Of course, we can adapt and borrow any particular Stoic methods that work. But that no more makes you a Stoic than practising meditation makes you a Buddhist. Like any philosophical position, Stoicism itself stands or falls – or more likely limps along – on the soundness of its arguments, not its effect on our psychological wellbeing.
ReadHeraclitus is famous for one simple and powerful aphorism: you cannot step into the same river twice. Everything is in flux, nothing remains the same. And what was originally an observation about nature has now become an imperative. We must innovate. The technological revolution is without end. If it’s not new and improved, it’s old and obsolete.
ReadThinking for ourselves is largely a matter of working out how we use and interpret the opinions of others. Our ability to think for ourselves rests largely on how well we think about what others think.
ReadOften beliefs and arguments are motivated by desires and interests that distort reasoning. But if that is indeed the case, the distortions should be made manifest by weaknesses in the argument. Address the argument, not the arguer, is a fundamental principle of rational debate.
ReadMIGRATION AND PHILOSOPHY PANEL – OXFORD, 14 NOVEMBER. A discussion on Minds and Borders at Lady Margaret Hall, starting at 7pm. On the panel with me are Meena Dhanda and John Worrall with Christopher Shields chairing.
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