredibly personal, and possibly life-changing.

Three fundamentals define the Stoic life:

• We are not in control of as much as our lives and the world around us.
• By focusing on the positive, we can overcome calamity or disaster.
• Living by the light of reason, community and compassion is better than living by wealth and fame.

This school of philosophy seems to be a lost cause. like You should reconsider Zeno, Marcus Aurelius Epictetus and Seneca. Stoic ideals can be seen in the real world.-life heroes like Nelson Mandela, fictional and real like Spider-Man as well as the person who lives it Massimo PigliucciThe K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York. Who knows first?-Hands are transformative a Stoic life approach can be.

Professor Pigliucci has designed Think like a Stoic: Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World This book will provide an informative introduction to Stoic philosophy and the history of Stoicism. It also teaches you how to apply its lessons to your life. Over the course of 25 lessons, you’ll review the lasting influence of Stoic ideas through time, from Christianity to modern philosophy. You’ll explore the three parts of the classic Stoic curriculum and consider what it means to be a Stoic living in the 21st Century. Best of all, you’ll get to participate in workshops and exercises that make up a How-To manual for The modern Stoic. Yes, you’ll come away with an incredible wealth of knowledge about the history and principles of one of the most enduring philosophies of life—but you may also find your way to a More meaning in life for yourself.

Explore the Core Tenets Of Stoicism

Stoicism was founded thousands of years ago by Zeno, a philosopher who followed in Zeno’s footsteps. a terrible shipwreck, developed a School of practical philosophy, which would be analogue in scope to philosophies/faiths like Buddhism, Confucianism and Christianity. Stoicism is a belief system that all human beings can reason and are social animals.

Think like a Stoic: Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World rests on the two major pillars of Stoicism, under which you’ll consider the Stoic life as one that deploys reason for The improvement of society, and one that requires us to live in harmony with nature to make our lives better for Everyone (and, consequently, us too).

• The Four Stoic Virtues. Stoicism is a philosophy that encourages positive personal change through the practice of four virtues, or habits, which are practical wisdom, justice and courage. Imagine your boss harassing your coworker. The truth is that this is common wisdom. a situation where you have to intervene (because it’s good for Justice lies in standing up for the boss. Courage gives the courage to do so, and temperance limits your response to your boss.
• The Dichotomy of Control The slave famously summarised this second pillar of Stoic philosophy.-Turned-Epictetus, teacher at the beginning his manual for a Good life is the result of living a healthy lifestyle Enchiridion. He wrote, “Some things are up to us, while others are not. Up to us are opinion, motivation, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever is of our own doing; not up to us are our body, our property, reputation, office, and, in a word, whatever is not of our own doing.”

Stoics of old believed in cultivating life as if it were their own. a “garden,” Composed of logic, physics, ethics and logic to live a You will live a fulfilled life. Over the 25 lessons of this course, you’ll spend time investigating the history and practical implications of these concepts. Take, for example:

• The Stoic understanding of ethics was far broader than the study of right and wrong, encompassing questions about one’s goals and one’s relationship to other people;
• Stoics believed that we could have a wrong view of the world if we accept it.“physics”), we’d be likely to mis-live, since we’d live as if the world were different from what it is—a Recipe for Disaster;
• The Stoics felt that logic—meaning sound reasoning—was another requirement of a Well-Good thinking helps us to live a full and happy life.

Great Stoic Minds to Meet and Learn

Role models were an integral part the ancient Stoic approach towards life. As such, Professor Pigliucci introduces you to a Cast of brilliant and inspiring minds, people who taught the principles of Stoicism to others or who adopted the Stoic ethos daily in their lives.

In these lessons, you’ll get pointed perspectives on how these great philosophers and thinkers through their words and deeds can teach us to approach life in the 21st century. These are some examples. a Few luminaries will you meet, and few of them have the wisdom to share.

• Seneca, Time Management. One of his many letters, Seneca advises Lucilius on how to make the most of time. He advised Lucilius: “Hold every hour in your grasp. Lay hold of to-day’s task, and you will not need to depend so much upon tomorrow’s. While we are postponing, life speeds by.”
• Epictetus on Debating Others. Epictetus instructs us to respond to people with whom we disagree by not mocking or maligning them—or walking away. Instead, the Stoic engages with them patiently and tries to understand their point of view. The goal is dialogue and not conflict.
• Marcus Aurelius on Assigning labels. A way to make the world a better place is to be aware of the labels we use to describe ourselves. Marcus says, “When you have assumed these names—good, modest, truthful, rational, a man of equanimity, and magnanimous—take care that you do not change these names; and if you should lose them, quickly return to them.”
• Epictetus on Desiring Things. Stoics like Epictetus believed freedom could not be achieved by satisfying a desire, but by eliminating it. “The more we value things outside our control,” he notes, “the less control we have. … Either you’re going to be depressed when your wish is not realized or foolishly pleased with yourself if it is, overjoyed for the wrong reasons.”

Practical Solutions for the “Problems of Life”

Think like a Stoic: Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World There are many activities you can do in your day to train your mind to be more productive. a Stoic perspective on life and the universe. Think You can think of it as philosophy made extremely practical.

Here are some exercises that were inspired by the 25 lessons about Stoicism.

• Re-Description of the objects you desire a More detached style that removes them from the value judgments that we automatically impose (but which are not, in reality, part of them).
• To remind yourself that all things are interconnected, meditate at sunrise. for The Sun’s reliability;
• Keeping a Many short phrases to remind you of what you should be doing. a When faced with moments of weakness, a Stoic practitioner will respond.

“To be a philosopher,” Henry David Thoreau wrote (he was also influenced by Stoic principles). “is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but to so love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust. It is to solve the problems of life, not only theoretically, but practically.”

These wise words are the ultimate goal of this course.