Thanks. Learning about stoicism is helping me in fighting depression and my day to day challenges. One more day I survived...lets see who wins tomorrows battle...
Dinesh, I would say it's a terrible thing to think every day of your life as a battle. You can live your life peacefully, and still keep working hard towards your goal.
The "cosmopolitan" exercise is something that is widely practiced in Africa. It is a norm, ironically dying because of westernisation. We refer to everyone, from the lady next door to a stranger in town as aunty, mama, sister, even daughter depending on the persons age relative to yours. This lecture got me thinking about the overlaps of western thought and African practices such as the principles of ubuntu
*“A blazing fire makes flame and brightness out of everything that is thrown into it.”* - Marcus Aurelius. This is what most resonates with my personal life - every tragedy gives you the opportunity to strengthen yourself and overcome adversities and obstacles, growing stronger and wiser as a person.
I would like to thank Prof. Massimo Pigliucci for putting this presentation together and sharing it with us. I has been quite interested in learning more from Stoicism and putting it into practice in my life since reading Ryan Holiday’s books over the past months. Now I’m getting deeper with lectures like this one and from others like Donald Robertson as well.
Stoicism is remedial mindset against todays egoism, individualism, introvert focus on illusive feelings, the useless obsession of "finding yourself" and the awful wellness syndrome. Stoicism really speaks to me and it´s just recently that i actually have started to study it deeper. Good stuff!
you know, if there wasn't an oppression and degradation on individualism and feelings in the first place and kids were 'taught' how to cope and be productive and critical, it would be just natural for everyone as walking.
Fascinating lecture for someone like me who has never studied philosophy. Also, thanks for writing Nonsense on Stilts, I really gained a lot out of it.
I actually watched this twice, which is remarkable considering my attention span in the contemporary world. Great talk with good presentation, illustration, information and humor.
Thank yor for uploading this talk Mr Piliucci - it's an excellent synopsis and overview of the Stoics and a great place to start the journey for novices like me. I like your style and wish you the best in all such endeavours. But I must say that I am ESPECIALLY envious of the entire ambience - very Hellenistic/Socratic - Philosophy in a tavern with friends - just the Way of Socrates!
Excellent! Congratulations! I enjoyed very much your class. This really helps people because it's preparing you to the unavoidable challenges of life with irony, humor & no shame.
Great lecture. Really helped me to discover the history of stoicism and it's founders as well as provide a solid general understanding of the philosophy.
Thank you for the enlightening lecture, I understood more than ever before Because of your excellent method of explaining in clear entertaining language
Always thought I was alone in this, took me 24 years of bumps and bruises to get to this reasoning by myself, guess I should have paid more attention in highschool. Great video!
its amazing to find out that what took you so long to create and mold into a way of life creed was already thought of 2300 years ago, thank you very much Dr. Pigliucci. Im devouring your videos and consuming the books you name. It is so hard to be a rational being in todays world, always thought I was fake because of the many personalities or "roles" I played every day with different people. It's like I found a place full of like minded people, Momma, Im coming home!
If only everyone knew the simplest stoic philosophy right from childhood and could apply it to their existence, I can only imagine ?????? I am thinking about how to write a children's book in the most fun way Thank you Massimo for opening my eyes and ❤️
I was a philosophy major and liked Eastern mostly. Later I came to appreciate the early Greeks and then found Marcus A. and carry "Meditations" around like my little red Mao book. It keeps me centered when waiting in doctor offices etc...
+Brad I was very surprised when I discovered the Stoics and saw how much my personal views on life were similar to theirs ! Natural born Stoics, unite !
It all stems from the saying "don't cry over spilled milk." IDK if that's what caused me to think like this but that's the most Stoic saying out of anyone's childhood.
Well, I found out I feel very close to Stoicism, and I really appreciate your way of putting it. I really loved ancient philosophy at school because I thought ancient philosophers had a way of using the exact amount of words needed to say something ;-). Dal momento che sono italiana ho piacere di ringraziarla e di dirle che sto molto apprezzando il suo libro:"How to be a stoic" which I am reading in English.
Thank you for a wonderful explanation of Stoicism! My take away is that the measure of a person is their level of integrity not their amount of possessions, although it's OK to have and enjoy stuff but not to be controlled by them.
learned something new today.. thank you .. this place is cool .. almost like a philosophy club. where one come enjoy listens n share .. .. reminds me of a book club reading i sometime attend when i have time
I think of myself as a humanist and in spite of the fact that I have made many mistakes too many to count I have always had a streak of goodness with in me and a highly developed sense of right and wrong and of fairness in evaluating myself and the world around me. I have a long way to go to reach the ideal but I'm always trying to be a better me and help those around me understand the world as I've come to understand it after 74 years of making mistakes but hopefully learning from them.
51:54 Spock, in the pilot episode, THE CAGE, was highly reactive and emotional. The transformation was made over time by both Roddenberry and Nimoy, and was conceived as a "parody" of Stoicism, and as such, was often used for comedic relief, providing some of the best bits of the show. So where, and by whom, does the misconception begin and end. I'm quickly becoming a Cynic, and the lantern is low.
I'd say most practical, not most interesting. Just my opinion. It's interesting to be sure. Just, there are really crazy schools of philosophy that aren't practical at all, but are super interesting.
where is this place ! eating and drinking and listening to philosophy, that's my kinda life ,+ a good library + workshop +nice garden and animals +game and pc and net room , anyone knows this kind place to live?
This kind of gives a reasonable why the Spock character evolved so much through different producers to fight against his strong emotions with logic instead of just not having any or suppressing them so that he didn't feel them. Later in the series, they caused him inner conflict. I think the Discovery series, with all its faults, did a great job on this aspect of Spock.
Premeditatio Malorum: Also thinking about the worst possible things that can happen helps the mind to master those thoughts. Then somebody that knows them can't take a person into that realm of thought and control them. It's learning to build one's own firewall.
It's a real pity we don't learn a stoic way of life since early life ! In Sparta - according to french scholar Jean Pierre Vernant - , since childhood. They were though how to bear the harshness of life in a way is not known in western civilization.
Wow, only just realised half way through that this is the same Massimo from the Rationally Speaking podcast I used to listen to. I thought I recognised the voice.
As a lover of history and Antiquities at that I often wonder how you can find much wisdom outside of the what we know is common sense from philosophers like Seneca some things of course or just common wisdom these days the other things vanity of vanities all is Vanity under the sun
to have "apathea" the inner calm. have you personally tried the 33 excrrcises do they work. or do you just do the quiet place meditation and just plan your day. that just normal behavior . view from above and zoom out and to see everyone that is helpful but to get to the whole universe why does it have to end.
I am very interested in stoic living but I don't want to just adopt the ideas of the past stoics without understanding the rhetoric behind the argument. As en example this is the sort of stuff I'm looking for. By observing humans we can see that they are social animals therefore to flourish we should be civic minded and help others. The gods are good therefore they will not put any more pressure on us than we can handle. If they do then they are not good, but they are, so they wont. Humans are mortal. I am a human. Therefore if these two statement are true then I am mortal. This is the kind of thinking that I think they wanted us to engage in. It is how they discovered right and wrong, good and bad and why they consider themselves a Socratic philosophy. This kind of rational argument seems to be missing from modern stoicism. I know that Marcus was against rhetoric for himself but he probably lived in a world full of it. Since the schools got shut down 2,000 years ago we have lost this way of arriving at morality and some things has changed such as atheism which puts holes in some arguments and needs to be addressed. Hope someone can lead me to a book or podcast related to this subject Thanks
+Jay Skrine It seems to me that Buddhism gives much more importance to asceticism, while stoicism sees asceticism as only one possible shortcut towards Eudaimonia, but not necessary.
ya...you dont have to give up your shit you just should be aware that when you lose that shit you shouldnt be sad or angry or anything. becuase you DO have control over your emotions. the buddhist idea that material things are the things that further you from nirvana and not your mind itself is silly imo
Thanks. Learning about stoicism is helping me in fighting depression and my day to day challenges.
One more day I survived...lets see who wins tomorrows battle...
Dinesh, I would say it's a terrible thing to think every day of your life as a battle.
You can live your life peacefully, and still keep working hard towards your goal.
You are already a Winner.💛Lots of power towards you.
Fool, tomorrow it's not on your control so you only have the option to fight it now.
If you have depression, you are holding onto something from the past. Forgive your mother and father.
how is it going now?
The "cosmopolitan" exercise is something that is widely practiced in Africa. It is a norm, ironically dying because of westernisation. We refer to everyone, from the lady next door to a stranger in town as aunty, mama, sister, even daughter depending on the persons age relative to yours. This lecture got me thinking about the overlaps of western thought and African practices such as the principles of ubuntu
*“A blazing fire makes flame and brightness out of everything that is thrown into it.”* - Marcus Aurelius. This is what most resonates with my personal life - every tragedy gives you the opportunity to strengthen yourself and overcome adversities and obstacles, growing stronger and wiser as a person.
It's crazy how Stoicism is still alive and taught after so long yet still practical in everyday society.
This is the most precious 50 minutes that I have had in the past couple of weeks. Thank you.
I would like to thank Prof. Massimo Pigliucci for putting this presentation together and sharing it with us. I has been quite interested in learning more from Stoicism and putting it into practice in my life since reading Ryan Holiday’s books over the past months. Now I’m getting deeper with lectures like this one and from others like Donald Robertson as well.
Stoicism is remedial mindset against todays egoism, individualism, introvert focus on illusive feelings, the useless obsession of "finding yourself" and the awful wellness syndrome. Stoicism really speaks to me and it´s just recently that i actually have started to study it deeper. Good stuff!
+Daniel Gyllenbreider What do you mean "wellness syndrome?"
you know, if there wasn't an oppression and degradation on individualism and feelings in the first place and kids were 'taught' how to cope and be productive and critical, it would be just natural for everyone as walking.
I'm actually very well-aware of my egoism, hedonism and individualism (I even cherish them), and still feel that stoicism resonates within me.
Fascinating lecture for someone like me who has never studied philosophy. Also, thanks for writing Nonsense on Stilts, I really gained a lot out of it.
A very good and effective lecture. Thank you Professor Pigliucci.
I actually watched this twice, which is remarkable considering my attention span in the contemporary world. Great talk with good presentation, illustration, information and humor.
Amazing talk. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank yor for uploading this talk Mr Piliucci - it's an excellent synopsis and overview of the Stoics and a great place to start the journey for novices like me. I like your style and wish you the best in all such endeavours. But I must say that I am ESPECIALLY envious of the entire ambience - very Hellenistic/Socratic - Philosophy in a tavern with friends - just the Way of Socrates!
great presentation/lecture. Loved it. I am realizing that Stoicism has some very profound and impressive things to teach all of us.
Picked up the Enchiridion less than a month ago, the use that I have given it has benefited my life profoundly.
Excellent! Congratulations! I enjoyed very much your class. This really helps people because it's preparing you to the unavoidable challenges of life with irony, humor & no shame.
What a nice place for a lecture. A bar with Christmas decorations. A very enjoyable lecture indeed. Thanks
Very well delivered, Professor. Thoughtful, crisp and interspersed with sweet humour.
great lecture, enjoyed a lot and sadly not all lectures on you tube are watchable
Just finished reading "How To Be A Stoic". Amazing book, love this guy!
I really enjoyed your lecture ... It was great!
Thank you so much for sharing. Brilliant talk.
wonderful video! you have a lot of charisma
Thanks, Massimo! This was great!
Great lecture. Really helped me to discover the history of stoicism and it's founders as well as provide a solid general understanding of the philosophy.
Thank you for the enlightening lecture, I understood more than ever before
Because of your excellent method of explaining in clear entertaining language
Always thought I was alone in this, took me 24 years of bumps and bruises to get to this reasoning by myself, guess I should have paid more attention in highschool. Great video!
its amazing to find out that what took you so long to create and mold into a way of life creed was already thought of 2300 years ago, thank you very much Dr. Pigliucci. Im devouring your videos and consuming the books you name. It is so hard to be a rational being in todays world, always thought I was fake because of the many personalities or "roles" I played every day with different people. It's like I found a place full of like minded people, Momma, Im coming home!
Thanks to this bold man, now I would like to live in a world where every person is a Stoic
This is an amazing lecture. I wish I had you as a philosophy professor.
I would love to go to a pub and have a beer while listening to a lecture on something as fascinating as Stoicism! Lucky students.
Very lucid and concise introduction on Stoicism. Enjoyed it
Thank you for sharing this lecture. Love the content and the foreign speaker's accented English which is so pretty and relaxing.
Great lesson. Easy to follow and flows very well
Thank you! Already looking forward for the Stoic week.
Thanks for this useful overview, nicely delivered. Something I may point people to if they express interest in Stoicism.
Stoicism brings peace of mind, purpose in life and cultivates goodness in every person.
Great video. This made my day. I definitely need some stoicism in my life. Funny, this video had been in my "watch later" file for about a year.
If only everyone knew the simplest stoic philosophy right from childhood
and could apply it to their existence, I can only imagine ??????
I am thinking about how to write a children's book in the most fun way
Thank you Massimo for opening my eyes and ❤️
Very good and should be noted that the 12 Steps used in recovery has borrowed much from Stoicism.
I totally agree
I was a philosophy major and liked Eastern mostly. Later I came to appreciate the early Greeks and then found Marcus A. and carry "Meditations" around like my little red Mao book. It keeps me centered when waiting in doctor offices etc...
I've came to these conclusions on my own through out my life. I just never had a good word for it. I guess I'm a natural born Stoic.
+Brad I was very surprised when I discovered the Stoics and saw how much my personal views on life were similar to theirs ! Natural born Stoics, unite !
It all stems from the saying "don't cry over spilled milk." IDK if that's what caused me to think like this but that's the most Stoic saying out of anyone's childhood.
+Brad or a RE-born Stoic ))))
+Brad me too
+Brad you are absolutely right ...... I feel the same way.
Very helpful. Thank you!
Awesome! Love it. Thank you Sir.
Well, I found out I feel very close to Stoicism, and I really appreciate your way of putting it. I really loved ancient philosophy at school because I thought ancient philosophers had a way of using the exact amount of words needed to say something ;-). Dal momento che sono italiana ho piacere di ringraziarla e di dirle che sto molto apprezzando il suo libro:"How to be a stoic" which I am reading in English.
Thank you for a wonderful explanation of Stoicism! My take away is that the measure of a person is their level of integrity not their amount of possessions, although it's OK to have and enjoy stuff but not to be controlled by them.
magnificent lecture, thanks!
Wow! Really enjoyed the lecture and I learned so much! Thank you!
Thanks, Massimo.
I just purchased the book. Cant wait to dig in!
Which book?
nice, thank you for sharing
learned something new today.. thank you .. this place is cool .. almost like a philosophy club. where one come enjoy listens n share .. .. reminds me of a book club reading i sometime attend when i have time
"I am a citizen of the world." Love it!
I think of myself as a humanist and in spite of the fact that I have made many mistakes too many to count I have always had a streak of goodness with in me and a highly developed sense of right and wrong and of fairness in evaluating myself and the world around me.
I have a long way to go to reach the ideal but I'm always trying to be a better me and help those around me understand the world as I've come to understand it after 74 years of making mistakes but hopefully learning from them.
Stoics stand tall like a mountain during this whole coronavirus thing.
Only one thing is certain, “Memento Morti”.
51:54 Spock, in the pilot episode, THE CAGE, was highly reactive and emotional. The transformation was made over time by both Roddenberry and Nimoy, and was conceived as a "parody" of Stoicism, and as such, was often used for comedic relief, providing some of the best bits of the show. So where, and by whom, does the misconception begin and end. I'm quickly becoming a Cynic, and the lantern is low.
stoicism is the most interesting school of philosophy
The best
I'd say most practical, not most interesting. Just my opinion. It's interesting to be sure. Just, there are really crazy schools of philosophy that aren't practical at all, but are super interesting.
Thanks for sharing the wealth brother.
Great explanation of stoicism. Thanks for sharing. It's not often I watch something for 50min on UA-cam!
very interesting lecture i have just ordered the book Live Like A Stoic
Massimo, grazie per essere al mondo.
Fantastic class!
Wow! I wish I had learned this in elementary or junior high school.
where is this place ! eating and drinking and listening to philosophy, that's my kinda life ,+ a good library + workshop +nice garden and animals +game and pc and net room , anyone knows this kind place to live?
Not sure where that place is, but if you happen to find along your travels, let me know.
Stoics don't live comfortably.
It took me an embarrassing amount of time to realise that I’m actually at this point reading his book how to be a stoic.
THANK YOU
thank you for the video
Very cool, thank you
Awesome video, thank you!!!
Thank you for uploading
This kind of gives a reasonable why the Spock character evolved so much through different producers to fight against his strong emotions with logic instead of just not having any or suppressing them so that he didn't feel them. Later in the series, they caused him inner conflict. I think the Discovery series, with all its faults, did a great job on this aspect of Spock.
well done,and thanks for your humor
Wonderful!
I miss your monthly meetups. I enjoyed them.
Where?
Premeditatio Malorum: Also thinking about the worst possible things that can happen helps the mind to master those thoughts. Then somebody that knows them can't take a person into that realm of thought and control them. It's learning to build one's own firewall.
Thanks sir for sharing it ...
Wonderful lecture. Professor looks like Doug Stamper :))
Ready to be ready
Thank you M for the reboot
I've been practicing it my entire life.
It's a real pity we don't learn a stoic way of life since early life ! In Sparta - according to french scholar Jean Pierre Vernant - , since childhood. They were though how to bear the harshness of life in a way is not known in western civilization.
Just read your book. Excellent!..
did anyone have a link or the exercices he is speaking of at 36:40? would be great
thanks
Champion.
Absolutly beautiful. I have just one question: Are Hitler, Stalin or Escobar ignorants or evil people? Does the evil exist? Thanks for your responses.
Wow, only just realised half way through that this is the same Massimo from the Rationally Speaking podcast I used to listen to. I thought I recognised the voice.
Very good. Thanks
Fantastic 👍
Molto bello!
What does he say on minute 11:00
Highly influenced by .. ?
As a lover of history and Antiquities at that I often wonder how you can find much wisdom outside of the what we know is common sense from philosophers like Seneca some things of course or just common wisdom these days the other things vanity of vanities all is Vanity under the sun
to have "apathea" the inner calm. have you personally tried the 33 excrrcises do they work. or do you just do the quiet place meditation and just plan your day. that just normal behavior . view from above and zoom out and to see everyone that is helpful but to get to the whole universe why does it have to end.
Excellent
Hi Massimo, are you still teaching in NYC?
Could someone write down where this came from? It looks like a lecturer in a pub, but I would love to know more about the professor and the class.
This is a fucking amazing lecture.
I am very interested in stoic living but I don't want to just adopt the ideas of the past stoics without understanding the rhetoric behind the argument. As en example this is the sort of stuff I'm looking for.
By observing humans we can see that they are social animals therefore to flourish we should be civic minded and help others.
The gods are good therefore they will not put any more pressure on us than we can handle. If they do then they are not good, but they are, so they wont.
Humans are mortal. I am a human. Therefore if these two statement are true then I am mortal.
This is the kind of thinking that I think they wanted us to engage in. It is how they discovered right and wrong, good and bad and why they consider themselves a Socratic philosophy. This kind of rational argument seems to be missing from modern stoicism. I know that Marcus was against rhetoric for himself but he probably lived in a world full of it. Since the schools got shut down 2,000 years ago we have lost this way of arriving at morality and some things has changed such as atheism which puts holes in some arguments and needs to be addressed.
Hope someone can lead me to a book or podcast related to this subject
Thanks
Is that Salman Rushie in the front row at 49:00 ?
Thanks.
Thanks
Dose anyone know the website he is taking about.
Stoic philosophy a cure for depression 💪
his intro is nearly verbatim to Alan watts introduction to zen Buddhism
Remove the mythological element from Buddhism and it is identical to stoicism (though more detailed).
+Jay Skrine Really. It had never occurred to me before. Well worth investigation. Thanks for the heads up. :)
+Jay Skrine It seems to me that Buddhism gives much more importance to asceticism, while stoicism sees asceticism as only one possible shortcut towards Eudaimonia, but not necessary.
ya...you dont have to give up your shit you just should be aware that when you lose that shit you shouldnt be sad or angry or anything. becuase you DO have control over your emotions. the buddhist idea that material things are the things that further you from nirvana and not your mind itself is silly imo
ive been reading psycho-cybernetics...its relevant..