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How does one live a good life?
This simple question can be surprisingly difficult to answer. Yet not taking an honest try at answering it (or even worse: ignoring the question entirely) can lead to the risk of misliving one's life. One of the main goals of ancient philosophy in the West was to help guide people in answering this question rigorously and well, and then helping people to live in accordance with their life's philosophy (literally "the love of wisdom").
One of the most successful and influential schools of thought in the ancient world which addressed this question was Stoicism. Stoicism taught that by cultivating personal excellence ('arete' in Greek) was all that was needed to lead a good life and flourish as a human being ('eudaimonia' in ancient Greek). To do this, the ancient Stoics taught a host of practices and a sophisticated theory of mind to help the Stoic student on the path to eudaimonia. Stoic philosophy had a huge influence on the West, from helping shape early Christianity to being a strong influence on the modern psychological movement of cognitive-behavioral therapy.
But Stoic philosophy is not only useful for those in the ancient world. For instance, James Stockdale has cited Stoic philosophy as helping him cope with the horrors of being a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Also, the University of Exeter in the UK has conducting pilot studies starting in 2012 of the effect of Stoic practices on various measures psychological well-being with promising preliminary results. Stoicism can be of great use to people in our modern era.
The goal of this meetup is to introduce Stoic philosophy as a way of life to people interested in living a more meaningful, tranquil life and to support experienced students of Stoic philosophy in their practice. While many of the meetups will be focused around reading, this is not a group for disengaged study of ancient philosophy from an academic perspective. Instead, this is a group for helping people to put Stoic philosophy into practice in their daily lives, so they can live the best life they can.
Are you ready to attempt to live a more tranquil, meaningful, and happy life? Then join us today!
Upcoming events (3)
See all- [Reading group] Stoic Ethical Theory: How Much Is Enough?Link visible for attendees
There's little doubt that many of the ancient Stoics connected their ethics to their worldview. However, many modern Stoics disagree with much of ancient Stoic physics. Additionally, how deeply connected their physics were to their ethics is open to question.
So, how deeply dependent is Stoic ethics on the Stoic worldview? How much of ancient Stoic worldview must modern practitioners accept in order to practice Stoicism coherently? And what does this mean for how modern practitioners should approach Stoicism?
At this meetup, we'll explore these questions by discussing Christopher Gill's paper on the topic entitled "Stoic Ethical Theory: How Much is Enough?"
To prepare for the meetup, please read the paper in full and come prepared with questions or concepts you want to discuss. It is available for free here.
We'll be assuming you did the reading at this meetup, so if you didn't, it's likely you'll be left behind!
- In-person Stoic Discussion + casual hangoutPier 57, New York, NY
Come join us for some in-person Stoic discussion!
Here's our agenda for this meetup:
4-5pm: informal, optional hangout:
- Grab some food from Market 57 and let's just hang out and chat about whatever. It's okay to skip this part if you just want to come for the Stoicism
5-7pm: The main event:
- Open Q&A and discussion about Stoicism
- Deep read of Enchiridion 27: we'll read through Enchiridion 27 together and share our main practical takeaways. (You can compare multiple public domain translations here: https://enchiridion.tasuki.org/)
You're welcome to come only for the Stoic discussion from 5-7pm, or just show up at 4pm for the more open hangout and discussion.
Notes on the venue: We'll be in Oyster Classroom in Pier 57 (25 11th Ave New York, NY 10011), which I reserved just for our group. Outside food is not permitted, but food from the nearby Market 57 is. Here's a map of the interior of Pier 57: go to Oyster Classroom.
![[Reading group] Stoic Ethical Theory: How Much Is Enough? cover photo](https://secure.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/4/7/6/b/event_529998283.webp "[Reading group] Stoic Ethical Theory: How Much Is Enough?")
