About this episode

Massimo Pigliucci discusses the intersection of Stoicism and skepticism, exploring how to build a philosophy of life based on evidence and intellectual humility.

What does it mean to be both a Stoic and a skeptic? In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast, philosopher and author Massimo Pigliucci returns to discuss his new book How to Be a (Happy) Skeptic: a guide to building a philosophy of life rooted in Stoic virtue and the ancient art of proportioning belief to evidence. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. Massimo Pigliucci is Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York, a former evolutionary biologist, and one of the most important voices in modern Stoic philosophy. This is his second conversation on the show. The discussion moves from the foundations of a philosophy of life to the ancient debate between the Stoics and the Academic Skeptics, and then to one of the most compelling figures in Western history: Marcus Tullius Cicero. Not a Stoic himself, but deeply shaped by Stoic ethics, Cicero lived through the fall of the Roman Republic, exile, personal grief, and death at the hands of Mark Antony's soldiers. His life, Pigliucci argues, is a model for holding strong convictions while remaining honestly uncertain about what you know and why. The episode also explores how skepticism is not the enemy…

People in this episode

Host: Benny Voncken

Guest: Massimo Pigliucci

Topics covered

• Stoicism
• skepticism
• philosophy of life
• evidence-based belief
• Marcus Tullius Cicero
• intellectual humility

Keywords

• Stoicism
• skepticism
• Massimo Pigliucci
• Cicero
• philosophy
• evidence
• belief

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: City College of New York

Books & works: How to Be a (Happy) Skeptic

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