Stoicism Today: Selected Writings (Volume Two) (Volume 2)

270 Pages·2016·1.43 MB·English

by  Patrick Ussher

Stoicism Today
Selected Writings
Volume Two

Edited by Patrick Ussher
With the Assistance of Tom McConnell
Published June 2016 by Stoicism Today All articles are Copyright © of their
respective authors. No article may be reproduced without the express permission
in writing of its author.
Cover design by Rocio de Torres Artillo (www.rociodetorres.com).
Please note that the contents of this book are not intended as a substitute for
medical or psychiatric advice or treatment. Any person with a condition
requiring medical or psychiatric attention should consult a qualified medical
practitioner or suitable therapist.
About Stoicism Today
The Stoicism Today team is comprised of academics, based at University of
Exeter, King’s College, University of London, Queen Mary, University of
London, and CUNY (City University of New York), and psychotherapists, based
in the U.K. and Canada, working together to create Stoic resources for the
modern day. The Stoicism Today team has organised four international ‘Stoic
Weeks’ in November (from 2012-2015). Over 3,000 people took part in Stoic
Week 2015, following a specially prepared booklet with day-by-day exercises
and advice (which is available for free on the Stoicism Today blog). There is an
annual one-day ‘Stoicon’ event during Stoic Week. In 2015, it was in London,
while in 2016, it will be in New York in October. The work of the Stoicism
Today project has been featured in several publications, including The Toronto
Globe & Mail, The Daily Telegraph, Channel 4 Online, Forbes Magazine,
Newsweek, the New York Times and The Spectator. It has also been featured on
the radio, including BBC Radio 4, BBC Wales, the BBC World Service and ABC
Radio Australia. The Stoicism Today blog, which features weekly articles on
living the Stoic life, has had over one million hits.
Jules Evans, Gabriele Galluzzo, Gill Garratt, Christopher Gill, Tim LeBon, Tom
McConnell, Massimo Pigliucci, Donald Robertson, Greg Sadler, John Sellars
and Patrick Ussher are the members of the Stoicism Today project.
Internet References: Blog: http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/stoicismtoday/
YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/user/StoicismToday
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StoicWeek
Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/Stoicism/
Table of Contents
Biographies
Foreword
Introduction
Part I: Stoic Theory
What is Stoic Virtue? by Christopher Gill
Cicero on Living the Stoic Life by John Sellars
Responding to Providence by Corey Anton
Epictetus on Affection for Others by Greg Sadler
How to Relate Wisely to Other People by Christopher Gill
Stoicism and Emotions by John Sellars
‘How now, Horatio?’ The Stoic Joy of Nature and Friendship by Sherman J.
Clark
Part II: Living the Stoic Life
Falling into Stoicism by Mark Leggett
Stoic Resilience in the Face of Illness by Carmelo Di Maria
On Epictetus and Post-Traumatic Stress by Leonidas Konstantakos
Autism and Stoicism by Chris Peden
How to Set Stoic Goals by Rob Thompson
The Stoic Formula for a Happy Meaningful Life by William Irvine
Stoicism for Passionate People by Lindsay Varnum
Incendiary by Zachary G. Augustine
Loser! by Erik Wiegardt
Reflections of a Practising Buddhist on Stoicism by Garry Bannister
Part III: Stoicism and Society
The Stoic Love of Community by Matt Van Natta
Stoicism and the Environment by Christopher Gill
Would A Stoic Save The Elephants? by Leonidas Konstantakos
The Internet and the Dinner Party: Cultivating Stoic Calm in the Online
World by Tanya Brodd
How Does the Stoic Tweet? by Massimo Pigliucci
Stoicism in Business - Let’s Try Something Old! by Jacob Henricson
What Stoicism Taught Me About the Royal Marines by Mark Hardie
A Blueprint for a Philosophical CBT by Jules Evans
How to Become Virtuous - Lessons from Compassion Focussed Therapy
(CFT) by Tim LeBon
Is Stoicism for the Seriously and Persistently Mentally Ill (SPMI), Too? A
Reflection on the Clinical Use of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations by Ian
Guthrie
The Police Officer as Stoic by Peter Villiers
‘Barbarians at the Gates’: Stoic Responses to the Refugee Crisis by Kevin
Kennedy
Meditation on Past Evils: A Neostoic Spiritual Exercise by John Sellars
Part IV: Debating Stoicism Today
The Stoic Worldview by John Sellars
The Argument For: In Praise of the Logos by Mark Vernon
The Argument Against: In Praise of Modern Stoicism by Tim LeBon
Providence or Atoms? Providence! A Defence of the Stoic Worldview by
Christopher Fisher
Providence or Atoms? Atoms! A Defence of Being a Modern Stoic Atheist
by Donald Robertson
Without the Divine, there is no Stoicism by Nigel Glassborow
Stoics Are Not Ascetics by Piotr Stankiewicz
Stoics Are Ascetics by Kevin Patrick
Discussing the Stoic Revival
Endnotes
Biographies
Patrick Ussher is a PhD Student at the University of Exeter, working on Stoic
ethical development in Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. He started the Stoicism
Today blog in October 2012 and managed it until March 2016.
Tom McConnell is an MSt Student at Oxford University, with a particular
interest in Homer and other early Greek epic hexameter verse. He helps to run
the Stoicism Today blog.
***
Corey Anton is professor of communication studies at Grand Valley State
University. With wide research interests, he is author of Selfhood and
Authenticity, Sources of Significance: Worldly Rejuvenation and Neo-Stoic
Heroism, and Communication Uncovered: General Semantics and Media
Ecology. He is also the editor of Valuation and Media Ecology: Ethics, Morals
and Laws as well as co-editor, with Lance Strate, of Korzybski And… a
collection of comparisons of Korzybski’s thoughts to other key philosophers and
their ideas. Past-President of the Media Ecology Association, Anton is a Fellow
of the International Communicology Institute and currently serves as Vice-
President of the Institute of General Semantics.
Zachary G. Augustine is the author of Philosophy for Any Life: an open-source
self-help book. He is from Binghamton, NY, and is a graduate of the University
of Chicago. Besides writing, Zachary teaches and works as a graphic designer.
His website is zacharyaugustine.com.
Garry Bannister was born in Sligo, Ireland, in 1953. He attended Trinity
College Dublin where he studied Irish and Russian. On receiving a scholarship,
he went to Moscow State University where he graduated with an MA in Russian
language and literature and later successfully defended a PhD in comparative
linguistics. Bannister’s main interest today is the Irish language and its literature.
He has many publications in this area and is presently working at St. Columba’s
College, Dublin. A practising Buddhist for over three decades, he recently
became interested in the similarities between Buddhism and Stoicism.
Tanya Brodd is the principal at an elementary school for students with autism.
She has a master’s degree in Special Education with an emphasis in autism and
is currently working on another master’s degree in Educational Leadership.
Tanya has taught every single grade - Kindergarten through 12th grade - in a
variety of settings. She discovered the Stoics and their practices through her
husband, who is a classicist.
Sherman J. Clark, a graduate of the Harvard Law School, is the Kirkland &
Ellis Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, where he has
been a member of the faculty since 1995. He teaches a number of courses—
including torts, evidence, sports law, legal ethics, and law and literature. His
research and writing focusses on the ways in which legal and political rules and
institutions may have an impact on character and identity and thus on the extent
to which we are able to thrive as human beings. In this vein, drawing on classical
philosophy, psychology, political theory and literature, Clark has written about
institutions ranging from direct democracy to criminal procedure to the jury. His
interest in Stoic philosophy is rooted in a growing conviction that the Stoics
articulated profound and challenging insights about the connections between
character, virtue and human thriving.
Carmelo Di Maria is an Italian living in London, where he works as an editor.
He is passionate about LGBT rights, human rights and secularism and hopes to
teach one day a blend of mindfulness and Stoic reflective meditations to people
with chronic health conditions.
Jules Evans is passionate about how people use ancient Greek and Roman
philosophies today, as well as the links between Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
and Stoic philosophy. His first book is Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous
Situations. He is a research fellow at the Centre for the History of Emotions at
Queen Mary, London. He has developed a course of practical philosophy for
Low Moss Prison and Saracens rugby club, and he regularly talks on practical
philosophy for a range of organisations. For more of Jules’s work, see his blog,
Philosophy for Life (www.philosophyforlife.org).
Chris Fisher is a law enforcement detective in Florida, USA. He studied
Stoicism through The College of Stoic Philosophers, where he graduated from
the one-year-long Marcus Aurelius School in 2013. Chris is now a mentor at the
College and a founding member of the Society of Epictetus. He blogs at
www.traditionalStoicism.com
Christopher Gill is Emeritus Professor of Ancient Thought at the University of
Exeter. He has written extensively on Stoic ethics and psychology, including The
Structured Self in Hellenistic and Roman Thought. He is currently writing a
book on Stoic ethics and its potential contribution to modern debate.
Nigel Glassborow is a self-taught Stoic. He learnt that he was a Stoic in about
1989 having discovered that the philosophy he had evolved for himself had
already been developed as Stoicism. His arrival at Stoicism involved an
unstructured study of most of the world religions and also an interest in the
progress of the sciences as offered in such books as A Brief History of Time and
magazines such as the New Scientist. His Stoicism is both pantheistic and
theistic.
Ian Guthrie is a psychosocial rehabilitation worker for a community mental
health centre in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. He is pursuing licensure as a
professional counsellor.
Mark Hardie is an executive coach and consultant specialising in foresight and
innovative approaches to risk management. He first stumbled across Stoicism
whilst serving in the British Royal Marines. He has a particular interest in the
Greek concept of Metis - the combination of wisdom and cunning to overcome
and reframe problems. His children are already masters of this, to his great pride
and frequent embarrassment.
Jacob Henricson is a consultant and speaker. He has 15 years experience of
management and other senior positions in large and small companies such as
PwC and Ericsson. He has a bachelor in Political Science from the University of
Stockholm but has spent his career in different kinds of risk management, being
among other things globally responsible for Information Security and Business
Continuity at Ericsson. Jacob lives in Stockholm with his wife and three
children.
William B. Irvine is professor of philosophy at Wright State University in
Dayton, Ohio, USA. He is a practicing Stoic and the author of A Guide to the
Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy.
Kevin Kennedy is a 53-year-old German-American historian, writer, lecturer
and commentator. He lives with his Swedish partner and their two children in
Potsdam, Germany and Kungsbacka, Sweden. His academic speciality is
eighteenth-century Prussian history. He discovered Stoicism over twenty years
ago, but it has only become a part of his daily life since the Stoic Week in 2013.
He can be reached at [email protected].
Leonidas Konstantakos became a special education teacher after the Army, has
a Masters in Liberal Studies from Florida International University and adjuncts
philosophy at night. Other papers by Leonidas can be read at:
https://independent.academia.edu/LeonidasKonstantakos.
Tim LeBon is a BABCP accredited CBT psychoptherapist and UKCP registered
existential therapist, an APPA and SPP registered philosophical counsellor and
is also trained as a life coach and integrative counsellor. He is a past Chair of the
Society for Philosophy in Practice (SPP) and the founding editor of Practical
Philosophy. He is the author of Wise Therapy and Achieve your Potential with
Positive Psychology. You can read more about Tim’s work on his blog, Socrates
Satisfied (http://blog.timlebon.com).
Mark Leggett is a veterinary surgeon living on the beautiful west coast of
Scotland. His passions are ultrarunning, mountaineering, and watercolour
painting. His blog is: sketchingontherun.blogspot.co.uk.
Kevin Patrick is a Tutor and Mentor at the College of Stoic Philosophers, and
runs http://mountainStoic.wordpress.com. When he’s not philosophising, he is a
Statistician attached to the US Navy and a writer.
Chris Peden is an accountant. He has written articles for GoDaddy and the
Intuit Small Business Blog on accounting and tax for small business owners. As
the father of two autistic boys, he has used the teachings of Stoicism and his
Catholic faith to deal better with the challenges that come from raising special
needs children. He can be reached at [email protected].
Massimo Pigliucci is the K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College
of New York. He is an evolutionary biologist and a philosopher of science,
whose writings can be found at platofootnote.org. He has written or edited ten
books, most recently Philosophy of Pseudoscience: Reconsidering the
Demarcation Problem. He grew up in Rome, reading Seneca and Cicero, but re-
discovered Stoicism only recently.
Donald Robertson is the author of Teach Yourself Stoicism, The Philosophy of
CBT and Build your Resilience. He was previously a cognitive-behavioural
psychotherapist and trainer in London before moving to Nova Scotia in Canada,
where he now works in e-learning and instructional design.
Gregory Sadler is an educator, public speaker, philosophical counselor, and the
president of ReasonIO, a company dedicated to putting philosophy into practice.
He is the author of one book (Reason Fulfilled by Revelation: The 1930s
Christian Philosophy Debates in France), and dozens of articles, book chapters,
and encyclopedia entries ranging from ancient to contemporary philosophy. He
also produces popular YouTube videos on philosophy, and has over 2 million
views and 25,000 subscribers in his main channel
(www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler). In March 2016, he joined the Stoicism