Stoic Meditations

Massimo Pigliucci

Occasional reflections on the wisdom of Ancient Greek and Roman philosophers with Prof. Massimo Pigliucci. Complete index by author and source at https://massimopigliucci.org/stoic-podcast/. (cover art by Marek Škrabák; original music by Ian Jolin-Rasmussen).

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1,094 episodes
Updated Aug 23, 2022

Episodes1094

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Jan 27, 2020 · 2 min
534. When it comes to people insulting you, you are in complete control
It is a sort of revenge to spoil a man’s enjoyment of the insult he has offered to us … the success of an insult lies in the sensitiveness and rage of the victim.
Jan 24, 2020 · 2 min
533. The insult conundrum
Do these things befall me deservedly or undeservedly? If deservedly, it is not an insult, but a judicial sentence; if undeservedly, then he who does injustice ought to blush, not I.
Jan 23, 2020 · 2 min
532. The best way to respond to insults
When insulted, Cato did not flare up and revenge the outrage, he did not even pardon it, but ignored it, showing more magnanimity in not acknowledging it than if he had forgiven it.
Jan 22, 2020 · 2 min
531. Rich people are worse than beggars
The wise man will not admire himself even if many rich men admire him; for he knows that they differ in no respect from beggars — nay, are even more wretched than they; for beggars want but a little, whereas rich men want a great deal.
Jan 21, 2020 · 2 min
530. On the invulnerability of the wise person
Wise persons are without anger, which is caused by the appearance of injury. And they could not be free from anger unless they were also free from injury, which they know cannot be done to them.
Jan 20, 2020 · 2 min
529. Is sagehood possible?
Seneca argues that Cato the Younger was a sage, but a modern biography casts some doubt on that. Do sages ever walk the earth? Who would you put forth as your favorite candidate?
Jan 17, 2020 · 2 min
528. How to react to both prosperity and adversity
Bear adversity with calm and prosperity with moderation, neither yielding to the former nor trusting to the latter.
Jan 16, 2020 · 2 min
527. The simplified dichotomy of control
Fortune can take nothing away save what she gave. Now fortune does not give virtue; therefore she does not take it away.
Jan 15, 2020 · 2 min
526. The meaning of invulnerability
Invulnerable is not that which is never struck, but that which is never wounded. In this class I will show you the wise person.
Jan 14, 2020 · 2 min
525. We are free no matter what
"For Cato did not outlive freedom, nor did freedom outlive Cato." On the Stoic conception of suicide.
Jan 13, 2020 · 2 min
524. The path to virtue is not as steep as some may think
“But the way by which we are asked to climb is steep and uneven.” What then? Can heights be reached by a level path? Yet they are not so sheer and precipitous as some think.
Jan 10, 2020 · 2 min
523. The joke's on the thief
Nobody wants to do what is bad for them. So when the thief steals, he is under the wrong impression about what is and is not good for him. We should therefore pity him, and help him understand, if possible.
Jan 9, 2020 · 2 min
522. The importance of logic
A student asks Epictetus whether we should really bother to learn logic. "Would you like me to provide you with an argument?" Yes. "How would you know if my argument is a good one, if you don't understand logic?" QED.
Jan 8, 2020 · 2 min
521. Humanity's problems stem from ignorance
According to Epictetus, the root of our problems is that we don't know, or refuse to acknowledge, how the world works. As opposed as to how we wished it worked.
Jan 7, 2020 · 2 min
520. Practice, practice, practice
If someone gets the habit of writing ungrammatically, their art is bound to be destroyed and perish. In the same way the person of honor keeps their character by honest acts and loses it by dishonest.
Jan 6, 2020 · 3 min
519. Don't behave like a sheep or a wild beast
What sets aside human beings from the rest of the animal world is our ability to reason and our propensity to be pro-social. So let's reason well, and be helpful to fellow humans.
Jan 2, 2020 · 2 min
518. The power of using impressions
Since plants do not even have the power of perception, ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are not applicable to them. Evidently, ‘good’ and ‘bad’ presume the power of using impressions.
Dec 30, 2019 · 2 min
517. What if you were sent to Gyara?
The island of Gyara was the exile place of choice for troublesome people during the Roman Empire. How would you handle being sent into exile?
Dec 27, 2019 · 2 min
516. The wonder and curse of consciousness
Because we’re the only animals who not only die but are conscious of it even while it happens, we are beset by anxiety.
Dec 26, 2019 · 2 min
515. Microcosm and macrocosm
Because what is a human being? Part of a community – the community of gods and men, primarily, and secondarily that of the city we happen to inhabit, which is only a microcosm of the universe in toto.