I picked Epictetus because today he is the least well known of the great Stoics, and also because I have been immediately fascinated by his wicked sense of humor and his bluntness.

So I felt that the only reason for me to add a new entry to the canon was if I had something new to say, or a new way of saying it.

It’s not just that Seneca and Marcus were flawless writers, it’s that there are a number of very good books out there written by modern authors, including yours. How did you decide to take this approach? (People think it’s a lot easier to write about the Stoics than it is, don’t they? It’s really quite hard to add anything new when Seneca and Marcus were such flawless writers.)Įxactly. Your new book offers an exploration of Stoicism through conversations with Epictetus. Enjoy the interview that follows and don’t forget to check out his new book, How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life, which is out now. We also used the opportunity to ask him about useful Stoic exercises we can apply in our day-to-day to pop culture recommendations to his thoughts on the rise in popularity-and accompanying criticism-of Stoicism. And today, with the release of his new book on stoic philosophy we decided to again reach out and ask him about all the imaginary conversations he had with Epictetus in the book (a once common literary structure that is sadly rare these days). We first interviewed Professor Massimo Pigliucci back in 2015 after his popular piece in New York Times on Stoicism became one of the most shared and viewed articles on the site.

How to be a stoic by massimo pigliucci