How to find happiness with Cicero
Part XLI of the Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers series
PhilosophyCulture
Figs in Winter.
Massimo Pigliucci on Stoicism, skepticism, and living meaningfully through reason.
Recent essays
30 of 48Suggested Readings
A few recommendations by Figs in Winter for your reading pleasure
The idea of a university (and that of a professor)
Where does higher education come from, and where is it going?
Pro Academia
Cicero defends himself and his philosophy against a misguided Pyrrhonist
Video: How to have willpower
Episode 26 of Ars Vivendi: Conversations on the art of living
When pseudoscience is in power
The horoscope is near-harmless, until it moves into the ministry
What philosophy promises
The Discourses of Epictetus, 1.15
From the Archive
The Figs in Winter archive is deep, here are some choice bits
How to travel with Herodotus & friends
Part XL of the Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers series
Leo XIV’s encyclical on AI
A secular-Stoic analysis of what the Pope has to say about the ethics of Artificial Intelligence
Suggested Readings
A few recommendations by Figs in Winter for your reading pleasure
Forget the good life, try the good day
What the Stoics can teach us about the only unit of life we actually control
The ancient contrast between otium and negotium
How to reclaim time for yourself without fleeing the world
Suggested Readings
A few recommendations by Figs in Winter for your reading pleasure
The river and the labyrinth – part II
Forget Whitehead’s process metaphysics, let’s get back to Heraclitus instead
The river and the labyrinth – part I
What process philosophy gets right, and where it gets lost
Video: How to be a (happy) Skeptic
Episode 25 of Ars Vivendi: Conversations on the art of living
Vitamin H: the science of happiness is weaker than you think
We’d like to know what really makes people happy, but it’s a hard problem
On contentment
The Discourses of Epictetus, 1.12
Suggested Readings
A few recommendations by Figs in Winter for your reading pleasure
Two 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