Stoicism and Philosophy for Wellbeing
Day Courses
Stoicism and the Art of Living: The Discipline of Desire [two days]
Thursday 1st & Friday 2nd June 2023. 10am until 3pm.
[Corbridge, Northumberland]
This course will increase our understanding of Stoicism as a guide to life by focusing on the first of the three stoic disciplines, the Discipline of Desire. Using lectures, discussion and meditation, we will explore the Stoic framework of fate and free will, their attitude of joyful acceptance, their approach to love and friendship, as well as their ideal of the Sage.
Philosophy as a Guide to Life: Practical Virtues part one
Saturday 10th June 2023. 10.30am until 2.45pm.
[Corbridge, Northumberland]
In this day course we will start to explore ‘Practical Virtues’. In the first session, German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer will help us the see the relationship between humanity, humility and ‘humour’, in the second session Austrian-British philosopher Karl Popper will show us how our mistakes help us to make ‘music’, and in the final session Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu will help us to cultivate the virtue of ‘stillness’.
Stoa on the Wall: The Emotions [talk]
Wednesday 21st June 2023. 7pm until
8pm.
[Newcastle upon Tyne]
For the Stoics, the emotions (or ‘passions’) were of great concern. They did not seek to to repress their emotions, but rather to cultivate the ‘healthy’ ones and overcome the ‘harmful’ ones. Seeing ‘harmful’ emotional reactions as the result of faulty value judgments, they retrained their minds to seek what is intrinsically ‘good’.
Stoa on the Wall: The Emotions [talk]
Thursday 22nd June 2023. 10am until
11am.
[Hexham, Northumberland]
For the Stoics, the emotions (or ‘passions’) were of great concern. They did not seek to to repress their emotions, but rather to cultivate the ‘healthy’ ones and overcome the ‘harmful’ ones. Seeing ‘harmful’ emotional reactions as the result of faulty value judgments, they retrained their minds to seek what is intrinsically ‘good’.
Stoa on the Wall: The Emotions [talk]
Thursday 22nd June 2023. 2pm until
3pm.
[Haltwhistle, Northumberland]
For the Stoics, the emotions (or ‘passions’) were of great concern. They did not seek to to repress their emotions, but rather to cultivate the ‘healthy’ ones and overcome the ‘harmful’ ones. Seeing ‘harmful’ emotional reactions as the result of faulty value judgments, they retrained their minds to seek what is intrinsically ‘good’.
Stoa on the Wall: The Emotions [talk]
Thursday 22nd June 2023. 7pm until
8pm.
[Carlisle, Cumbria]
For the Stoics, the emotions (or ‘passions’) were of great concern. They did not seek to to repress their emotions, but rather to cultivate the ‘healthy’ ones and overcome the ‘harmful’ ones. Seeing ‘harmful’ emotional reactions as the result of faulty value judgments, they retrained their minds to seek what is intrinsically ‘good’.
Philosophy as a Guide to Life: Practical Virtues part two
Friday 30th June 2023. 10.30am until 2.45pm.
[Corbridge, Northumberland]
In this day course we will continue to explore ‘Practical Virtues’. In the first session, American philosopher Martha Nussbaum will show us how compassion and understanding lead to ‘wisdom’, in the second session, philosopher and psychologist William James will teach us to awaken our wonder, and in the final session, German philosopher Hannah Arendt will show us how to nurture our wellbeing through ‘work’.
Philosophy and the Good Life
Saturday 8th July 2023. 11am until 4pm.
[Bristol]
‘The life truly worth living is the considered life’, said Socrates, two and a half millennia ago. Socrates meant a life that was well informed and has goals which will benefit both oneself and society. The Good Life, ergo, allows us to grow autonomously, and, rather than be dictated to by duty, empowers us to live a full and flourishing life. Beginning with the Ancients, taking a whistle stop through the Renaissance, and then summarising with the Modern, this course will give us a taste of the Good Life from some of the greatest minds that reflected upon it.
Stoa on the Wall: Marcus Aurelius [talk]
Wednesday 19th July 2023. 7pm until
8pm.
[Newcastle upon Tyne]
Few leaders could live up to Plato’s ideal concept of the philosopher-king; the wise unruffled ruler, seeking not self-preservation, but the preservation of peace in his lands. To the best of his ability, this is what Marcus Aurelius did. Using extracts from his Meditations, we will glimpse into the life and Stoic philosophy of this great man.
Stoa on the Wall: Marcus Aurelius [talk]
Thursday 20th July 2023. 10am until
11am.
[Hexham, Northumberland]
Few leaders could live up to Plato’s ideal concept of the philosopher-king; the wise unruffled ruler, seeking not self-preservation, but the preservation of peace in his lands. To the best of his ability, this is what Marcus Aurelius did. Using extracts from his Meditations, we will glimpse into the life and Stoic philosophy of this great man.
Stoa on the Wall: Marcus Aurelius [talk]
Thursday 20th July 2023. 7pm until
8pm.
[Carlisle, Cumbria]
Few leaders could live up to Plato’s ideal concept of the philosopher-king; the wise unruffled ruler, seeking not self-preservation, but the preservation of peace in his lands. To the best of his ability, this is what Marcus Aurelius did. Using extracts from his Meditations, we will glimpse into the life and Stoic philosophy of this great man.
Philosophy as a Guide to Life: Personal Virtues part one
Saturday 12th August 2023. 10.30am until 2.45pm.
[Corbridge, Northumberland]
In this day course we will start to explore ‘Personal Virtues’. In the first session, Algerian-French philosopher Jacques Derrida shows us the importance of ‘forgiveness’ in the modern world, in the second session, French philosopher and mystic Simone Weil teaches us that ‘gratitude’ is more than words, and in the final session, medieval philosopher Thomas Aquinas gives us grounds for ‘hope’.
Philosophy as a Guide to Life: Personal Virtues part two
Friday 8th September 2023. 10.30am until 2.45pm.
[Corbridge, Northumberland]
In this day course we will conclude our exploration of virtues. In the first session, poet and playwright Oscar Wilde will show us that ‘individuality’ trumps individualism, in the second session Plato will help us to navigate the complexities of ‘love’, and in the final session of the series, Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung will teach us the truth about ‘me’.