About us
This group is dedicated to the serious study and lived practice of Stoic philosophy as a way of life. Together, we explore how the teachings of the ancient Stoics can be applied thoughtfully and rigorously to the challenges of modern living.
We welcome newcomers and experienced practitioners alike. No prior background is required, only a genuine interest in examining one’s beliefs, habits, and character. Our discussions are structured to meet people where they are, while also encouraging steady growth in understanding and practice.
Our meetings focus on engaging directly with Stoic texts, reflecting on real-life situations, and considering how Stoic ideas apply to the choices we face. We emphasize virtue, self-discipline, sound judgment, and responsibility for one’s inner life not as abstract ideals, but as habits formed through daily attention and effort.
How the course works
We run an ongoing 12-chapter Stoicism 101 course that repeats continuously throughout the year.
- We meet Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday
- Each night covers a different chapter
- After Chapter 12, the course loops back to Chapter 1
- You can join at any point
If you attend one night per week, you will complete the full course in about three months. If you attend multiple nights per week, you can move through the course more quickly. Each session stands on its own while also fitting into the larger structure.
Alongside the main course, every week we host Sunday Stoa, a more community-oriented, book club–style gathering.
If you’re looking for thoughtful conversation, sincere self-examination, and a community committed to practicing philosophy rather than merely talking about it, you’re very welcome to join us.
Upcoming events
7
Sunday Stoa #134
·OnlineOnlineIf you're interested in going deeper than just the intro classes and exploring the community side of Stoicism, please join us for Sunday Stoa.
We begin at 4:00 PM (ET) with 10 minutes of Stoic breath meditation followed by 15 minutes of writing practice.
At 4:30 PM, we move into introductions and social time.
Around 5:00 PM, we’ll listen to selections from the original Stoic texts and then discuss the ideas they present.This week, we’ll be listening to Letters 48 and 49 from Seneca’s Letters from a Stoic: On quibbling as unworthy of the philosopher, and On the shortness of life.
Here's the text and video if you’d like to check them out beforehand:
Letter 48
Text: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_48
Video: https://youtu.be/-GcjvCCmSScLetter 49
Text: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_49
Video: https://youtu.be/JjJqi0kRv4YCome for the whole thing or join us whenever it works best for you. See you Sunday!
5 attendees
Stoicism 101: Week 12 - How to Practice Stoicism
·OnlineOnlineJoin us for an evening of Stoic philosophy and discussion. We'll kick off the event with a short presentation exploring one of the core ideas of Stoicism, focusing on its real-world application with some practices drawn from the texts. Following the presentation, we'll break into smaller groups for a lightly-facilitated discussion about the topic.
This week, we’ll be finishing the course by discussing how to put everything together into a personal Stoic practice, the levels of Stoicism, and how much we can expect to achieve. We'll also discuss an example of a Stoic daily plan.
Here's the video we'll be watching: https://youtu.be/G1nM9UCJCIs?si=79sCVKbB6IcabEiz&t=13962
And here's the text, along with the rest of the resources for the course: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-6r2KFyv7f-vChnX-9eKovdFsQ6DYoc_CV5RZtJb9XA/edit?usp=sharing
Thanks so much for your interest, and please remember:
"There is no such thing as good or bad fortune for the individual; we live in common. And no one can live happily who has regard to himself alone and transforms everything into a question of his own utility; you must live for your neighbor, if you would live for yourself." - Seneca, Letters from a Stoic, Letter 48
14 attendees
Controlling Your Own Emotional Destiny
·OnlineOnlineCosponsored with Philosophy + Therapy
"They made me feel like an idiot."
We say things like this constantly, and almost never notice the claim buried in them — that someone else reached inside and operated the controls.Why do so many thoughtful, self-aware, well-read people find that:
- the same remark from two different people lands two completely different ways
- something that would have wrecked them at twenty-five barely registers now
- they can watch someone else shrug off exactly what ruined their week
- the feeling seems to arrive fully formed, with no gap to intervene in
- "you made me feel" is how they'd describe it, and it's how it felt
A Guide to Rational Living — the 1961 book that became the foundation of modern cognitive therapy — makes an unpopular claim about that gap. It exists. It's just very small and very fast. Someone supplies the event; what it means is supplied by you, in a sentence so quick and so familiar it doesn't register as a sentence at all. You can't change what people do. You can change what you added.
We'll get into:
- what actually happens between what someone does and how you feel
- why "they made me feel" is nearly always inaccurate, and why it still feels true
- what the Stoics said about exactly which things are inside our control
- whether this makes you responsible for your feelings or just able to change them
- what it takes to find a gap that fast
No reading required. We listen to the chapter together.
The plan for the night:- Quick intro from me — who I am, and where these ideas came from
- We listen to Chapter 14 together (~20 min)
- Small-group discussion (~20 min)
- Q&A and open discussion
Not therapy. No diagnosis. Nothing you have to share. Just a good book and a more reasonable way to see the world.
10 attendees
Stoicism 101: Week 7 - Anger
·OnlineOnlineJoin us for an evening of Stoic philosophy and discussion. We'll kick off the event with a short presentation exploring one of the core ideas of Stoicism, focusing on its real-world application with some practices drawn from the texts. Following the presentation, we'll break into smaller groups for a lightly-facilitated discussion about the topic.
This week, we'll be discussing anger and how to master this most dangerous of passions. We'll examine why anger is a form of temporary madness, the process for preventing and subduing it, and how we can use our daily reflection journaling to bring this vice under our control.
Here's the video we'll be watching: https://youtu.be/G1nM9UCJCIs?si=C_8QPw1yPWtsWcvu&t=7574
And here's the text, along with the rest of the resources for the course: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-6r2KFyv7f-vChnX-9eKovdFsQ6DYoc_CV5RZtJb9XA/edit?usp=sharing
Thanks so much for your interest, and please remember:
"There is no such thing as good or bad fortune for the individual; we live in common. And no one can live happily who has regard to himself alone and transforms everything into a question of his own utility; you must live for your neighbor, if you would live for yourself." - Seneca, Letters from a Stoic, Letter 48
18 attendees
Past events
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