Stoa Conversations: Stoicism Applied

Want to become more Stoic? Join us and other Stoics this October: Stoicism Applied by Caleb Ontiveros and Michael Tremblay on Maven

"Happiness, as the goal of life, can be understood as the highest expression of human nature, as encapsulating the chief markers of humanity at its best, namely rationality and sociability."

In this conversation, I (Caleb) speak with Chris Gill. We kick off the conversation with topics from his most recent book Learning to Live Naturally: Stoic Ethics and its Modern Significance. It’s no exaggeration to say that Chris Gill is a legend in modern Stoicism so having him on again was a real privilege.

Learning to Live Naturally

(02:19) Indifferents

(10:39) What Grounds Virtue?

(16:55) How to Think About Virtues and Nature

(26:44) Stoicism and the Natural World

(29:43) Stoic Detachment

(38:02) Does Stoicism Promote Self-sufficiency?

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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/

Want to become more Stoic? Join us and other Stoics this October: Stoicism Applied by Caleb Ontiveros and Michael Tremblay on Maven

What does a Stoic eat?

How does a Stoic think about food?

That's what Caleb and Michael discuss in this episode.

Citing all 4 of the Roman Stoics, they cover how ancient Stoics thought about food and how that can shape our behavior today.

(01:56) Intro

(05:06) Musonius Rufus on Food

(14:05) The Social Role of Food

(19:09) Seneca on Food

(24:53) Mythbusting

(28:00) What Should Other People Eat?

(33:00) Context Context 

(35:29) Implications

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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/

Want to become more Stoic? Join us and other Stoics this October: Stoicism Applied by Caleb Ontiveros and Michael Tremblay on Maven

“Iron sharpens iron”

In this conversation, Michael speaks with Gregory Sadler.

Greg is the Founder and President of ReasonIO, a company dedicated to making resources of contemporary and classical philosophy available and accessible to non-philosophers. I first encountered Greg through his popular YouTube channel, which has hundreds of videos breaking down the thinking of philosophers ranging from Epictetus and Seneca to Hegel and Hume.

In this conversation, we cover challenges to the Stoics from a range of philosophers – each criticism should sharpen your picture of Stoicism.

(02:04) Greg's Story

(06:37) What Attracted Greg to Stoicism?

(13:28) Hegel on the Stoics

(25:12) Nietzsche’s Challenge

(33:36) William James on Stoicism

(43:39) Experimentation

(46:00) Shifty Stoicism

(48:15) Neo-Aristotelian Arguments

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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/

Want to become more Stoic? Join us and other Stoics this October: Stoicism Applied by Caleb Ontiveros and Michael Tremblay on Maven

The best skiers don’t study ancient skiers. The best physicists don’t turn to Ancient Greece in order to push their field forward. So why should philosophers look back at the work of the ancients?

In this episode, Caleb and Michael wrestle with that question. Their answers may surprise you.

(02:11) The Argument Against Studying Ancient Philosophy 

(07:00) Who is Actually Doing Philosophy Today?

(16:27) Mining for Diamonds

(25:00) The Motivational Force of Philosophy

(28:17) Communion with the Ancients

(32:08) Caleb on Why He Studies Ancient Philosophy

(35:55) An Aside on Organs

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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/

Want to become more Stoic? Join us and other Stoics this October: Stoicism Applied by Caleb Ontiveros and Michael Tremblay on Maven

“The central theme of Seneca’s tragedies is how to endure a world in which there is no justice, no safety, no guarantees—political or divine—of human dignity.”

For this episode, I went to Sonoma County, California to speak with the poet Dana Gioia.

Seneca was a brilliant philosopher and statesman, but not many know he was also a world-class playwright. Dana Gioia is changing that.

Our conversation focuses on Dana’s translation of Seneca’s The Madness of Hercules but also covers Dana’s story, Stoicism, and much more.

https://danagioia.com/

https://www.wisebloodbooks.com/store/p131/seneca-the-madness-of-hercules-translate-by-dana-gioia.html

(02:19) Dana's Story

(13:29) Choosing Art Over Material Success

(19:30) Seneca Enters the Picture

(32:02) The Madness of Hercules

(38:25) The Value in Seneca's Violence

(44:44) Reading The Play

(51:21) Reading vs Listening vs Seeing

(57:59) Bacchus

(59:55) Seneca the Playwright vs Seneca the Philosopher

(01:07:31) Seneca on Anger

(01:14:26) Stoicism Today

(01:21:11) Fasting

(01:29:05) Final Words

Note: I had use backup audio for 1:02 to 1:08. You’ll notice a slight decline in audio quality for those 6 minutes.

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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/

Want to become more Stoic? Join us and other Stoics this October: Stoicism Applied by Caleb Ontiveros and Michael Tremblay on Maven

"They say that love is an effort to form a friendship because of an impression of beauty in young persons at their prime..."

In this conversation, Caleb and Michael talk about the Stoics on eros and romantic love. First, they cover how the Stoics saw the nature of romantic love. Then, they look at what advice they have for us today. Finally, they end on the topic of heartbreak.

(01:35) Introducing Love

(05:36) Erotic Love

(20:18) Friendship

(27:00) Stoic Advice for Modern Relationships

(30:39) Knowing How To Say The I

(36:59) Role Ethics  

(41:24) The Stoics on Heartbreak

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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/

Want to become more Stoic? Join us and other Stoics this October: Stoicism Applied by Caleb Ontiveros and Michael Tremblay on Maven

In this conversation, Caleb speaks with Dr. Randolph Nesse.

Randolph is the author of Good Reasons for Bad Feelings: Insights from the Frontier of Evolutionary Psychiatry. His work focuses on answering fundamental questions like why humans get sick and why we experience anxiety from an evolutionary perspective.

This is an essential conversation for understanding the nature of negative emotions. We touch on why we get anxious, what we can do about it, why we may not want to become less anxious, the role of advice, and, of course, the insights of the Stoics.

https://www.randolphnesse.com/

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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/

Want to become more Stoic? Join us and other Stoics this October: Stoicism Applied by Caleb Ontiveros and Michael Tremblay on Maven

“Must I be wasting my time sitting in a corner when I might have been crowned at Olympia?”

In this conversation, we discuss failure, how to avoid it, and how to deal with it when it happens. We end by revealing personal experiences with failure.

“And what advantage does a wrestler gain from his training partner? The greatest.”

(01:57) Introduction

(10:40) How To Avoid Failure

(21:54) How To Deal With Failure

(27:50) Contemplating Adversity

(34:52) Failure as Practice

(40:06) Failure as Indifferent

(44:46) Free for All

(48:53) Personal Failure

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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/

Want to become more Stoic? Join us and other Stoics this October: Stoicism Applied by Caleb Ontiveros and Michael Tremblay on Maven

Catherine Wilson is a Professor of Philosophy, currently at the City University of New York. She is the author of How to Be an Epicurean: The Ancient Art of Living Well, which covers Epicureanism, an ancient philosophy, as a way of life.

In this conversation Michael and Catherine cover the basics of Epicureanism, a philosophical alternative to Stoicism based on minimizing the painful experiences of yourself and others, while maximizing enjoyment. They also discuss the contrasts between Stoicism and Epicureanism, including the idea that Stoicism is a tool for stress management, while Epicureanism is a tool for stress avoidance.

This conversation is a must for anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of Hellenistic philosophy, or anyone interested in ancient philosophies of life besides Stoicism.

(01:33) Stoicism vs Epicureanism

(03:45) Convention vs Nature

(10:13) Epicurean Altruism

(20:35) The Garden

(25:17) Back to Convention

(29:11) Intellectual Pleasure

(30:49) Stoicism vs Epicureanism, Revisited

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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/

Want to become more Stoic? Join us and other Stoics this October: Stoicism Applied by Caleb Ontiveros and Michael Tremblay on Maven

In this conversation, we review Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman’s Lives of the Stoics, focusing on their accounts of the big three Roman Stoics: Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. This is a great episode for getting a sense of the lives of key figures we talk about.

Stoicism Applied course

(02:54) Introduction

(08:39) Seneca the Striver

(24:00) Epictetus the Free Man

(37:16) Marcus Aurelius the Philosopher King 

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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/