Stoicism For a Secular Age

Stoicism is an ancient Greco-Roman philosophy of ethics and resilience. It was practiced by emperors like Marcus Aurelius, as well as former slaves like the teacher Epictetus. It taught that the most important thing in life is to develop one’s moral character, and that we should live according to our nature, i.e., as social beings capable of reason. Stoicism is experiencing a surprising comeback these days, positioning itself as the Western answer to Buddhism, with which it shares a number of similarities. In this talk I will explain the basics of Stoicism and argue that it is a philosophy highly suitable to the complexities of life in the 21st century.

Massimo Pigliucci is a biologist and philosopher at the City University of New York. His main interests are in the philosophy of science and pseudoscience. He is the editor-in-chief of the online magazine Scientia Salon, and his latest book (co-edited with Maarten Boudry) is Philosophy of Pseudoscience: Reconsidering the Demarcation Problem (Chicago Press).