Massimo Pigliucci

Prof. of Philosophy at City College, evolutionary biologist, student of Stoicism. Author of A Handbook for New Stoics.

Massimo Pigliucci is the K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York. The author or editor of 10 books, he has also been published in The New York Times, Philosophy Now, and The Philosopher’s Magazine, among others. He lives in New York City.

Philosopher's Notes on Massimo Pigliucci's Books

LockedPhilosopher's Notes

How to Be a Stoic

by Massimo Pigliucci

Massimo Pigliucci is a Professor of Philosophy at City College of New York. He has three PhDs—one in genetics, another in evolutionary biology and a third in philosophy. And, most importantly for our purposes, he’s a practicing Stoic philosopher. In this book, Professor Pigliucci teaches us how to be a Stoic via an imaginary dialogue with Epictetus, one of the leading Stoic teachers of the ancient world. It’s a wonderfully written, super-smart look at how we can use “ancient philosophy to live a modern life.” Big Ideas we explore include an introduction to our guide Epictetus, Rule #1 of Stoicism (some things are in our power, others are not), the cardinal virtues (of Stoicism + Science + Optimize), the power of role models (and the Stoic Paradox), and the ultimate how to be a Stoic practice question: How can I use virtue here and now?

Quotes by Massimo Pigliucci

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Stoicism taught me that regret is about things we can no longer change and the right attitude is to learn from our experiences, not dwell on decisions that we are not in a position to alter.

Massimo Pigliucci

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True philosophy is a matter of a little theory and a lot of practice.

Massimo Pigliucci

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This led [the Stoics] to coin and use a word that is still crucial to our modern vocabulary: cosmopolitanism, which literally means ‘being a citizen of the world.’ Or as Socrates—arguably the most important influence on all Hellenistic schools of philosophy—put it: ‘Never reply to one who asks [your] country, ‘I am an Athenian,’ or ‘I am a Corinthian,’ but ‘I am a citizen of the universe.’

Massimo Pigliucci

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Of course, Stoicism is a philosophy, not a type of therapy. The difference is crucial: a therapy is intended to be a short-term approach to helping people overcome specific problems of a psychological nature; it doesn’t necessarily provide a general picture, or philosophy, of life. A philosophy of life is something we all need, however, and something we all develop, consciously or not.

Massimo Pigliucci