Patrick Ussher - Stoicism Today: Selected Writings (Volume 1)

Stoicism Today

Selected Writings

Volume One

Edited by Patrick Ussher

Copyright 2014 Edited by Patrick Ussher

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Published September 2014 by Stoicism Today

All articles are Copyright ((c)) of their respective authors, except as noted in the following permissions:

Core Ideas of Stoics Ethics in Marcus Aurelius is from pp. xv-xviii Introduction by Christopher Gill fromMeditations: with selected correspondence Marcus Aurelius edited by Hard, Robin & Gill, Christopher (2011), reproduced in this book by permission of Oxford University Press with free permission in association with author, Christopher Gill.

Control Your Emotions is from The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday, copyright ((c)) 2014 by Ryan Holiday. Used by permission of Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

Death Acceptance is adapted from Sources of Significance: Worldly Rejuvenation and Neo-Stoic Heroism (2010) by Corey Anton, copyright ((c)) Duquesne University Press, reproduced by permission of Duquesne University Press.

No article may be reproduced without the express permission in writing of its author or of its publisher, if applicable.

The views and opinions expressed in this book are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the editor. Please note that the contents of this book are not intended as a substitute for medical advice or treatment. Any person with a condition requiring medical attention should consult a qualified medical practitioner or suitable therapist.

Be like the headland on which the waves continuously crash: it stands firm and gathers the waters around it to rest.

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 4.48.

Table of Contents

The Stoicism Today team is comprised of academics, based at The University of Exeter, Kings College, University of London and Queen Mary, University of London, and psychotherapists, based in the U.K. and Canada, working together to create Stoic resources for the modern day. It has organized two international Stoic Weeks (November 2012, 2013). Around 2,200 people took part in Stoic Week 2013. They were given a 38-page booklet to follow with day-by-day exercises and advice, and there was a public day in London attended by over 200 people. The week was featured in several publications, including The Toronto Globe & Mail, The Daily Telegraph, Channel 4 Online, and The Spectator. It was also featured on radio, including BBC Radio 4, BBC Wales and the BBC World Service. There is also a Stoicism Today blog (see link below), from which the pieces in this first volume have been selected. It has had almost 400,000 hits in its first 18 months. There will be a Stoic Week 2014, from the 24 th to 30 th of November, and a London event at Queen Mary, University of London, on November 29 th .

Jules Evans, Gabriele Galluzzo, Gill Garratt, Christopher Gill, Tim LeBon Donald Robertson, John Sellars, and Patrick Ussher are the members of the Stoicism Today team.

By purchasing this book, you are contributing to a fund to support Stoicism Today projects.

Internet References:

Blog: http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/stoicismtoday/

Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/user/StoicismToday

Twitter: https://twitter.com/StoicWeek

Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/Stoicism/

Corey Anton (Ph.D., Purdue University, 1998) is Professor of Communication Studies at Grand Valley State University. His books include Selfhood and Authenticity (SUNY Press, 2001) and Sources of Significance: Worldly Rejuvenation and Neo-Stoic Heroism (Duquesne University Press, 2010).

Jan-Fredrik Braseth is a Norwegian philosopher with an MA in philosophy and an education as a philosophical counsellor. He lives in Oslo and works as a counsellor for people who are unemployed because of ill-health. His website is: www.janfredrik.no.

Paul Bryson is a lawyer living and working in the Greater Columbus Metropolitan Area, Ohio. He has been interested in Stoic philosophy since encountering the works of Seneca as a high school Latin student. He blogs at: stoiclawyer.wordpress.com.

Michael Burton is a Canadian Secondary School teacher working in the United Kingdom. He first encountered Stoicism as a secondary school philosophy student and has been inspired by Stoic thinking ever since. He blogs about matters surrounding both philosophy and education at: burtonsblogs12.blogspot.co.uk/.

Ben Butina works in the field of training and development. He has an MA in Counseling and is currently pursuing his PhD in Psychology. In addition to Stoicism, He has an interest in Eastern philosophy and religion. He lives with his wife and children in Latrobe, Pennslyvania. He blogs at: approximatelyforever.com.

Bob Collopy is an author, pilot, marketing director/branch manager for a real estate brokerage, and a partner in a new start-up company, funded by Arizona State University, which is aimed at creating and selling a new type of dive computer for scuba divers. He is also an Eagle Scout.

Stephen J. Costello is the founder and director of the Viktor Frankl Institute of Ireland. He is a philosopher, logotherapist/existential analyst and author. He has been lecturing in philosophy and psychology for over twenty years in University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin and, more recently, in the Dublin Business School. He is the author of The Irish Soul: In Dialogue (The Liffey Press, 2002), The Pale Criminal: Psychoanalytic Perspectives (Karnac Books, 2002), 18 Reasons Why Mothers Hate Their Babies: A Philosophy of Childhood (Eloquent Books, 2009), Hermeneutics and the Psychoanalysis of Religion (Peter Lang AG., 2009), The Ethics of Happiness: An Existential Analysis (Wyndham Hall Press, 2011),What are Friends For?: Insights from the Great Philosophers (Raider Publishing International, 2011), Philosophy and the Flow of Presence (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013), and The Truth about Lying (The Liffey Press, 2013).

Kelly Coyne is co-author, with her husband, Erik Knutzen, of The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City (Process, 2010) and Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post Consumer World (Rodale Press, 2011). Her website is: www.rootsimple.com.

James Davinport is a pseudonym. He lives and works in London.

Michel Daw has been a teacher of adults for over 20 years. He is an author, speaker and blogger on all things Stoic. Michel runs, with his wife, Pamela Daw, a series of Stoic Workshops in his local community, which meets regularly, in Canada. He blogs at livingthestoiclife.org.

Pamela Daw is mother of three adult children, and has been married to Michel Daw for 28 years. With her husband, she runs a Stoic community, which meets regularly, in Canada. She blogs at: musingsofastoicwoman.blogspot.com.

Jules Evans is author of Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations (Rider, 2013). He is policy director for the Centre of the History of Emotions at Queen Mary College, University of London. More recently, he has developed and run a course of practical philosophy for Low Moss Prison in Scotland and Saracens rugby club in the UK. His website is: philosophyforlife.org.