Stoa Conversations: Stoicism Applied

Who were the Cynics and why did the Stoics treat them as exemplars?  

In this conversation, Caleb speaks with Dr. M. D. Usher about the ancient philosophy of Cynicism, its training program, and way of life.

How to Say No

(00:47) Farming

(02:21) What Is Cynicism

(06:56) Outsiders

(10:39) Living In Accordance With Nature

(15:15) Storytime

(23:18) Training Program

(32:39) Socrates

(38:38) Modern Cynics

(45:12) Returning to Stoicism and Cynicism

(48:19) Lazy Stoics

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Thanks to Michael Levy for graciously letting us use his music in the conversations: https://ancientlyre.com/

Time for another Stoic movie review.  This week Caleb and Michael talk 300. They cover the good, bad, and and provocative aspects of the film on the Spartan’s epic last stand at Thermopylae.

Gladiator

(02:29) The Movie

(06:58) Spartan Stoic Virtues

(08:36) Powers Of Perception

(15:00) Action Over Words

(19:48) What Winning Means

(24:26) Spartan Propaganda

(29:46) Sparta Was Not Stoic

(41:31) Steelmanning The Silver People

(47:25) King and Queen

(51:58) Summary

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If you try the Stoa app and find it useful, but truly cannot afford it, email us and we'll set you up with a free account.

Listen to more episodes and learn more here: https://stoameditation.com/blog/stoa-conversations/

Thanks to Michael Levy for graciously letting us use his music in the conversations: https://ancientlyre.com/

This one is for all of you interested in Stoic theory.

In this conversation, Caleb and Scott Aikin discuss objections to Stoicism.

Scott defends a revisionary kind of Stoicism. In some places, Caleb questions how revisionary it is – is Scott just restating things the ancients solved already? In other places, Caleb questions whether it’s too revisionary to work – do we need an account of nature after all? Scott responds.

Listen and work through the problems yourself.

Epictetus’s 'Encheiridion': A New Translation and Guide to Stoic Ethics

Earlier Stoa Conversation on Why What You Think Is Up To You

Caleb and Michael discuss The Impossibility Objection

Scott Aikin on We Are The Stoics Now

(04:44) Fatalism

(12:29) Dichotomy of Control

(18:45) Where Your Control Lies

(20:04) Skepticism

(22:28) Determinism

(31:30) How You Revisionary Is Scott?

(34:38) The Ruin Problem

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Subscribe to The Stoa Letter for weekly meditations, actions, and links to the best Stoic resources: www.stoaletter.com/subscribe

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If you try the Stoa app and find it useful, but truly cannot afford it, email us and we'll set you up with a free account.

Listen to more episodes and learn more here: https://stoameditation.com/blog/stoa-conversations/

Thanks to Michael Levy for graciously letting us use his music in the conversations: https://ancientlyre.com/

Caleb and Michael discuss an objection to Stoicism: the impossibility objection. Along the way, they talk about the challenge of living by Stoic principles, especially in extreme situations, and whether achieving the ideal Stoic sage is possible.

03:26 The Argument

14:47 Why It Matters

17:06 Stoicism Doesn't Require Unrealistic Control

27:15 Forceful Impressions

35:44 Can We All Be Sages?

44:54 Can Anyone Be A Sage?

50:10 Wrapping Up

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Subscribe to The Stoa Letter for weekly meditations, actions, and links to the best Stoic resources: www.stoaletter.com/subscribe

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If you try the Stoa app and find it useful, but truly cannot afford it, email us and we'll set you up with a free account.

Listen to more episodes and learn more here: https://stoameditation.com/blog/stoa-conversations/

Thanks to Michael Levy for graciously letting us use his music in the conversations: https://ancientlyre.com/

How can you use Stoicism to cultivate compassion and build deeper connections?

Brittany Polat joins Caleb to talk about the themes from her new set of meditations: Deeper Connections. They discuss the meaning of Stoic compassion and what becoming more compassionate looks like in theory and practice.

Deeper Connections

Journal Like A Stoic

https://stoicismforhumans.substack.com/

(01:11) Stoic Compassion

(11:11) Becoming More Compassionate

(19:43) Abundance Mindset

(25:58) Friendship

(29:15) Forgiving Others

(36:28) Forgiving Oneself

(43:12) Practice And Meditation

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Subscribe to The Stoa Letter for weekly meditations, actions, and links to the best Stoic resources: www.stoaletter.com/subscribe

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If you try the Stoa app and find it useful, but truly cannot afford it, email us and we'll set you up with a free account.

Listen to more episodes and learn more here: https://stoameditation.com/blog/stoa-conversations/

Thanks to Michael Levy for graciously letting us use his music in the conversations: https://ancientlyre.com/

Caleb and Michael talk about Seneca’s 94th Letter to Lucilius. In it Seneca debates the place of rules in the philosophical life with the ancient Stoic Aristo.

It's a topic of theoretical and practical importance. How do you use rules, proverbs, and precepts well when they are such imperfect tools? What's the difference between rules and principles? 

(02:39) The Debate Over Rules

(16:19) Aristo

(21:40) Memorizing Philosophy Does Not Work

(26:02) Rules Are Either Obvious Or Misunderstood

(31:02) Summarizing Aristo

(32:53) Seneca's Response

(45:20) The Point of Rules

(49:54) Are Rules Specific Enough?

(52:38) How To Use Rules

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Subscribe to The Stoa Letter for weekly meditations, actions, and links to the best Stoic resources: www.stoaletter.com/subscribe

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If you try the Stoa app and find it useful, but truly cannot afford it, email us and we'll set you up with a free account.

Listen to more episodes and learn more here: https://stoameditation.com/blog/stoa-conversations/

Thanks to Michael Levy for graciously letting us use his music in the conversations: https://ancientlyre.com/

In this conversation, Michael Tremblay and Erlend MacGillivray take a deep dive into Stoic history and the life of Epictetus.

It’s an excellent discussion for anyone looking to enrich their knowledge of ancient history and situate the Stoics in their time.

https://schoolofepictetus.substack.com/

(01:20) Getting Into Stoicism

(05:33) Epictetus

(10:26) Epictetus's World

(13:34) Philosophy in Rome

(20:51) Epictetus's Students

(45:40) Stoics and Lay People

(01:03:30) Popularization vs Elitism

(01:10:08) What's Next

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Subscribe to The Stoa Letter for weekly meditations, actions, and links to the best Stoic resources: www.stoaletter.com/subscribe

Download the Stoa app (it’s a free download): stoameditation.com/pod

If you try the Stoa app and find it useful, but truly cannot afford it, email us and we'll set you up with a free account.

Listen to more episodes and learn more here: https://stoameditation.com/blog/stoa-conversations/

Thanks to Michael Levy for graciously letting us use his music in the conversations: https://ancientlyre.com/

In this conversation, Caleb and Michael talk Socrates. Why was he held in such high regard by the Stoics? What’s the line of philosophical theory and practice connecting Stoicism to Socrates? And how did Socrates philosophy differ from the Stoics?

(03:52) Who Was Socrates?

(07:07) Philosophy As A Way Off Life

(14:48) The Socratic Method

(20:49) Virtue Is Knowledge

(26:15) Self-knowledge

(33:40) The Importance Of Character

(43:19) Differences

(49:14) Philosophy With Socrates

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Learn more about our new year’s course: stoameditation.com/course

Subscribe to The Stoa Letter for weekly meditations, actions, and links to the best Stoic resources: www.stoaletter.com/subscribe

Download the Stoa app (it’s a free download): stoameditation.com/pod

If you try the Stoa app and find it useful, but truly cannot afford it, email us and we'll set you up with a free account.

Listen to more episodes and learn more here: https://stoameditation.com/blog/stoa-conversations/

Thanks to Michael Levy for graciously letting us use his music in the conversations: https://ancientlyre.com/

In this conversation, Caleb speaks with William O Stephens about his 6 core themes of Stoicism.

Epictetus’s 'Encheiridion': A New Translation and Guide to Stoic Ethics

https://williamostephens.com/

(04:12) Self-Control

(09:31) Seeing Things As They Are

(14:34) Living In Accordance With Nature

(22:12) Role Ethics

(35:57) Virtue Depends On Knowledge

(42:59) Stoicism Is Aspirational

***

Learn more about our new year’s course: stoameditation.com/course

Subscribe to The Stoa Letter for weekly meditations, actions, and links to the best Stoic resources: www.stoaletter.com/subscribe

Download the Stoa app (it’s a free download): stoameditation.com/pod

If you try the Stoa app and find it useful, but truly cannot afford it, email us and we'll set you up with a free account.

Listen to more episodes and learn more here: https://stoameditation.com/blog/stoa-conversations/

Thanks to Michael Levy for graciously letting us use his music in the conversations: https://ancientlyre.com/

Register for a free workshop January 3rd: stoameditation.com/workshop

Join our live course – starting next week: stoameditation.com/course

Happy new year! Thanks for listening to Stoa Conversations.

In this one, Caleb and Michael discuss their highlights from 2023 – one year of podcasting in public. Relive your favorite philosophical moments with them as they share the key insights from the year and shoutout guests.

And let us know what you think at stoameditation.com/survey.

(01:31) Stoic Psychology

(06:20) Stoicism Is Deep

(09:08) Thinking, Fast And Slow

(13:45) Voluntary Suffering

(22:17) Anger Sucks

(27:26) The Stoic God

(32:01) Randolph Nesse

(36:04) Julia Galef

(40:22) Chris Gill

(45:25) Greg Sadler

(48:09) Dana Gioia

(51:06) What's Next For Stoa Conversations

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Learn more about our new year’s course: stoameditation.com/course

Subscribe to The Stoa Letter for weekly meditations, actions, and links to the best Stoic resources: www.stoaletter.com/subscribe

Download the Stoa app (it’s a free download): stoameditation.com/pod

If you try the Stoa app and find it useful, but truly cannot afford it, email us and we'll set you up with a free account.

Listen to more episodes and learn more here: https://stoameditation.com/blog/stoa-conversations/

Thanks to Michael Levy for graciously letting us use his music in the conversations: https://ancientlyre.com/