Vol. II · No. 318
Established 2025

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Saturday, November 14, 2026
174 writers in the library
Philosophy · 2 shelves
PhilosophyCulture

Figs in Winter.

Massimo Pigliucci on Stoicism, skepticism, and living meaningfully through reason.

Recent essays

30 of 75

Evolutionary ethics and how we treat strangers

Are we born or taught to be fair?

Suggested Readings

A few recommendations by Figs in Winter for your reading pleasure

Do we need to take reincarnation seriously? – Part II

How to honestly update Buddhism, Stoicism, and other philosophies of life

Do we need to take reincarnation seriously? – Part I

Buddhism, Stoicism, and the limits of philosophical reinterpretation

Suggested Readings

A few recommendations by Figs in Winter for your reading pleasure

How to care with Shantideva

Part XLII of the Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers series

Epictetus argues against the death penalty

The Discourses of Epictetus, 1.18

Suggested Readings

A few recommendations by Figs in Winter for your reading pleasure

Gaius Blossius, the revolutionary Stoic

Who said Stoicism is about quietism and inaction?

On the indispensability of logic

The Discourses of Epictetus, 1.17

Video: How to be Stoic

Episode 30 of Ars Vivendi: Conversations on the art of living

Conceptual stretching: why everyone you dislike is a fascist, or a communist, or both – Part II

The Right side of the equation

Conceptual stretching: why everyone you dislike is a fascist, or a communist, or both – Part I

A handy-dandy field guide to the (Far) Left and the (Far) Right

Suggested Readings

A few recommendations by Figs in Winter for your reading pleasure

Stoicism and wealth

Is there a tension between Stoic philosophy and externals like wealth and luxury?

Teleology vs teleonomy: is it purpose, or does it just look like it?

There’s a crucial distinction in the philosophy of biology that everyone ought to know about

Video: How to find happiness

Episode 29 of Ars Vivendi: Conversations on the art of living

Reading Greek, missing the point – part II

On Mary Beard, Emily Wilson, and the difference between knowing a text and knowing a philosophy

Reading Greek, missing the point – part I

Mary Beard, Emily Wilson, and what classicists get wrong about Stoicism

Video: How to feel

Episode 28 of Ars Vivendi: Conversations on the art of living

The past is not a defendant

Criticizing earlier cultures is lazy and useless, we should learn from them instead

Early Socratic dialogues: Hippias Major

What is fineness?

In the Media

A look at recent public appearances by yours truly

Zombie Freud, part II

The empirical record and its mismatch with the theory

Zombie Freud, part I

Psychoanalysis has been killed many times over. Why does it keep getting up?

Video: How to travel

Episode 27 of Ars Vivendi: Conversations on the art of living

What kinds of things are living organisms?

The forgotten middle path between clockwork and magic

How to find happiness with Cicero

Part XLI of the Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers series

Suggested Readings

A few recommendations by Figs in Winter for your reading pleasure

The idea of a university (and that of a professor)

Where does higher education come from, and where is it going?