Philosophy Thought Pieces – Page 3 – Red Angel Sophia's Blog

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: In the background burns the flame that represents the Logos. In front of it, several letters from the Greek alphabet fill the air - and near the floor is a book labeled "A Stoic Dictionary". This image is for articles in this blog (virtualstoa.org) pertaining to Stoic terminology.

#6: Empathy versus Rational Compassion: Part One: What We Mean by “Empathy”

September 22, 2017 sophia_my_blog

I want to discuss why society ought to encourage rational compassion rather than empathy. But before I can do that, I must clarify what “empathy” means in this discussion and why it is important to keep in mind how empathy Read more

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A purple hollow-triangle with the extentions of the "mars symbol" and the "venus symbol" is featured in the foreground. This is one of the symbols of the transgender community. Behind it is the fire that represents the Logos. This image is for articles in this blog (virtualstoa.org) that pertain to transgender issues and how Stoicism applies to them.

#5: Stoicism – Personal Power for Transgender Folk

September 8, 2017 sophia_my_blog

One group of people for whom Stoicism can be a very powerful philosophy is those, such as myself, who are on the transgender spectrum. [powerpress /] This piece is Episode 5 of the podcast: Philadelphia Stoic Thouhts Today is Friday, Read more

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An open book with writing represents a journal - specifically, a meditative journal, which is an ancient time-honored ingraining technique. Above it and to the left, a chain of Death Beads used in a very recently-devised ingraining technique. Above the book and to the right (slightly overlapping) is a blue silhouette of someone running - a symbol of exercise - as the ingraining techniques are key philosophical exercises for Stoicism. Above all that are, in big red letters, the words "EVERY DAY" highlighting the importance of making it an every-day practice to use whatever regimen of ingraining techniques are found to be appropriate for you. This image is for articles in this blog pertaining to Stoic ingraining techniques - whether they be ingraining techniques that we get from the Classical Stoics, or whether they be those developed in modern times by Modern Stoics.

#4 Locus of Control – The Onion Will Model

September 1, 2017 sophia_my_blog

In the ancient Stoic texts, the only things mentioned as being beyond our control are things outside of the mind. However, modern understanding requires us to accept that even some things within our mind aren’t ours to command. The best Read more

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Against a grey background, we see the red flame that represents the Logos (the spirit of reason that animates the Universe). In front of that, we see a badly-drawn representation of a human brain - on which there is a lightbulb that is lit, representing thought. Some of the rays from the lightbulb's glow gradually blend into the flame, representing how our reasoning faculty is part of the Logos. This image is for articles in this blog dealing with logic and critical thought.

#3: Don’t Mistake Stoic Realism for Idealism

August 11, 2017 sophia_my_blog

While people who don’t understand Stoicism or the Stoic mindset might confuse a Stoic with an idealist – in reality, a well-trained Stoic is not that at all, but the ultimate realist. Philadelphia Stoic Thoughts, starting with the episode following Read more

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A skull (symbolizing death) is in front of a flowing hourglass (symbolizing the passage of time). This image is for articles focused on the inevitability of our death - an issue very central to Stoic philosophy.

What If You Die Tonight?

July 6, 2017 sophia_my_blog

Much like the Samurai of feudal Japan – the Stoics of ancient Greece and Rome realized that the eventuality of our deaths isn’t something to hide from – but something that we should stare right in the face. [powerpress /] Read more

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A strange liquid boils and bubbles in an Erlenmeyer flask. To the right of it, two test-tubes sit on a rack. And to the right of it, slightly above, is an image of what is perhaps, for Stoics, the most painful reminder of scientific advance - the atom. Behind all that burns the flame that represents the Logos. This image is for articles on this site (virtualstoa.org) that pertain to the relation between Stoicism and science.

Stoicism in the Age of Science

June 29, 2017 sophia_my_blog

While ancient Stoics no doubt held some views that are at odds with modern science, proper understanding of Stoicism requires that we differentiate the actual principles of the philosophy from context-specific influences in the ancient writings. Upon doing this, we Read more

Don’t Leave Out the Neutral Indifferents

June 22, 2017 sophia_my_blog

Every time someone writes that the “indifferents” in Stoicism are either “preferred” or “dispreferred”, they underestimate how problematic it is that they neglect to mention a third category of indifferents – those that I would call “neutral”. In Stoic philosophy, Read more

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Two mouths - one slightly-above to the right, and one slightly-below to the left. From the mouth on the left come a few straight lines representing honest speech. From the mouth on the right come a few crooked lines representing deceptive speech. Behind the honest mouth (the one on the left) burns the flame which represents the Logos. This image is for articles in this blog (virtualstoa.org) which deal with cases in which the true words of the philosopher meet with untrue words of baser society.

Epictitus Shows us How to Stand Up to Hate Speech Without Compromising our Resilience to Insults

June 15, 2017 sophia_my_blog

While the Stoic advice to embrace insults may seem at times to put us in conflict with our obligation to stand up to societal injustice, Epictetus gives us a great way to resolve this dilemma. One thing is abundantly clear Read more

Stoic Community’s Understanding of Transgender Issues Still has Ways to Go

June 1, 2017May 23, 2019 sophia_my_blog

Years after my YouTube presentation on Stoicism as a coping mechanism for trans-folk – there is much that the Stoic community doesn’t understand about trans-folk and about how our noble philosophy applies to the situation of trans-folk. Years ago, a Read more

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A stone bust of a philosopher is shown. However, in place of the philosopher's face, there is a red question mark - and the yellow name-tag in front of the bust only identifies the bust's subject as "PHILOSOPHER". Behind the bust burns the red flame that represents the logos. This image is for articles on this site (virtualstoa.org) that pertain to the _people_ who were our ancient philosophers.

Why Seneca Belongs in Stoic Cannon

May 25, 2017 sophia_my_blog

Despite reluctance on my part – I have come to understand why modern Stoics include the writings of Seneca in the Stoic cannon. Despite all the reasons why ancient Stoics who came after him had no reason to study Seneca’s Read more