E-Books

On selected "moral epistles" (from around 65 CE) by Lucius Annaeus Seneca: 4. On the Terrors of Death, 12. On Old Age, 49. On the Shortness of Life, 59. On Pleasure and Joy, 62. On Good Company, 92. On the Happy Life, 96. On Facing Hardship, and 116. On Self Control. We're joined by Massimo Pigliucci of the How to Be a Stoic blog, who for a long time was on the Rationally Speaking podcast.

Back in ep. 124 we considered the Stoic Epictetus, but due to audience demand, we wanted a second and a third opinion: Seneca, unlike Epictetus, explicitly advocated a public life, and seemed to have less problem with deep friendships and other sorts of attachments, so long as these things are kept in perspective. Unfortunately, Seneca is very light on actual justifications for this perspective, and apparently sees knowing the ultimate truths of existence as a fairly simple matter, the trick being to really internalize these truths and let them guide your actions, especially when tragedy strikes. Life is a battle, says Seneca, and it's really better for us that it is, as a life without challenge would be a life without meaning.

Massimo, along with Tad Brennan's The Stoic Life: Emotions, Duties, and Fate (2007), provided a reality check for all of this, helping us to interpret the text charitably and see how ancient Stoic writings are integrated into modern practice. The key is that the only thing ultimately important is your own virtue, which is all you have control over. Other things can and should be "preferred," but aren't granted the status of moral goods. When you work hard toward a goal, it's not the goal that's good, but the working itself.

Massimo and Dylan read from this new translation: Letters on Ethics: To Lucilius (The Complete Works of Lucius Annaeus Seneca), while Mark and Wes read this electronic version: Delphi Complete Works of Seneca the Younger, though during the recording we were reading some of these from Selected Letters (Oxford World's Classics), which you can read on the web.

Don't wait for part 2, get the Citizen Edition now by signing up with a $5 recurring donation. This will also enable you to participate in the Aftershow for eps. 131/132 on Aristotle's De Anima, taking place on Sunday, 1/31 at 6pm Eastern. Sign up here.

If you take the plunge and start a $50/year membership, we'll send you a coupon for $20 off our 2016 wall calendar, meaning that you'll pay only shipping! Everyone can still get a PEL Calendar for $5 off if you use the code "calendar5" at checkout. Get it at partiallyexaminedlife.com/store.

Go to blog

Living Stoically with Seneca and Massimo (Part One)

Continuing with Massimo Pigliucci on selected "moral epistles" by Seneca: 4. On the Terrors of Death, 12. On Old Age, 49. On the Shortness of Life, 59. On Pleasure and Joy, 62. On Good Company, 92. On the Happy Life, 96. On Facing Hardship, and 116. On Self Control.

With the preliminaries out of the way, we really get into the essays to see what Seneca has to say about love and other emotions, facing loss and other hardships, fear of death, desire, pursuing your goals, keeping company with ancient sages, and wearing nice clothes. Seneca, like Fritz Beer, thinks we're on a leash. All you have to do to be happy is have "a complete view of truth!" That's all!

Listen to part one first, or get the Citizen edition. Please support PEL!

End song: "I Lose Control" by The MayTricks from So Chewy! (1993), which you can listen to in full.

Living Stoically with Seneca and Massimo (Part Two)

Rich Dad Poor Dad - Audio Book.mp3

Zig Ziglar - Fear, Goals & An Amazing Story

Zig Ziglar - Building a Healthy Self-Image

On the Analects, compiled after Confucius's (aka Master Kong's) death in 479 BCE.

How should we act? What's the relation between ethics and politics? Can a bunch of aphorisms written in the distant past for an unapologetically hierarchical culture emphasizing traditional rituals actually give us relevant, welcome advice on these matters? Are we even in a position to determine the meaning of these sayings?

Mark, Seth, and Wes are joined by Tzuchien Tho, who studies Leibniz but grew up in a household where Confucian texts were revered, to do the best we can in figuring out Confucius's fundamental ethical concepts, trying to make notions like "ritual propriety" and "filial piety" relevant given today's mores, and what to do with all your wisdom given a corrupt political climate.

This episode should be understandable to anyone, but we do refer a bit given Confucius's emphasis on tradition to our recent episode on Burke, and compare Confucius to Socrates. You may recall we've ventured once previously into Chinese philosophy with Taoist Chuang Tzu.

We used the Ames/Rosemont The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical Translation. Here's an "online teaching translation" by Robert Eno. Another commonly used translation is by D.C. Lau.

Some of us watched Robert André LaFleur's lecture series "Books That Matter: The Analects of Confucius," part of which is available on YouTube. The Confucius entry in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy is also helpful.

Confucius picture by Solomon Grundy.

The Partially Examined Life

Confucius on Virtuous Conduct (Part One)

Continuing on the Analects, now without our guest. We cover every single one of the 500 aphorisms, of course, in great depth, getting at the unambiguous meaning of each and completely reorienting our philosophical viewpoint in consequence.

OK, so the interpretive task is a bit more difficult than that, but Mark, Seth, and Wes do our best to figure out Master Kong's words about glibness (his "petty people" are pretty much like the Sophists!), using names properly (is it just a matter of not putting on airs?), putting your heart into ritual (not his words), filial conduct (do you turn your criminal relatives in?), remonstrance (what do you do if your good advice to authority is ignored?), and more. Would Confucius want you to join the Trump administration to improve it, or run to the hills until it collapses?

End song: "Please Allow Me to Look at You Again," from The Edge of Heaven (2013) by Gary Lucas, as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music ep. 7.

Please Allow Me to Look at You Again

Confucius on Virtuous Conduct (Part Two)

(Audio Book) Rich Dad Poor Dad

How to be a winner- Zig Ziglar

01/03 -7 Habits of Highly Effective People

02/03 - 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

03/03 - 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Rich Dad Poor Dad is a book by Robert Kiyosaki. It advocates financial independence through investing, real estate, owning businesses, and increasing one's financial intelligence.
Rich Dad Poor Dad is written in the style of a set of parables, ostensibly based on Kiyosaki's life. Kiyosaki stresses the ownership of high value assets, rather than being an employee as a recurring theme in the book's chapters.

E-Books

Wanvisa Inthep (A)