Courses

This seminar will explore Stoicism—its ancient teachings and its potential ongoing relevance to our lives today. When you think of the term “Stoic,” what comes to mind? Maybe a TV character like Star Trek’s Spock—someone (usually a guy) facing life in a purely logical, emotionless manner? Or maybe one of the many recent self-help books pitching Stoicism as the secret to happiness? In reality, there’s far more to this 2300-year-old philosophy than pop culture tropes or motivational mantras. Indeed, Stoic thought touches on everything from the fairly mundane (“How can I deal with difficult people?”) to the truly existential (“What is a meaningful life?” “How should I think about death?”). In this seminar, we’ll examine Stoic ideas about these— and many more—topics. We’ll discuss what lessons they might offer for us (as people and as lawyers) today. We’ll explore how Stoicism’s principles relate to those of other religions and philosophies. And we’ll critique Stoicism: Does it exacerbate gender stereotypes? Is it too negative? Does it actually reflect how people think and live today? To inform our discussions, we’ll read a wide range of (short) ancient and modern sources—from Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius to blog posts to Reddit threads. We’ll also explore modern works of popular culture that contain (or at least purport to contain) Stoic themes. This seminar is intended for everyone and requires no background in philosophy or familiarity with Stoicism.