The Practicing Stoic

Name: The Practicing Stoic
Brand: Blackstone Audiobooks
Availability: InStock
Rating: 5 (1 reviews)
Author: Ward Farnsworth
ISBN: 9781982606015

Author: Ward Farnsworth

Narrator: John Lescault

Unabridged: 9 hr 57 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Published: 12/25/2018

Categories: Nonfiction, Philosophy, Ethics & Moral Philosophy, History & Surveys, Literary Collections

Synopsis

The great insights of the Stoics are spread over a wide range of ancient sources. This book brings them all together for the first time. It systematically presents what the various Stoic philosophers said on every important topic, accompanied by an eloquent commentary that is clear and concise. The result is a set of philosophy lessons for everyone—the most valuable wisdom of ages past made available for our times, and for all time.

About Ward Farnsworth

Ward Farnsworth is dean and John Jeffers Research Chair at the University of Texas School of Law. He received his JD with high honors from the University of Chicago Law School, and his BA from Wesleyan University. He is the author of books on law, philosophy, rhetoric, and chess and has published scholarly articles on the economic analysis of law, constitutional law, statutory interpretation, jurisprudence, and cognitive psychology.

About John Lescault

Patrick Cullen (a.k.a. John Lescault), a native of Massachusetts, is a graduate of the Catholic University of America. He lives in Washington, DC, where he works in theater.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Gretchen on July 07, 2018

I love reading great works like those of Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Cicero, and others, and have always been interested in the thinking of the Stoics. This book lays out the history and philosophy of the Stoics in an absolutely clear and accessible way, without dumbing down the complexity.......more

Goodreads review by Taka on June 15, 2018

Excellent-- This, too, was a windfall for me. I was browsing through the labyrinthine bookshelves at Powell's in Portland this past April and noticed this. (There really is something about being able to browse books physically at a bookstore—it allows for more immediate connection/recognition, for fo......more

Goodreads review by Ryan on June 29, 2019

Of the many available books on Stoicism, three things make Farnsworth’s The Practicing Stoic stand out: 1. The Stoics largely speak for themselves; the book is organized around topics and most of the content comes from the original sources. So, for example, the chapter on “judgment” presents, with co......more

Goodreads review by Tim on April 05, 2019

As someone who has been reading the works of the Stoics for many years, the premise of this "manual" struck me as very useful. The book is arranged into topic-based chapters - "Perspective", "Desire", "Adversity", "Death" etc. - with selections of Stoic writers on those subjects arranged with commen......more

Goodreads review by Laurent on July 20, 2020

This is the best modern treatment of stoicism for a general public that I have read since Irvine's "A guide to the good life". Both books have a lot in common. Neither of them elaborates on the metaphysics of stoicism. They emphasize the ethics and the psychology of stoicism, and how this is relevan......more

Quotes

“As befits a good Stoic, Farnsworth’s expository prose exhibits both clarity and an unflappable calm…Throughout The Practicing Stoic, Farnsworth beautifully integrates his own observations with scores of quotations from Epictetus, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Montaigne and others. As a result, this isn’t just a book to read—it’s a book to return to, a book that will provide perspective and consolation at times of heartbreak or calamity.” Washington Post