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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Jun 15, 2018 · 2 min
134. It's either gods or atoms...
Marcus Aurelius reflects on what happens to us when we die: either we are absorbed in the seminal principle of the universe, or we become atoms scattered in the void. Either way, we still need to behave decently toward other human beings.
Jun 14, 2018 · 2 min
133. Ethics is a practice, so do it
Epictetus asks us a simple question: if we didn’t learn these things in order to demonstrate them in practice, what did we learn them for?
Jun 13, 2018 · 2 min
132. Moving will not help you, if your trouble is internal
Seneca tells Lucilius that moving to the other end of the world will not be helpful if his troubles are generated by his own attitudes, because he will carry the same person around the globe, if he doesn't address the real issue.
Jun 12, 2018 · 2 min
131. The truth does you no harm, but error does
Marcus Aurelius reminds himself of something that modern politicians need to pay attention to: if someone shows you that you are in error, the right thing to do is to admit it and learn from the other.
Jun 11, 2018 · 2 min
130. How Epictetus lost his lamp and the thief became a brute
Epictetus tells the story of a thief stealing his lamp at night, and reflects on what each of them lost in the process. He concludes that he came ahead of the thief.
Jun 8, 2018 · 2 min
129. Sound minds are hard to find, or buy
Seneca, with rather uncharacteristic sense of humor, says that one can't buy a sound mind, and even if that were possible, there would be no market for them.
Jun 7, 2018 · 1 min
128. Annoyed by people? It's an opportunity to practice virtue
Marcus Aurelius suggests we think of others as partners at the gym: don't hate or hold grudges against them, think of them as opportunities to improve your virtue.
Jun 6, 2018 · 1 min
127. Good judgments improve your character
Epictetus says that the way we improve our character is by paying attention and making good judgments, while if we keep making bad ones we make our character worse. So today reflect carefully on your decisions, and ask yourself what would Epictetus do.
Jun 5, 2018 · 2 min
126. I may become poor, then I shall be among many
Seneca lists the worst things that could happen to him, and that we all fear, and reminds himself that the only truly terrible thing is being a bad person who holds to bad values and makes bad decisions.
Jun 4, 2018 · 1 min
125. Always examine your assumptions
Musonius Rufus reminds us that we often act out of simple habit, without paying attention to what we are doing and why. Not the best way to proceed in life.
Jun 1, 2018 · 1 min
124. Why do you care for the opinion of posterity?
Marcus Aurelius observes that some people are obsessed with what posterity will think of them, even though they have no idea what sort of individuals will make that judgment. Meanwhile, how about taking care of those we know here and now?
May 31, 2018 · 1 min
123. Good and evil are entirely up to you
Epictetus says that externals (health, wealth, education, good looks) are the means by which we do good or evil in the world. So it is entirely up to us, really.
May 30, 2018 · 1 min
122. The glass is neither half full nor half empty, it just is
Seneca reminds Lucilius that we ought to hope for justice, but brace ourselves for injustice. This is just the way the world works, which doesn't absolve us from our responsibility to do something about it.
May 29, 2018 · 2 min
121. Do not seek fame, seek to be useful to others
Marcus Aurelius reflects on what is worth doing, and decides that it's not seeking fame, but rather being helpful to fellow human beings.
May 28, 2018 · 2 min
120. Nobody wants to believe falsehoods, and yet...
Epictetus says that people cannot assent to what they think is false. We always want to be right, but we are often not, which is why we rationalize things. That's why we need to improve our ability to arrive at correct judgments about things.
May 25, 2018 · 2 min
119. Think about bad stuff happening, get comfortable with it
Seneca introduces a classic Stoic exercise, the premeditatio malorum, thinking about bad things happening, playing them in your head, so you get comfortable with accepting whatever may come.
May 24, 2018 · 2 min
118. After every disturbance, re-center yourself
Marcus Aurelius reminds us that all sorts of things will disturb our rational soul, and that we therefore need to practice re-centering it in order to respond to situations with reason and equanimity.
May 23, 2018 · 1 min
117. Can you tell the difference between the baths and the mill?
Epictetus has a little bit of fun with the Skeptics, who denied the possibility of human knowledge. If that's the case, he says, how is it that you reliably go to the thermal baths when you want to relax, and to the mill when you want bread?
May 22, 2018 · 1 min
116. Some people get to the end without having lived at all
Seneca observes that some people begin to really live their life only near the end. And some never begin at all. So what's sort of life you want to live, and have you started already?
May 21, 2018 · 1 min
115. Take care of your body, it helps your virtue
Our body is a preferred indifferent, but Musonius Rufus tells us to take whatever care we can of it, as it is also an instrument of virtue. In other words, go to the gym...