Stoic Meditations

Seneca discusses the grand example of Cato the Younger, his favorite role model. But even in ordinary life we can be courageous and just, if we pay attention to what we are doing and why. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Cicero reminds us that in virtue ethics the answer to moral questions is always going to depend on circumstances, a striking contrast with modern - and arguably less useful - universalist frameworks like deontology and consequentialism. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Want to become a better person? Forget about traveling, since you will bring with you the same problems you are trying to flee. Read a good book instead, enter in conversation with the best minds humanity has produced across time. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Seneca continues his analysis of the relationship between traveling and self-improvement. While there are good reasons to travel (leisure and learning), self-improvement isn't one of them, because that requires critical reflection, wherever one happens to be. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

As Socrates said to someone who was complaining that traveling brought him no benefits: "It serves you right! You travelled in your own company!" --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Seneca dispels the stereotype of Stoics going through life with a stiff upper lip by explicitly advocating suffering for those we love. What marks the Stoic is not that she doesn't suffer, but how she handles suffering. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Epictetus complains about something that hasn't changed much in two millennia: people who are happy to discuss the fine logical points of ethical dilemmas, but are apparently not that interested in becoming better human beings. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Seneca reminds us how to behave with fellow human beings, but also that, from a Stoic perspective, what is and is not to be valued (one's good and bad judgments) is not quite what most people value, focused as they often are on externals. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Seneca reminds us that our fellow human beings aren't always trustworthy or well intentioned. Nevertheless, we have a duty to treat others, and ourselves, with forgiveness, to be helpful when we can, and to endure when we cannot. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

In which I compare my adoptive grandfather to Cato the Younger. Not because he fought battles against tyrants, but because he was a decent and kind human being. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Cicero talks about one of the classic Stoic paradoxes: virtue is all-or-nothing, and yet one can make progress toward it. How is this possible? In this episode we explain, by way of a geometrical analogy. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Marcus Aurelius argues that when we do something right we shouldn't expect either recognition or a return. Otherwise, we are doing the right thing for the wrong reason. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Seneca reminds us that we do not actually know when "the remorseless law of Fate" has fixed the time of our death. Therefore, we should prioritize what's important, postpone nothing, and balance our life’s account every day. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Seneca agrees with Epicurus: there is no sense in fearing what happens after death, since we won't be there to experience it. Therefore, we should not allow religious and political authorities to manipulate us through that fear. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Seneca talks to his friend Lucilius about how to console the bereaved, dispelling the stereotype of Stoics as individuals who go through life with a stiff upper lip. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Seneca says that good and evil are not in the world per se, but in our judgments about the world, and the actions we take as a consequence of those judgments. Which is why training ourselves to arrive at better judgments is so crucial. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Epictetus tells us about a fundamental Stoic technique: never act on first impressions and implied judgments. Always pause, challenge your impressions, make the judgments explicit, and see whether they were on target or not. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Here is Seneca's version of an exercise most often associated with Marcus Aurelius: when you feel overwhelmed by your problems, take a minute to consider a broader perspective. When your mind is calmer, come back to earth and tackle the problems. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Seneca suggests we pick a role model to help us become better persons. This ancient practice actually gets some empirical confirmation from modern psychology. So, who's your model, and why? --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support

Seneca lists an impressive gallery of ancient Roman role models, who have done brave things to safeguard their ideals. Surely, then, we can find the courage to overcome our comparatively small problems in everyday life, no? --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stoicmeditations/support