Though you may not realize it, Thanksgiving Day can be a very Stoic holiday. The Emperor Marcus Aurelius shows us how this can be. This piece is Episode 9 of the podcast: Philadelphia Stoic Thouhts By the normal schedule, this episode of Philadelphia Stoic Thoughts would not be released until tomorrow – but on this … Continue reading "#9: A Sto ...…

The arguments as to why empathy is problematic as a moral compass and ought to be replaced with ratonal compassion are not mere theoretical hair-splittings. History has actually demonstrated disasters wrought when decisions are driven by emotional empathy. This piece is Episode 8 of the podcast: Philadelphia Stoic Thouhts In the last episode, a ...…

The popular theory is that emotional empathy is the precursor to compassion as people help each other in order to avoid themselves suffering empathetic pain if they don’t. However, in reality, things just don’t very often work out that way. This piece is Episode 7 of the podcast: Philadelphia Stoic Thouhts In the previous episode … Continue rea ...…

I want to discuss why society ought to encourage rational compassion rather than empathy. But before I can do that, I must clarify what “empathy” means in this discussion and why it is important to keep in mind how empathy and compassion are not the same thing. This piece is Episode 6 of the podcast: … Continue reading "#6: Empathy versus Ratio ...…

One group of people for whom Stoicism can be a very powerful philosophy is those, such as myself, who are on the transgender spectrum. This piece is Episode 5 of the podcast: Philadelphia Stoic Thouhts Today is Friday, September 8, 2017, the second day of the Mazzoni Center’s 16th annual Trans-Health Conference here in Philadelphia. … Continue ...…

In the ancient Stoic texts, the only things mentioned as being beyond our control are things outside of the mind. However, modern understanding requires us to accept that even some things within our mind aren’t ours to command. The best way to reconcile this knowledge with the essentials of Stoicism involves visualizing the Locus of … Continue ...…

Due to unexpected circumstances, the podcast episode scheduled for August 25 was not completed on time. As a result, it’s release is delayed one week to 10am US Eastern Time on Friday, September 1, 2017. The week following that, the podcast will resume its normal schedule of 10am US Eastern Time on the second and … Continue reading "Podcast Epi ...…

While people who don’t understand Stoicism or the Stoic mindset might confuse a Stoic with an idealist – in reality, a well-trained Stoic is not that at all, but the ultimate realist. Philadelphia Stoic Thoughts, starting with the episode following this one, will be moving (for at least a while) to a twice-a-month schedule – … Continue reading ...…

This site’s podcast, Philadelphia Stoic Thoughts, had to go on hiatus for unexpected reasons – but will be back on August 11, 2017 at it’s new regular time, Friday Morning at 10am US Eastern. However, though the next podcast episode will not be here till August 11, expect regular blog articles before then.…

Much like the Samurai of feudal Japan – the Stoics of ancient Greece and Rome realized that the eventuality of our deaths isn’t something to hide from – but something that we should stare right in the face. This piece is Episode 2 of the podcast: Philadelphia Stoic Thouhts There is one thing that I … Continue reading "What If You Die Tonight?"…

While ancient Stoics no doubt held some views that are at odds with modern science, proper understanding of Stoicism requires that we differentiate the actual principles of the philosophy from context-specific influences in the ancient writings. Upon doing this, we are left with a philosophy that is not only consistent with sicence – but indesp ...…