The Sunday Stoics

Today Dan and Steve discuss Musonius Rufus's lecture 12: "On Sexual Indulgence". We discuss his views of sex, and marriage and how not all things the ancients thought are applicable to today. Today's Reading: https://dn721903.ca.archive.org/0/items/MUSONIUSRUFUSSTOICFRAGMENTS/MUSONIUSRUFUSSTOICFRAGMENTS.pdf

Nicholas Peters, a District Fire Management Officer for the U.S. Forest Service joins the show to discuss Stoicism and the qualities of a good leader. We also talk about firefighting as well as parenting.

Steve and Dan discuss the eleventh Lecture of Musonius Rufus - What Means of Livelihood is Appropriate for a Philosopher? The ideal answer, according to Musonius Rufus, is that of a farmer. While farming is a rare occupation in the modern era, it has and had much to recommend it. Musonius argues that farming is ideal for people studying and leading a philosophical life, because working the land with your philosophical mentor / teacher would put you in close contact, and you would each be able to observe the other and how they conduct themselves in the real world, instead of in a artificial and brief academic setting. https://archive.org/details/MUSONIUSRUFUSSTOICFRAGMENTS/mode/2up

Steve and Dan discuss Lecture 10 of Musonius Rufus - Will the Philosopher Prosecute Anyone for Personal Injury? Musonius Rufus takes a firm stance that anyone worthy of the term philosopher would not sue someone for personal injury. Interestingly, personal injury seems to have been a very broad category in the time of Musonius Rufus, everything from physical assault, to insults, to hard glances. Musonius Rufus says that a philosopher would not sue for personal injury for any of these abuses. Steve and Dan disagree with Musonius and say that although they understand Musonius's argument that a Stoic philosopher would not view himself to have been truly harmed by someone else's actions, because the assailant cannot reach the moral character of the person they are assaulting. However, Steve and Dan argue that it falls within the role of a citizen (and sometimes other roles) to prevent the abuser from continuing their abusive behavior toward other citizens. It would be a failure in terms of the cultivation of Justice to idly sit by and let those actions continue. https://archive.org/details/MUSONIUSRUFUSSTOICFRAGMENTS/mode/2up

Steve and Dan discuss the 9th lecture of Musonius Rufus, That Exile Is Not an Evil. Exile and banishment imposed by civil authorities is far less common in the 21st century than it was during the Roman Empire and Classical Greece. However, there are common situations where modern folks find themselves having to move away from the towns and cities where they grew up and have the strongest connections. Sometimes we move for work, or to pursue higher education. Some folks change locations when they retire. Others change countries because they find circumstances in the country of their birth to be intolerable. So, when we move from our familiar and comfortable environments to someplace new and strange, are we suffering an evil? Musonius Rufus would argue that we are not. In fact, changing environments might be an opportunity for growth and for the cultivation of Virtue. https://archive.org/details/MUSONIUSRUFUSSTOICFRAGMENTS/mode/2up

Steve and Dan discuss the eighth lecture of Musonius Rufus - That Kings Also Should Study Philosophy. Musonius Rufus argued that Kings should study philosophy if they are interested in becoming a good king. Because how could someone be a good king, if they are not a good person? Ergo, since philosophy is the most sure way of cultivating Virtue, a good king is by necessity a philosopher. Although Musonius was addressing his lecture to a king, bringing his thoughts forward in time, they can apply to anyone who is in a leadership role, whether it be a president, legislator, titan of industry, or a shift manager in a restaurant. https://archive.org/details/MUSONIUSRUFUSSTOICFRAGMENTS/mode/2up

Steve and Dan discuss the seventh lecture of Musonius Rufus - That One Should Disdain Hardships. They discuss how Musonius Rufus argues that when we see people willing to go to extraordinary lengths to acquire Externals, it should inspire us to go to similar lengths and take similar risks to develop what matters most - Virtue.

Steve and Dan discuss the sixth lecture of Musonius Rufus - On Training. In the previous lecture, Musonius Rufus argued that practice was more beneficial than studying theory for the cultivation of Virtue. In this lecture, Musonius Rufus describes what sort of training should be done by a Stoic practitioner. For example, Musonius Rufus divides training into two categories. The first category is for the soul (mind) alone, and the second category is for both the body and soul (mind) together. https://archive.org/stream/MUSONIUSRUFUSSTOICFRAGMENTS/MUSONIUSRUFUSSTOICFRAGMENTS_djvu.txt

Steve and Dan present an abbreviated version of Lecture 5, and discuss whether cultivating Virtue is best brought about through the study of theory, or putting basic philosophical principles into practice every day. Many people who study philosophy favor reading a great deal of philosophical theory and give little thought to practical application in life, for example, what is done in modern academic philosophy departments. Folks who think Wisdom is attainable solely through exposure to wise thoughts through written or lecture format have been with us for a long time, going back at least as far as the Sophists of the ancient world. https://archive.org/stream/MUSONIUSRUFUSSTOICFRAGMENTS/MUSONIUSRUFUSSTOICFRAGMENTS_djvu.txt

In this rebroadcast, we revisit the trial of Socrates—a pivotal moment in the history of Western civilization and a powerful influence on the Stoic tradition. Facing accusations, judgment, and ultimately death, Socrates offers an enduring example of courage, integrity, and commitment to principle.