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The Religious Sentiment of Marcus Aurelius – Episode 47

The Religious Sentiment of Marcus Aurelius – Episode 47

Dec 1, 2021

Everything suits me that suits your designs, O my universe. Nothing is too early or too late for me that is in your own good time. All is fruit for me that your seasons bring, O nature. All proceeds from you, all subsists in you, and to you all things return. (Meditations 4.23) The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius was a deeply spiritual person, and that fact comes across clearly in his Meditations. The American philosopher and religious scholar Jacob Needleman...

The Religious Sentiment of Seneca – Episode 46

The Religious Sentiment of Seneca – Episode 46

Nov 24, 2021

Seneca’s writings reveal a committed Stoic, a pious soul, and an inspirational moral philosopher. Nevertheless, some of his actions and financial dealings have generated doubt about his genuineness. Seneca is a mixed bag if the historical record can be trusted. However, it is crucial to keep in mind that Seneca engaged in politics at the highest levels of the Roman Empire, which was the dominant world power of his time. Thus, he had powerful enemies, not the least of which...

The Religious Sentiment of Epictetus – Episode 45

The Religious Sentiment of Epictetus – Episode 45

Nov 17, 2021

If I were a nightingale, I would perform the work of a nightingale, and if I were a swan, that of a swan. But as it is, I am a rational being, and I must sing the praise of God. This is my work, and I accomplish it, and I will never abandon my post for as long as it is granted to me to remain in it; and I invite all of you to join me in this same...

Characteristics of Good and Bad People (Part 2) – Episode 28

Characteristics of Good and Bad People (Part 2) – Episode 28

Sep 30, 2018

The last episode closed with a thought-provoking passage from the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius that places our human reason into the proper Stoic perspective. It reads: to have the intellect as a guide towards what appear to be duties is something that we share with those who do not believe in the gods, with those who betray their country, with those who will do anything whatever behind locked doors. (Meditations 3.16) As a transition to this episode, I will highlight the...

The Religious Nature of Stoicism – Episode 15

The Religious Nature of Stoicism – Episode 15

Jun 25, 2018

Many people who were introduced to Stoicism by popular books that were written in the twenty-first century are surprised by the religious nature of Stoic philosophy when they first encounter it in the surviving Stoic texts and scholarship on those texts. That is because none of these popular authors address the deeply religious nature of Stoicism positively. Instead, they either ignore it or attempt to discredit it as the unwarranted beliefs of ancient philosophers who lacked our modern scientific understanding...

Stoic Spiritual Exercises – Episode 7

Stoic Spiritual Exercises – Episode 7

Apr 29, 2018

Today’s podcast is an introduction to the concept of Stoic spiritual exercises. Over the next few episodes, I will be covering three Stoic spiritual exercises: the discipline of assent, the discipline of desire, and the discipline of action. These three exercises or disciplines are the core of what I call the path of the prokopton. In episode 5, I covered the concepts of attention (prosoche). In episode 6, I covered what is and is not “up to us,” which is commonly called...

Prosochē: The Practice of Attention – Episode 5

Prosochē: The Practice of Attention – Episode 5

Apr 15, 2018

This episode of Stoicism On Fire kicks off a series I call the path of the Prokopton. A prokopton is someone who is making progress along the Stoic path. This podcast is about the practice of Attention. The Stoics called it prosochē in Greek, and that word signifies an attitude and practice of attention. Pierre Hadot considered prosochē the fundamental Stoic spiritual attitude.[1] It is a state of continuous, vigilant, and unrelenting attentiveness to oneself—to the present impressions, present desires, and present actions,...

Logos and Providence and God, OH MY! – Episode 2

Logos and Providence and God, OH MY! – Episode 2

Apr 5, 2018

A virtuous and good person, keeping in mind who he is, and where he has come from, and by whom he was created, concentrates on one thing alone: how he may fill his post in a disciplined manner, remaining obedient to God. (Discourses 3.24.95) I grew up watching The Wizard of Oz every year when it was broadcast on live TV. I always loved the famous scene where Dorothy, Tin Man, and Scarecrow enter the scary forest. As a young child,...

What Is Stoicism On Fire? – Episode 1

What Is Stoicism On Fire? – Episode 1

Apr 5, 2018

Since this is the inaugural episode of Stoicism On Fire it would be natural for you the listener to wonder what this podcast is about. Obviously, it’s about Stoicism, but What is Stoicism on Fire? As the introduction states, this podcast is about Stoicism as a philosophical way of life, which includes a rational form of spirituality. That form of Stoicism has become known as traditional Stoicism in modern times. Ancient Stoicism: 300 BCE – 200 CE Many credible sources...

Stoicism Is a Spiritual Way of Life

Stoicism Is a Spiritual Way of Life

Aug 3, 2017

The religious impulse of Stoicism is directed toward personal piety rather than public worship. Prayer and worship were certainly included in Stoic practice, and they had a single aim: to bring the thoughts and actions of the individual practitioner into coherence with universal Reason (logos) which pervades the cosmos. As the French philosopher Pierre Hadot argues, What defined a Stoic above all else was the choice of a life in which every thought, every desire, and every action would be...

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