Suggested Readings
A few recommendations by Figs in Winter for your reading pleasure
PhilosophyCulture
Figs in Winter.
Massimo Pigliucci on Stoicism, skepticism, and living meaningfully through reason.
Recent essays
29 of 29Two masks, one stage
Stoic role ethics from Panaetius to Epictetus
On self-determination and the limits of pacifism
Why Taiwan and Ukraine are not the same as Scotland and the Basque Country
In the media
A look at recent public appearances by yours truly
Five allegedly bad “isms” – Part II
Science and ideology: positivism, scientism, and what I actually believe
Five allegedly bad “isms” – Part I
At one point or another I’ve been accused of being one of these. Am I guilty?
Suggested Readings
A few recommendations by Figs in Winter for your reading pleasure
The Hard Problem is a category mistake
What consciousness and vital force have in common and why it matters
Beyond the Inner Citadel
Ludwig Edelstein and the limits of self-help philosophy
In the media
A look at recent public appearances by yours truly
On miracles
I mock-debated miracles with a colleague of mine, here’s what happened
The Lion-Man and the birth of the impossible
What a 40,000-year-old figurine tells us about the human mind
From the archive
The Figs in Winter archive is deep, here are some choice bits
Strangers, gods, and bombs: why we keep killing each other (part II)
Gods, kings, and nuclear codes – From sacred violence to existential risk
Strangers, gods, and bombs: why we keep killing each other (part I)
From the savanna to the city — The evolutionary roots of tribal violence
Video: How to Be a Happy Skeptic, a chat with Don Robertson
What is Skepticism? Why are there two kinds? Is it a philosophy of life?
Reason without virtue is just calculation
Why separating reason from ethics was always a mistake
How to make a home with Vitruvius & co.
Part XXXIX of the Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers series
A new man comes to town
An excerpt from my new book How to Be a (Happy) Skeptic
The art of ataraxia: IVb–Letter to Herodotus, part II
Cosmology will cure your existential fears
The art of ataraxia: IVa–Letter to Herodotus, part I
How to study nature, the Epicurean way
Suggested Readings
A few recommendations by Figs in Winter for your reading pleasure
On family affection
The Discourses of Epictetus, 1.11
Meta-ethics, Star Trek, and Samurai
Can we ever criticize another culture? On what grounds?
Suggested Readings
A few recommendations by Figs in Winter for your reading pleasure
Early Socratic dialogues: Charmides
Is virtue a kind of knowledge?
How to cope, with Boethius
Part XXXVIII of the Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers series
Suggested Readings
A few recommendations by Figs in Winter for your reading pleasure
What about poetry?
Exploring the divide between the two cultures, again