The Summer of Philosophy

"Humans have come into being for the sake of each other; so teach them or learn to bear them."

The Summer of Philosophy reading program isn't going quite as planned. (I am easily distracted by interesting ideas, or interesting book titles. ;)

I had intended to blog in-depth today on my recent digression into Stoicism, in particular The Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius, but my serious-academic alter-ego has been asked to take a 60-minute online survey for a study on 'adult reasoning about the development of religious/non-religious beliefs'. (That should make for some juicy blogging...) So for now you will have to make do with a (very) brief synopsis...

Having recently read The Quantum and the Lotus, I couldn't help but notice the similarities between certain facets of Stoic ideals and certain aspects of Buddhist philosophy. While I have never felt a strong desire to examine Buddhist teachings, I have at times felt an unsought affinity with certain Stoic principles... "The Stoics believed in the certainty of knowledge, which can be attained through the use of reason... Certain and true knowledge (episteme), achievable by the Stoic sage, can be attained only by verifying the conviction with the expertise of one's peers and the collective judgement of humankind."

I'm sure you'll see some quotes from The Meditations appear here in the future, but for now, this one is too good to resist...

"The good and straightforward person should resemble one who stinks of goat, in the sense that whoever comes close will immediately sense him, whether they want to or not."

I need to party with more people who aspire to stink of goat. :D