Massimo Pigliucci is the K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York. Massimo has written, or edited more than thirteen book, co-hosted of the Rationally Speaking Podcast, and was the editor-in-chief for the online magazine Scientia Salon. He will talk with Sara Jamshidi about Stoicism: a philosophy designed to make us more resilient, happier, more virtuous and more wise–and as a result, better people.
A Field Guide to a Happy Life
With its lessons for resilience in the face of hardship, ancient Stoicism is beginning to seem like a very modern philosophy. As Massimo Pigliucci, a leading scholar and practical philosopher, puts it in his forthcoming book, A Field Guide to a Happy Life: “One thing that hasn’t changed much is human nature itself, which is why the words written for and by people who lived two millennia ago still resonate so clearly with us today. Those people did not have smartphones and social media, airplanes, and atomic weapons. But they loved, hoped, feared, lived, and died pretty much like we do today.”
While Stoicism has much to offer modern readers, Modern Stoics have struggled with some of the philosophy’s stranger claims. Should we really be indifferent to the death of a loved one, or to our own demise? Is it truly unacceptable to care about one's work? In A Field Guide to a Happy Life: 53 Breif Lessons for Living, Pigliucci brings the classic epitome of ancient Stoicism, Epictetus' Handbook, up to date.
The key to modern Stoicism, Pigliucci shows, is an emphasis on resilience and equanimity in the face of challenges and setbacks. In his hands, Stoicism isn't about cultivating indifference to our social and emotional lives. It's about learning to endure life's hardships without being overwhelmed, while enjoying life's pleasures with “humility and wisdom as our guides.” If we start with the “four cardinal virtues” (Practical Wisdom, Courage, Justice, and Temperance), we will grow into more honest, courageous, fair, and mindful individuals. In A Field Guide to a Happy Life: 53 Breif Lessons for Living, Pigliucci shows how cultivating a Stoic mindset can help us navigate these uncertain times.
