You can, with a little bit of effort, control how you respond to the challenges life presents you. You can control the goals you pick for yourself. I t’s that notion that you enjoy what life has to offer, but without becoming addicted to it, without clinging to what life has to offer, you’re always prepared for things to take a turn for the worse. That is a life that’s full of, to the extent possible, of positive emotions like delight and even joy, and relatively without negative emotions like anger, and anxiety, and regret. Here are a few highlights from the conversation: Irvine has written seven books including the wildly popular 2008 release A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy, and the 2019 follow-up, The Stoic Challenge: A Philosopher’s Guide to Becoming Tougher, Calmer, and More Resilient.Irvine also teaches philosophy and logic courses at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

Now available on: YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Transcript On this episode Irvine offers a definition and some useful background on Stoicism and its origins, the original Stoics, their thoughts on failure, their advice on decision making, and how we can train ourselves to be more stoic. Author and philosophy professor William Irvine goes in-depth on Stoicism, and why the fundamental tenets of this ancient philosophy can provide answers to some of the toughest problems in today’s society.

Bill irvine the stoic challenge