"Remove Desire Entirely" — What Epictetus Actually Meant

About this episode

In this episode, Jon Brooks explores the true meaning of desire in Stoicism as explained by Epictetus, focusing on the Greek word orexis and its implications beyond cravings.

Go deeper in the Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com --- You read that line in the Discourses and your brain goes straight to cravings. Appetites. The stuff you're ashamed of. But that's not what Epictetus meant — and the real meaning is more useful than any advice about willpower. In this episode I break down the Greek word orexis, explain why it has nothing to do with food or your phone, and walk through the three levels most people get stuck on: the demand, the indifference, and the preference wit...

People in this episode

Host: Jon Brooks

Topics covered

• Stoicism
• desire
• Epictetus
• orexis
• philosophy
• self-improvement

Keywords

• Stoicism
• Epictetus
• desire
• orexis
• philosophy
• self-improvement
• Discourses

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Discourses

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