Spencer Klavan is the author of How to Save the West: Ancient Wisdom for 5 Modern Crises and assistant editor of The Claremont Review of Books and The American Mind at the Claremont Institute. With a PhD in Classics, Klavan's literary expertise is aided by his knowledge of many languages, including Ancient Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. As a scholar who enjoys exploring how great works of literature provide valuable insights into today's world, Klavan hosts Young Heretics every Tuesday.

Highlights

* Rational discourse is a team sport, a shared pursuit for the wisdom we both seek about the thing and the effort we make at getting it

* Seeking excellence, moral virtue, and flourishing is the first step, the atomic building block, for living well together—seeking mutual good in the form of community and relationships

* Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 9.8

* Fundamentally, when we form political community, we do so because we collectively agree that there is such a thing as justice

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Ward Farnsworth is Dean and John Jeffers Research Chair at the University of Texas School of Law. He formerly was Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law at the Boston University Law School. He’s the author of The Socratic Method and The Practicing Stoic.

Highlights

* The Socratic method as an orientation of mind, is different from the orientation of mind that we use by default and therefore challenging. It's a humbler, more inquisitive frame of mind, a path toward intelligence.

* “A life, a good life is a life with pleasure.”

Socrates would ask, “What if a life had a lot of pleasure in it, but it was only obtained by doing horrible things to other people? Would you consider that a good life?”

“Well, no, of course not.”

“Maybe revise what you said.”

* Socrates always finds or suggests contradictions between different things the person believes. This sounds modest and unassuming, this little process, but it has many uses, many payoffs.

* You're really just asking questions about the premises. The major premise behind what people think is in the foreground. And most people are much clearer on what they think in the foreground than they are in the deep reasons for it.

Above is an audiobook excerpt from David Fideler’s Breakfast with Seneca: A Stoic Guide to the Art of Living. Special thanks to W. W. Norton & Company and Tantor Media & HighBridge Audio.

In Breakfast with Seneca, philosopher David Fideler mines Seneca's classic works in a series of focused chapters, clearly explaining Seneca's ideas without oversimplifying them. Best enjoyed as a daily ritual, like an energizing cup of coffee, Seneca's wisdom provides us with a steady stream of time-tested advice about the human condition - which, as it turns out, hasn't changed much over the past 2,000 years.

The most companionable of the new Stoic books.

—Molly Young, New York Times

David Fideler is an esteemed guest speaker at our upcoming virtual event, On Seneca: Anger, Fear, and Sadness on Saturday, August 19th @ 12 pm EDT. Registration is free or you may donate an amount of your choosing. Your generosity keeps us hosting these events. Donations also go towards funding a PAC on-site location near the original Plato’s Academy in Akadimia Platonos, Athens. No need to worry if you are unavailable on the day. A recording will be sent to all registrants post event.

Also, all attendees are eligible to win a paperback copy of David’s acclaimed Breakfast with Seneca! A form will be sent to registrants post event for entry. Then, three lucky winners will be selected.

Dr. Sean Lyons is Professor of Leadership and Management and Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Studies at the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph. Dr. Lyons’s main area of research concerns intergenerational differences and their impacts on workplace dynamics and managing people. He is co-author of the book Generational Career Shifts: How Matures, Boomers, Gen Xers and Millennials View Work and co-editor of Managing the New Workforce: International Perspectives on the Millennial Generation.

His research on generations has been featured in a number of media outlets, including Time Magazine, the Globe & Mail, the National Post, the Daily Mirror (UK), Macleans magazine, as well as on CBC’s The National, CTV News Channel, the Business News Network and CBC Radio’s The Current. Dr. Lyons works frequently with private and public sector organizations to identify and address inter-generational issues.

Highlights

* “Unlike heroic theories of leadership that focus on the leader as a heroic figure—who are somehow gifted with unique traits or skills—modern leadership focus on leadership as interpersonal processes that unfold within a group that focus on the leader as an symbol to help them find the right motivation and meaning in their own actions.”

* Leadership is a process of influencing others to achieve a common goal. (Northouse, 2022; 6)

* Virtuous Leadership is distinguishing right from wrong in one’s leadership role, taking steps to ensure justice and honesty, influencing and enabling others to pursue righteous and moral goals. …and helping others connect to a higher purpose. (Pearce et al., 2006; 62)

* Practical Wisdom (phronesis)—seeing the naked truth and knowing what is good, not good, and indifferent

* The Disciplines of Desire, Action, and Assent

In this episode, Donald discusses the life and philosophy of Diogenes the Cynic with Jean-Manuel Roubineau, associate professor of ancient history at Rennes 2 University. Prof. Roubineau specializes in Greek antiquity, the historical anthropology of sport, and the history of social inequalities. He is the author of several books, including The Dangerous Life and Ideas of Diogenes the Cynic.

Plato's Academy Centre Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Highlights

* Prof. Roubineau’s background and research on Greek society and athletics  

* The main misconceptions that people have about Diogenes the Cynic    

* How does Diogenes differ from other Greek philosophers such as Plato?

* How does Diogenes fit into the succession of Greek philosophers, and his relationship with the Socratics and the Stoics?

* What Diogenes thought it meant to be a philosopher 

* To what extent, do you think Diogenes was “cynical” about religion?

* What led Diogenes to say that he was a citizen of the cosmos

* Final Question: “Is comfort an expression of success?”

Links

* The Dangerous Life and Ideas of Diogenes the Cynic

* The Big Think

Diane Kalen-Sukra is the founder of Kalen Academy, an interactive online school for civic leaders and engaged citizens, which she launched after retiring as a city manager. She is also an acclaimed author, speaker and coach. Diane’s most popular book “Save Your City: How Toxic Culture Kills Community & What To Do About It” takes readers on a successful journey from Bullyville to Sustainaville, which includes a visit to classical antiquity, calling for a renaissance of civic values and civic education as vital to fostering the type of culture that can sustain us, our democracy and our planet.

Highlights

* A city that’s governed well is governed in accordance with reason; because we’re human beings with the capacity to reason and organize together. This is through rational discourse, not through factualism, ad hominin attacks, or rage-farming—which are mistaken by our society as rational strategies.

* 81% of local government US officials have experienced everything from death threats to vandalization of their homes and other forms of abuse. This is the level of government that is closest to the people. So, that very proximity that we need, in a toxic environment, has the capacity to do enormous harm.

* Aristotle would challenge the view that local government exists to provide city services (or some quality affordable civic services). He would say that civic leadership must be people-centered, namely to achieve eudaimonia as a collective.

* “Educate the people or endure them.” —Marcus Aurelius