frogplate reviewed Stoicism by Brad Inwood
Fascinating Introduction to Stoic Philosophy
5 stars
Classical Stoicism comprised an integrated view of theology, cosmology, physics, logic, and ethics. Today, Minimal Stoicism, really only encompassing ethics, has become a popular toolbox for living a happy and successful life, with the other areas seen as largely irrelevant.
This excellent introduction to Stoicism presents the modern distillation of the philosophy in the context of the ancients' understanding of the Universe. While we may no longer believe that Zeus controls the Universe or that our lives are pre-ordained by nature, some teachings of Classic Stoicism are surprisingly modern. For example, the belief in a Universe that cyclically expands and collapses into a fiery conflagration is not so far from modern cosmology.
This book's coverage of Stoic logic was fascinating as it is a subject often missing from other popular works - as a mathematician and software developer, seeing examples of pre-Boolean rhetorical logic was fascinating.
I've read several books …
Classical Stoicism comprised an integrated view of theology, cosmology, physics, logic, and ethics. Today, Minimal Stoicism, really only encompassing ethics, has become a popular toolbox for living a happy and successful life, with the other areas seen as largely irrelevant.
This excellent introduction to Stoicism presents the modern distillation of the philosophy in the context of the ancients' understanding of the Universe. While we may no longer believe that Zeus controls the Universe or that our lives are pre-ordained by nature, some teachings of Classic Stoicism are surprisingly modern. For example, the belief in a Universe that cyclically expands and collapses into a fiery conflagration is not so far from modern cosmology.
This book's coverage of Stoic logic was fascinating as it is a subject often missing from other popular works - as a mathematician and software developer, seeing examples of pre-Boolean rhetorical logic was fascinating.
I've read several books on the history of Stoicism and found this one gave one of the best integrated views of Stoic philosophy. It helped provide context to modern Stoicism while being readable and not too academic.