By Massimo Pigliucci, Meredith Kunz, and Gregory Lopez
Beyond Stoicism is the ultimate guide to exploring ancient Western philosophies like Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Cynicism. This practical philosophy book stands out by letting you experience each philosophy for a week. Helping you discover the way of life that suits you best.
Summary
This collaboration between Massimo Pigliucci, Meredith Kunz, and Gregory Lopez is a comprehensive collection of the major ancient philosophies. The book is divided into four ports: Pleasure, Character, Doubt, and Here be Dragons. As you set sail, you’ll get to learn more about schools of thought like Stoicism, Epicureanism, Cynicism, the Academics, the Skeptics, and so on.
Watch our interview with Massimo Pigliucci on the Via Stoica Podcast.
Without adding a value judgment on either one of them, Beyond Stoicism provides a clear and concise understanding of the basic concepts of these philosophies. This is not a book meant to dive deep into the details. But it gives you enough to see whether a certain school sticks out for you. Each chapter explores the history and some of the core concepts of the philosophy. Most directly related to the port in which the authors have placed it. The authors include, among others, the Cyrenaics in the port of Pleasure, Aristotle in the port of Character, and Socrates in the port of Doubt. At the end of the chapters, the authors invite you to live the philosophy for a week. Here they offer impactful reflections, journaling prompts, and good exercises to fully explore which one relates best to your life.
Review
Beyond Stoicism is one of those books you want to read at the beginning of your philosophical journey. It’s also particularly valuable to revisit as you measure your evolution along the way. Although it doesn’t go in-depth into each of the philosophies, it inspires you to want to dive deeper after you finish. While the previous work of Massimo Pigliucci, Meredith Kunz, and Gregory Lopez seems to show a preference towards Stoicism, they remained objective as they examined the other schools of thought.
Read some of our other book reviews here.
Learning more about the history and some of the key figures in each of the philosophical schools helps to place the one that fits best in your life. The links between these thinkers are clear. It all progressed from the pre-Socratic thinkers, through the impact Socrates made, to everything that built on that. It’s not only an excellent resource for painting the overall philosophy picture, but it also gives you the historical background.
Recommendation
If you feel stuck in your ways and need some new insights, then this is a book you’d want to read. The US title is Beyond Stoicism. While in the UK and Europe, the book can be found as Live Like a Philosopher. It is the second one that captures the essence better
This is not a book to read if you’ve studied Stoicism and wish to learn more about the philosophy. The same applies to the other philosophical schools addressed in this book. Beyond Stoicism is, however, a book anyone can and should read. If you are thinking about creating a philosophy of life, then this is the perfect guide. Its practical exercises give you great ways to apply it to life and see how compatible it is with you.
Final thoughts
Beyond Stoicism is a very enjoyable book to read. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially if you’ve already found a philosophy of life. But even so, I’d urge people to read it to gain new perspectives and to keep questioning whether the path you’re following is still the correct one for you. Pigliucci, Kunz, and Lopez did a tremendous job in creating a book that gives you an overview of the major philosophies, their history, and practical exercises.
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