Stoic Meditations

Cicero provides three interpretations of the famous Stoic motto, live according to nature. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

The Stoics adopted four ethical virtues, but also two epistemic ones: good reasoning and scientific understanding. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Friendship is intrinsically choice-worthy, going beyond just instrumental value. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Cicero explains how the wise person is supposed to be involved in society, politics, and family. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

The Stoic take on private property is that it isn't really property: it's on temporary loan from the universe. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Cicero proposes a simple argument for why sociability, not pleasure, is the ultimate human desire. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

We learn the rudiments of ethics within our family. But we cannot stop there. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Cicero explains what criterion the Stoic uses to decide whether to walk through the open door. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Despite the fact that Stoics and Cynics treated externals differently, apparently both Chrysippus and Diogenes thought fame not worth stretching a finger for. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Cicero tells us that some indifferents are preferred for their own sake, some for the results they bring, some for both reasons. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Stoicism occupies a logical space between the kin philosophies of Cynicism and Aristotelianism. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Virtue is all or nothing, and yet we can make progress toward it. How does this Stoic paradox work? --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Cicero explains how Aristotelians and Stoics treat externals, such as health, wealth, and so on. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Cicero reminds us that how we experience pain -- both physical and emotional -- in part depends on how we mentally approach the experience. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Aristotelianism and Stoicism differ in their conceptions of eudaimonia, the kind of life we should pursue. In a sense, they are both right. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Unlike much modern thinking in moral philosophy, Stoicism is about intentions. Which doesn't mean Stoics don't care about consequences. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Cicero reminds us of the quintessential Stoic motto: we should live in accordance with nature. It's a crucial concept, spanning the arc of ancient Stoicism, from Zeno of Citium to Marcus Aurelius. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Cicero articulates a Stoic syllogism aiming at demonstrating that the good life is a moral life. We look at whether the syllogism is valid and sound. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

The wise person is happy because she is in complete control of the chief good in life: the moral good. Everything else is a preferred or dispreferred (moral) indifferent. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Cicero explains the notions of preferred indifferents and of the dichotomy of control by means of one of the most famous metaphors in Stoic literature: a discussion what is and is not up to an archer attempting to hit a target. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support