“…ὥσπερ εἰς λαβύρινθον ἐμπεσόντες” – Plato, Euthydemus 291b4

For the past three years, I’ve played at being Socrates. In my bedside dresser, there are two unassuming notebooks which contain what might be called the beginning of a life’s work. I have, since the summer of 2016 (the end of my freshman year of college), conducted my own little project. As I’ve put it…

An examination of virtue and normativity in Montaigne’s “Of Cannibals.” Introduction and Purpose What I intend to pursue is an examination of the normative aspects of Montaigne’s description of the inhabitants of the New World in “Of Cannibals.” An analysis of this account will be contextualized within a larger project [1], the aim of which,…

Do moral properties really exist, or are we kidding ourselves? What’s the Realist-Antirealist debate about? The question which lies at the heart of the debate between moral realism and anti-realism is the following: are there objective moral properties? What’s the difference between these positions? The moral realistproffers, broadly speaking, a single claim, that: (i) there…

A philosophical take on the self and its nature Part I: The evidence from contemporary psychology and neurology Contemporary psychology has a somewhat different perspective on the passions (emotions) than Stoicism of antiquity, focusing not so much on their origin through systems of belief, but through their phenomenology. Emphasis is also placed on their development…

A brief account of the Stoic view of the passions from Martha Nussbaum’s The Therapy of Desire Part I: The Stoic soul, the passions, and arguments for their removal <img src=”https://unsplash.com/@sur le misanthrope?utm source=medium&utm medium=referral” alt=”Photo by Pavel Nekoranec” /> on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com?utm source=medium&utm medium=referral) Stoicism: A Philosophy of Life Stoicism is fundamentally a self-cultivation philosophy.…

Epicurean ethics and why to love is insane Epicurus on pleasure When Epicurus thinks of pleasure as the end goal of all action he is not necessarily referring to particularly titillating pleasures of the body (e.g. as an epicure would), but the pleasure that supervenes in the removal of pain. The goal of pleasure: freedom…

Stoic determinism, agency, and moral psychology. “Just as a target is not set up to be missed,” claims Epictetus, “so what is bad by nature does occur in the universe.” The question of how there can be some such thing as evil in a universe which is permeated and governed by providence was as pressing…

Probably all of the theoretics you wanted to know, and then some. Starting from the Beginning To formally and fundamentally understand a philosophy of life, it is essential to understand the ideal or standard of living it calls for. In order to do this, one must start from the rudimentary principles of this philosophy. It…

Are moral claims the kinds of things we can be right about? Can they be true? What’s the debate about? The question which lies at the heart of the debate between cognitivism and non-cognitivism regarding moral judgements is the following: are moral judgements truth-apt (are they the kinds of things which can be true or…

On the ideal of Stoic philosophy and its underlying theory The ideal of Stoic philosophy: the sage and Apatheia The Stoic sage, despite what claims might be made otherwise, is not utterly emotionless. He can indeed feel his emotions and their corresponding sensations, e.g., pleasure and pain, but does not act either according to, or…