My book Beyond Stoicism: A Guide to the Good Life with Stoics, Skeptics, Epicureans, and Other Ancient Philosophers
Available for pre-order! Co-authored with Massimo Pigliucci and Greg Lopez, this new volume will give you a window into 13 ancient philosophies - and will offer practical ways to apply them today.
I’m excited to announce that my new book, a co-production with my friends Massimo Pigliucci and Greg Lopez, will be published in early January 2025, and is now available for pre-order! The book, Beyond Stoicism: A Guide to the Good Life with Stoics, Skeptics, Epicureans, and Other Ancient Philosophers, explores Classical and Hellenistic philosophies of life. We write about 13 schools of ancient thought, and the philosophers who lived by their teachings.
We explore the stories of ancient Greek and Roman folks you’ve surely heard of, such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epictetus, and Hypatia, and we also include some thinkers who are not exactly household names, like Aristippus the Cyrenaic, Hipparchia the Cynic, and Stilpo the Megarian. Each chapter gives a window into a philosopher’s life story, offers accessible insights into his or her work, and features ways to apply the thinker’s wisdom to our lives today.
The book is set to publish in North America on January 7 and it’s available now for pre-order everywhere books are sold. Pre-orders help books get noticed, and we’d love to share this one with as many readers as possible!
A few easy ways to pre-order are from Amazon or from our North American publisher, The Experiment—check out the book page and select one of their retailer links. Our UK publisher Headline Press also offers links to preorder our book.
If you’ve read any of Massimo’s previous books, including How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life, or Massimo and Greg’s co-authored volume, A Handbook for New Stoics: How to Thrive in a World Out of Your Control, you’ll know that my co-authors bring an enormous depth of philosophical knowledge along with a knack for sharing engaging real-world applications of ancient ideas. It was a privilege to work with them on Beyond Stoicism, and I hope you’ll enjoy this group effort!
More about the book
For centuries, people have been grappling with life’s biggest questions: Who am I? What’s my purpose? How can I be happy? In modern times, many have found meaningful answers in Stoic philosophy. But there are other Greek and Roman philosophers who offer invaluable insights for modern life. Our book is a compass that helps us navigate these treacherous existential waters.
Each chapter introduces a new tool for our toolkit by combining a biographical sketch of a particular philosopher, an exploration of the larger philosophy, and applicable lessons to tackle common challenges found in our everyday life. We learn how to avoid pain with Epicurus, how to strike the right balance between extremes with Aristotle, how to rebel like the Cynic Hipparchia, and how to embrace uncertainty with the help of Skeptic Carneades. Organized around three main themes of pleasure, character, and doubt, there’s something to learn from each master in our philosophical quest.
Even though these ideas were first presented thousands of years ago, they’re more relevant than ever in the twenty-first century. We still want the same things: love, friendship, money, reputation; and still fear the same threats: poverty, sickness, pain, and death. These Hellenistic philosophers devised powerful wisdom on how to live—now, we can use it to make our lives better.
More about the authors
Massimo Pigliucci is the K. D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York. He has written for publications such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Philosophy Now, and The Philosopher’s Magazine, among others. He is the author or editor of 16 books, including the best-selling How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life (Basic Books, 2017) and most recently The Quest for Character: What the Story of Socrates and Alcibiades Teaches Us about Our Search for Good Leaders (Basic Books, 2022). He is the co-author with Gregory Lopez of A Handbook for New Stoics: How to Thrive in a World Out of Your Control (The Experiment, 2019). His Substack is The Philosophy Garden.
Gregory Lopez is a practicing secular Buddhist and Stoic, founder of the New York City Stoics, co-founder and board member of The Stoic Fellowship, co-host of Stoic Camp New York, and on the team at the Modern Stoicism organization. He has published essays on Stoicism in the Stoicism Today blog and in The Philosopher’s Magazine. He is the co-author with Massimo Pigliucci of A Handbook for New Stoics: How to Thrive in a World Out of Your Control (The Experiment, 2019).
Meredith Alexander Kunz is a writer who created The Stoic Mom blog in 2016 to explore how parents and kids can benefit from practicing Stoic philosophy. She is a communications leader in Silicon Valley and a personal and professional development coach. Meredith earned a bachelor’s degree in history and literature from Harvard College and a master’s degree in history from Stanford University. Her writing has appeared in Newsweek, The San Francisco Daily Journal, The Industry Standard, The STOIC online magazine, and the Stoicism Today blog. She has given talks on Stoicism around the world and has been interviewed on podcasts and NPR-affiliate radio. Meredith is a member of the Centre for the Study and Application of Stoicism, Royal Holloway, University of London. Follow her work here at The Stoic Mom Substack and read more posts at The Stoic Mom blog.