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a very timely and useful discourse, so props to you, david and massimo.

Individuals need to follow rigorously the principles, not find a way to make it easy. That is why Stoicism is fundamentally challenging. Anything less than virtue is vice. Weak wills, laziness, poor logic, and dependency on technology make people weak. No one after the original Stoics have enhanced it, but simply interpreted it or contextualizing it. Especially the ones calling themselves philosophers.

Absolutely not. If youve read the book How to be a Stoic, its worth reading, youll see how difficult it is to seperate Stoicism from personal biases. To update Stoicism would shrink the philosophy to a group that shares the same viewpoints. A better name for the book should have been, "My worldview threw a Stoic lens"

Isn't the idea of "no immutable truths" an immutable truth?

stoicism is not about changing the world but seeing the intelligence and perfection in it and accepting everything that comes about by that intelligence

Nature is "rationally" organized? Why not organized?

What bothers me about modern stoics is that they view it as a personal pain killer ( emotional masturbation) and abandoned any dedication to public service.

I think it should be updated in the light of insights gained from a book which is vital for an accurate view of evolutionary science namely “ The philosophical contemplations of a big booty hoe” volume two two in which majestic tome we learn that evolution does not care one bit about intellect or morality but is driven and thus drives the various species of animals on the essential basis of reproduction and survival.

This is great!

What I think you may or may not realise is, where Stoicism is about fate, I replace that with God. To be perfectly honest, the Bible speaks about the fruit of the Spirit, which is essentially Stoicism. The things we can control, like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are all the fruit of the Spirit. I see Stoicism as a practical way to live the fruit of the Spirit. I'm a born again Christian ✝️, and I don't see anything inherently wrong with Stoicism. I put God in place of fate. The Apostle Paul says we are to live out the fruit of the spirit, (Paul was a Roman citizen, so he probably learned about Stoicism) but Paul didn't say in that verse how to live out the Fruit of the spirit. The Bible does speak about paying attention to what we think, e.g. "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." Also, Paul tells us how to live it out in Philippians 4:8 "8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things." So as you can see, Stoicism isn't against what the Bible teaches. They can live beside each other happily. Just replace fate with God.

Excellent video, mate. Thank you for interviewing Massimo. He is one of the greatest contributors to modern stoic philosophy.

'Updated' like an app? Well who owns it first!

Lost souls. I pray you come to Jesus

Updated or altered Stoic principals would no longer be, they'd become someone else's principals.

Have you ever Heard of the Baha'i Religion?

Thank you for this interview, some really great questions and great responses by Donald!

Bottom line. Yes Stoicism should be updated! 😇😎

"I am a leaf on the tree of humanity in a forest of other lifeforms." IDBC 😇😎😉

Cognitive distancing. A view from above. Buddhist mindfulness meditation.. All I see are mice muddling at the feet ofgiants..

Without going off into the deep end in regards to the Stoics use of God and Nature and whether to follow Nature itself as our guide….it makes greater sense to me to refine the definition to point in the direction 👉 To follow our nature i.e.; our nature is the skill and ability to “Reason” that is our natural gift and the “divine spark” that has allowed us to turn sand into silicone to build computers that took us to the moon and enabled us to look back on ourselves by photographing the beauty of earth. If this isn’t “God-Like” in its power and manifestation by endowing us with “Reason” then it is pretty close. And we can see throughout human history the mistakes, cruelty and lack of bold vision that “ignorance” perpetuates. Therefore, our reasoning skills can lead us into greater harmony, love and magnificence when we understand and apply it to what is facing us each day to discover “Ataraxia” and live a “Eudaemonic” life. In short, to live according to nature, is to live according to reason that is our nature and nature herself has provided us with as part and parcel of being a human being🔥

Nice interview but I think the interviewer should ask more questions seeing people may be tuning in specifically just for waterfield

Thank you for the inspiration, aiming for a life that is not regretted seems a fair affair

The comment by Massimo that he would choose Winston Churchill as a leader over Bill Clinton is ironic - because Bill Clinton was a big fan of Marcus Aurelius and it is said that he would read “The Meditations” regularly over the course of his life. Bill Clinton is very smart but failed at applying the virtue to control his appetite’s. Whereas Winston Churchill demonstrated very little control over his fondness for whisky and cigars thereby not applying moderation of his appetites. In retrospect Winston Churchill was the right leader to have in power to deal with Adolph Hitler and the only English politician to have read “Mein Kampf”

Irvine is one of my favorite writers on Stoicism. Great interview!

Why listen to the ancients? Popper's falsificationism comes from ancient Greek "elenchus." "It is foreshadowed, for example, in the Socratic method of refutation (elenchos), according to which what is to be taken as truth is whatever survives relentless efforts at refutation (Maclntyre, 1988)." Please see: "Article in Review of General Psychology · June 1998 by Raymond Nickerson. "Confirmation Bias: A Ubiquitous Phenomenon in Many Guises"

To hear Marcus Aurelius loved mankind as a collective like myself but had issues liking all individual humans makes me feel better. Its also my view 😅 Ive always enjoyed my own company for that reason, i am never lonely, but am socialable within reason lol. I need alone time though, am like a cat and Staffordshire bull terrier in spirit. Solitary but like running with the pack. I think us humans are walking contradictions 😅😁👍

Thank you for such a great interview. I’m really enjoying and learning a lot from your videos.

all you are doing is lying to yourself and accepting slavery for all

This is SUCH a good channel - why so few subscribers? Thank you so much.

That was a FANTASTIC discussion. It seemed to clarify a question I have had in my mind: did the Romans / Greeks have a concept of “sin” - or was it only introduced with the adoption of Christianity in Western Civilisation?

An excellent discussion. Thank you.

Shakespeare put it like this: “there’s nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so” - Hamlet

When you have figs...do you wear the leaves?

Woman are men with vagina's...and I love them!

I don't agree that the idea of Intersectionality goes against the Cosmopolitan ideal. The pursuit is to progress toward a more just and equitable society. Same thing. Now, as to the methodological point, there may be legitimate methodologies in the legal and social sciences that can be critiqued, but that's more of an issue of clarification (and in Dr. Pigliucci's characterization, a strategical error) rather than systematic incompatibility.

I would have to disagree with the idea that it "makes no sense" to embrace the Cancer, even given Dr. Pigliucci's metaphysical position. "This cancer is teaching me what it means to be a human, part of which is to be an organism. In order to enjoy this embodied consciousness I possess, I must be aware not only of its social narratives, but also its biological ones. While I may not wish this cancer upon myself, it is an opportunity to fully experience sapient life, in all its pleasures and pains." I see no reason why "Endurace" and "Action" can't thrive just as successfully amidst this embrace. I do agree that maybe you don't *have* to do it. But for me, personally, I find embracing my fate is emotionally helpful. Perhaps different personality types have different relationships with it?

~30 "The universe healing itself, etc." They'd be saying "Cosmos," though, right? I mean, they were pre-Galileo, and did not think of the "Universe" the way that we do.

Timeless principles never need to be “updated.” It’s up the practitioner to be intelligent enough to apply them correctly.

Hi David, well let me say that we both got the name right! We have another thing in common we both expatriated, me to Brazil and you to Bosnia. Just got your Breakfast with Senaca and am loving it. I have a Plato-style dialogue I am in the final stages of editing that you might find fun to read once published. I have included many major thinkers in the history fo the world in one classroom and school show. I love what you are doing and would like to stay in contact. I discovered you from a reference that Gary Lachman made to your Alexandria editions!

really enjoyed breakfast with seneca! i now am going back to read senecas letters! hope we get more content on here! also i have robins book on meditations and look forward to that as well!

Yes, Massimo you are such a great inspiration for us striving to learn as much as we can about stoicism. I've been studying stoicism for about a year now, and it just seems to be the perfect philosophy for those wanting to be life long learners. And who want to strive to be better and better each day, with a positive influence on those around us.

Almost Finished Breakfast with Seneca audiobook. Been struggling with anger and anxiety so this was much help

Hello David, did John’s book not come out yet?

Great chat!

Why doesn't Marcus Aurelius ever mention Aristotle?

It's astounding Donaldson's resemblance with Marcus Aurelius (or at least MA's statues).

Ultimate goal of stoic philosophy is understanding that we necessarily don't suffer. Pain and discomfort should follow us in Eudaimonia (happiness, not pleasure) progress. Live to be stoic, not be stoic to live.

Love his lessons on the Waking Up app.

some of the best stoic books i've read were from him