Stoic Philosophy Practice Group

Join us for an evening of Stoic philosophy and discussion. We'll kick off the event with a short presentation exploring one of the core ideas of Stoicism, focusing on its real-world application with some practices drawn from the texts. Following the presentation, we'll break into smaller groups for a lightly-facilitated discussion about the topic.

This week, we’ll be discussing wisdom, the dichotomy of control, good and evil in Stoicism, how to cultivate indifference and pursue virtue, and the proper place philosophy should hold in your life. We’ll also be going over the right way to use reflection journaling to build a Stoic practice.

Here's the video we'll be watching: https://youtu.be/G1nM9UCJCIs?si=WFczRCFPmNUZaRU8&t=1164

And here's the text, along with the rest of the resources for the course: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-6r2KFyv7f-vChnX-9eKovdFsQ6DYoc_CV5RZtJb9XA/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks so much for your interest, and please remember:

"There is no such thing as good or bad fortune for the individual; we live in common. And no one can live happily who has regard to himself alone and transforms everything into a question of his own utility; you must live for your neighbor, if you would live for yourself." - Seneca, Letters from a Stoic, Letter 48

Join us for an evening of Stoic philosophy and discussion. We'll kick off the event with a short presentation exploring one of the core ideas of Stoicism, focusing on its real-world application with some practices drawn from the texts. Following the presentation, we'll break into smaller groups for a lightly-facilitated discussion about the topic.

This week, we’ll be discussing what the Stoics meant by justice, our interconnectivity with humanity, how to deal with bad people, and how to do good in the world. We’ll also be going over a practice designed to help us be more happy, more helpful, and less judgmental in our day-to-day lives.

Here's the video we'll be watching: https://youtu.be/G1nM9UCJCIs?si=ZnfMFhLDl4JhuYoE&t=2591

And here's the text, along with the rest of the resources for the course: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-6r2KFyv7f-vChnX-9eKovdFsQ6DYoc_CV5RZtJb9XA/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks so much for your interest, and please remember:

"There is no such thing as good or bad fortune for the individual; we live in common. And no one can live happily who has regard to himself alone and transforms everything into a question of his own utility; you must live for your neighbor, if you would live for yourself." - Seneca, Letters from a Stoic, Letter 48

This event is being hosted on my new group The Cambridge Platonists, so please join that group to attend. Thanks!
www.meetup.com/cambridgeplatonists

In this session, we’ll listen to Plato’s Chariot of the Soul passage from the Phaedrus (about 20 minutes), where Socrates describes the soul as a charioteer drawn by two horses, rising toward the divine vision and falling into embodied life.

This myth offers one of Plato’s most vivid accounts of the soul’s structure, its struggle between reason, spirit, and desire, and the role of beauty and love in restoring the soul’s wings.

Here's the text and audio if you’d like to check them out beforehand:

Text: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mow_CHiZTJqYg74RpfmaltCNJnQQbD4OxkM3L_cmrJc/edit?usp=sharing
Audio: https://ia801606.us.archive.org/25/items/phaedrus_1005_librivox/phaedrus_06_plato.mp3

After listening, we’ll open a discussion around questions like:

• What do the charioteer and the two horses represent within the soul?
• Why does the soul fall, and what allows it to rise again?
• How does beauty awaken memory of the divine?

No prior knowledge of Plato is required — just curiosity, goodwill, and a willingness to dialogue together.

If you're interested in going deeper than just the intro classes and exploring the community side of Stoicism, please join us for Sunday Stoa.

We begin at 4:00 PM (ET) with 10 minutes of Stoic breath meditation followed by 15 minutes of writing practice.
At 4:30 PM, we move into introductions and social time.
Around 5:00 PM, we’ll listen to selections from the original Stoic texts and then discuss the ideas they present.

This week, we’ll be listening to Letter 99 from Seneca’s Letters from a Stoic: On consolation to the bereaved.

Here's the text and video if you’d like to check them out beforehand:

Letter 99
Text: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_99
Video: https://youtu.be/lLkpJjKsLYQ?si=xhxwwc7diBEWZYpO&t=7564

Come for the whole thing, or join us whenever it works best for you. See you Sunday!