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Epictetus

Epictetus | People Are Disturbed Not by Things, but by Their Views of Things 50 CE TURKEY 135 CE GREECE

Epictetus is a philosopher of acceptance. He is a key thinker in the school of thought called Stoicism. Epictetus takes Socrates’ lesson that a virtuous life is a good and happy life and turns it into a strict discipline backed by a deterministic model of the universe. Whereas Socrates defines himself as a midwife, helping others to give birth to wisdom he claims not to possess himself, Epictetus is more akin to a physician. He heals mental disturbances that sicken the soul by teaching us how to live in harmony with the universe. Everything happens for a reason, and if we understood the nature of the universe correctly we would wish for nothing to be different. For Epictetus, the universe is fated and good and can be in no other way. That is why we must be thankful for everything that happens. We cannot change events in the past through our regret, or influence the future through our worry: the past and the future are out of our control. Epictetus asks us to stay focused only on what is within our control. Our thoughts, desires, emotions, and wills are in our control, while our bodies, property, reputations, and the opinions of others are out of our control. Through mental discipline and the wisdom to know and act only on what is within our control, we may overcome all hindrances.

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The Philosopher’s Deck Journal

The Philosopher’s Deck Journal contains a set of five questions to guide your reflections on each of the 22 thinkers found in The Philosopher’s Deck. It provides a place where you can write down your thoughts and feelings as you converse with each thinker to help empower you to live more mindfully and purposefully. Applying and reflecting on the wisdom of these thinkers allows you to broaden your horizon of possibilities and vision of how to live a more meaningful and fulfilling life.

The Philosophy Wise Journal

The Philosophy Wise Journal is a tool to help guide your journey to living a more philosophical life.  To philosophize is to engage in introspection, reflection, and questioning. It is to practice the life of the mind—where awareness, self-consciousness, and clarity are seated.   

 Use this journal to reflect on the questions found at the end of each chapter in Philosophy Wise. Writing down your thoughts and feelings as you enter into dialogue with each philosopher will enrich your understanding of each thinker’s perspective on how to live a good and fulfilling life, while deepening your understanding of what matters most to you. 

The Philosopher’s Deck

The Philosopher’s Deck brings together the wisdom of philosophy and the practice of using images to contemplate and evaluate life situations. For centuries people have been using cards to meditate on archetypes that have resonated throughout human experience. The most popular set of cards is the traditional Tarot deck. The Philosopher’s Deck follows the framework of the Tarot’s 22 major Arcana cards but is geared more toward helping you arrive at wisdom and clarity through reflection on a set of timeless philosophical ideas and principles. The Philosopher’s Deck depicts 22 of the world greatest thinkers and their key ideas and concepts to spark insight and bring about clarity through wisdom. Each philosopher has carefully been chosen to relate the meaning of their life and work to the meaning of the corresponding card.  Socrates depicts the idea of Self-Examination; Buddha the idea of Impermanence, Rumi the idea of Love, Sartre the idea of Action; Nietzsche the idea of Self-creation; and Arendt the idea of Judgement.  See the Table of Contents for a full list of the themes covered in the Deck and use the cards to arrive at deeper levels of understanding. 

Philosophy Wise, The Book

Philosophy Wise re-invigorates philosophy’s initial impulse to help people live more meaningful lives. Written for philosophers and non-philosopher’s alike, it shows you how to gain clarity and wisdom by using the lens of philosophy to approach your everyday concerns. 20 of the world’s greatest thinkers are presented as guides, each offering you their vision of how to live a more purposeful and satisfying life. Experiment and choose from a kaleidoscope of timeless ideas to gain a deeper understanding of what matters most to you.

Table of Contents:
Socrates: Self-Examination, Lao Tzu: Receptivity, Buddha: Impermanence, Confucius: Tradition, Aristotle: Character, Epictetus: Acceptance, Augustine: Happiness, Rumi: Love, Rene, Descartes: Reason, Immanuel Kant: Integrity, Soren Kierkegaard: Leap of Faith, Friedrich Nietzsche: Self-Creation, W.E.B. Du Bois: Education, Simone Weil: Attention, Hannah Arendt: Thinking, Jean Paul Sartre: Action, Simone de Beauvoir: Ethical Freedom, Albert Camus: The Absurd, Frantz Fanon: Resistance, Gloria Anzaldúa: la Mestiza