Stoic Philosophy Book Club? Want to join?
1179 sats \ 27 comments \ @Se7enZ 8 Feb BooksAndArticles
I recently had an exchange on social media where I was challenged to introspect my difficulties with getting distracted by too many interests and not following through on projects by reading some stoic philosophy. I'm not a stranger to Stoic ideas, but I haven't actually sat down and read the material directly, yet.
Lately, I've been spending more attention with Buddhism and Eastern ideas, but perhaps it's time to balance that with a healthy does of Western thought. Reading some Stoicism for myself may also hopefully encourage more decisive action in my life.
So... is anybody here interested in participating in an experimental online book club? My initial thought would be to try this out reading Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius, but open to other suggestions. We'll decide on a translation, set some timeline goals for reading, and share our reflections either here on StackerNews, or on Nostr. If interested, add a comment with:
  1. Hell yes, confirming interest
  2. If you have a recommendation of translation or specific interest in a book other than Meditations
  3. If you prefer StackerNews or Nostr as a means for periodic communication
  4. Any preferences with regard to timeline
LMK - I'm interested to see where this experiment might go!
write
preview
related posts
580 sats \ 4 replies \ @Se7enZ OP 10 Feb
@siggy47 @cryotosensei @carlosfandango
Welp. My copy just arrived in the mail, and I've been brainstorming about organizing principles to facilitate us learning from each other and stay engaged. Here are a few thoughts:
Since there are multiple translations, it might be helpful to share quotes liberally, especially when context or wording might be important.
Perhaps each person reads and writes at their own pace. Each chapter could be a separate post, and the first person to write up their initial reaction can take the initiative to author it. Primary discussion on that chapter would take place on that participant's post in the comment section.
I imagine all the users who have openly expressed interest in being a part of the project should be tagged in the post body, and that list might grow over time if new people join. Also, maybe we keep an index of these posts here by adding a comment thread here which links to each new post.
We share whatever we want -- anything from purely interpretive analysis on the text to deeply personal reflections on how you relate to it in your own life. Whatever we feel comfortable with.
What do you all think? Personally, I hope to read Chapter 1 sometime early next week.
reply
21 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 11 Feb
Sounds good. I agree that chapter posts will be best, so that we can consolidate all the discussion related to a chapter in one post.
I would suggest no more than 3 chapter posts in one week, regardless of how fast we are reading. Keeps the discussion focused
Let’s roll
reply
21 sats \ 2 replies \ @carlosfandango 10 Feb
Cool. Just to be sure by ‘Chapter’ do you mean ‘Book’? Not sure how your copy is divided up..?
reply
179 sats \ 1 reply \ @Se7enZ OP 10 Feb
You're right. "Book" it is.
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @carlosfandango 10 Feb
Great!
reply
129 sats \ 2 replies \ @Bitman 13 Feb
Hey guys, I've just been made aware of this post by @cryotosensei and I'm also down for this.
However, with my poor health at the wheel expect more of a freewheeling Bob Dylan than a pole position Lewis Hamilton.
Marcus, as a stoic obviously was seen to persevere:
in his old age takes up his tablets and goes to school1
So I'll give the journey a go and pick up my tablet too.
I'm down for the book and author.
Thankfully, as bitcoiners, we're reading the author with his Stoic hat and not his hat as emperor.2
BTW is there a link to the discussion?
Footnotes
  1. https://wikiless.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius?lang=en ↩
  2. According to Wikipedia Marcus, as Emperor, chose to devalue the Roman currency. If he had a tablet, surely he could have run Bitcoin? /s ↩
reply
21 sats \ 0 replies \ @Se7enZ OP 13 Feb
@Bitman Great! Happy to have you contribute in any capacity. I just finished reading Book 1 right now and am in the process of reflecting and compiling my thoughts. What I didn't plan for, was a massive, fascinating introduction to the book which has me a little slow to get going.
I hope to get a post for Book 1 up today, if someone doesn't beat me to it.
reply
21 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 13 Feb
Discussion post is up, in case you aren’t aware
I’m sure you will have plenty of things to say, even if you regard yourself as a freewheeling Bob Dylan
Speedy recovery!
reply
21 sats \ 0 replies \ @byzantine 13 Feb
hell yes
reply
21 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryotosensei 10 Feb
I’m in. I just borrowed this from the electronic library in my country. After @Se7enZ expounded so much on the benefits of meditation, I figured I should take it as a sign from the Universe to learn more about it
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Se7enZ OP 10 Feb
Ha! Glad to have you! This initiative is the result of wondering whether I've been doing a little too much silent sitting and trying to cultivate some more activity and accomplishment in the world... So yeah, I'm sure we have a lot to learn from each other :)
reply
21 sats \ 9 replies \ @siggy47 8 Feb
  1. Yes, I'm interested. Meditations really lends itself to this type of thing, IMO. Kind of like this podcast: https://fountain.fm/show/0Q13Qq59vjwnywODmMiy
reply
50 sats \ 6 replies \ @Se7enZ OP 9 Feb
FYI - I've got Meditations: A New Translation on the way from Amazon, translated by Gregory Hays.
Are you still down if it's just the two of us to start?
reply
141 sats \ 4 replies \ @carlosfandango 9 Feb
If you build it they will come….
reply
20 sats \ 3 replies \ @siggy47 9 Feb
Am I being too optimistic to say that makes three?
reply
148 sats \ 2 replies \ @carlosfandango 9 Feb
Optimistic as to whether I have anything to offer..
reply
41 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 9 Feb
You took the words right out of my mouth. I'm interested in learning. I hope someone knows what they're talking about.
reply
21 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 11 Feb
Well we have a Chinese saying that goes something like “ three ignorant cobblers add up to a genius”. I’m sure our collective wisdom will lead to something beautiful 😍
reply
21 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 9 Feb
Yes.
reply
298 sats \ 1 reply \ @Se7enZ OP 8 Feb
Great! The podcast looks good too... I'm going to try and stay away from interpretive content on the subject beforehand though, so I can see what comes up for me organically.
Happy you're interested. Let's see if there are others.
reply
21 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 8 Feb
I'm pretty sure there are a bunch of stoics lurking around SN.
reply
0 sats \ 2 replies \ @Roll 13 Feb
Seems to be interesseteing topic, if i can help no pb (but i m not an english native).
But why have you choose to start with Marcus Aurelius? As i would have probably choosen someone from India/China first...
reply
5 sats \ 1 reply \ @Se7enZ OP 13 Feb
Somebody suggested I read Meditations to be cultivate more motivation. Feel free to chime in. Are you signalling that you want to be mentioned on future posts to stay up to date?
reply
21 sats \ 0 replies \ @Roll 13 Feb
Yes i m interesseted in but i do not know until where.. Because i ve realized with time that the experience has to be inward throught meditation, yoga or other method ( now i try to invest more and more time on it vs books/videos...)
reply
0 sats \ 2 replies \ @Se7enZ OP 13 Feb

Discussion Index Post
reply
0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Se7enZ OP 19 Feb
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Se7enZ OP 26 Feb
2/26/2023: Stoic Book Club: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius #3 - In Carnuntum
reply