Gathering: How to be a Happy Skeptic

Massimo Pigliucci, philosophy professor at City College of New York, will discuss the way to a meaningful, happy life through the power of curiosity and doubt, with the ancient Roman public advocate, orator, statesman, and thinker Marcus Tullius Cicero as his guide.

Cicero lived in turbulent times at the end of the Roman Republic. Though he mostly lived as a Stoic, Cicero also followed Plato’s Skeptical Academy, believing a spirit of inquiry and an open-minded attitude were the secrets to living well.

Weaving Cicero’s biography with deep investigations of his published works, Massimo will explore the foundations for a good life: from how to formulate our values to how to nurture friendships; from being a good citizen and fighting for social justice to handling grief, pain, and even death.

Taking a page from Cicero’s book, we, too, can adopt a practical philosophy of reason and common sense.

This talk is at the meetinghouse and on Zoom. To receive the link, please email [admin@ethicalfocus.org](mailto:admin@ethicalfocus.org) by noon on Friday.