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1Thomas Bènatouϊl, Les Stoϊciens III: Musonius, Èpictète, Marc Aurèle (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2009), 240 pp., ISBN 978-2-251-76064-3 (review)Méthexis 26 (1): 217-220. 2013.
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19Aristotle: Understanding the World's Greatest PhilosopherPelican. 2023.There is in Athens a rather plain ruin; a simple courtyard lined with fragments of wall. Yet, this little patch of land has a claim to be the most significant place in human history. It is the Lyceum, site of Aristotle's school- here the philosopher wandered, discussing his life's work with students, proposing answers to the mysteries of the human condition. Today, it can be difficult to fully comprehend the staggering influence of these lessons. Aristotle's observations about the world around h…Read more
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10THE PERIPATETICS AND THE STOICS - (S.) Weisser Eradication ou modération des passions. Histoire de la controverse chez Cicéron, Sénèque et Philon d'Alexandrie. (Philosophie hellénistique et romaine 15.) Pp. 428. Turnhout: Brepols, 2021. Paper, €95. ISBN: 978-2-503-59638-9 (review)The Classical Review 73 (2): 681-683. 2023.
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21Lessons in stoicismAllen Lane. 2019.A deeply comforting and enlightening book on how Stoicism can inspire us to lead more enjoyable lives What aspects of your life do you really control? What do you do when you cannot guarantee that things will turn out in your favour? And what can Stoicism teach us about how to live together? In the past few years, Stoicism has been making a comeback. But what exactly did the Stoics believe? In Lessons in Stoicism, philosopher John Sellars weaves together the key ideas of the three great Roman St…Read more
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Socratic themes in the meditations of Marcus AureliusIn Christopher Moore (ed.), Brill's Companion to the Reception of Socrates, Brill. 2019.
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Renaissance humanism and philosophy as a way of lifeIn James M. Ambury, Tushar Irani & Kathleen Wallace (eds.), Philosophy as a way of life: historical, contemporary, and pedagogical perspectives, Wiley. 2020-10-05.
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23Barlaam of Seminara on Stoic EthicsMohr Siebeck. 2022.This volume contains the first critical edition and translation of Barlaam of Seminara's fourteenth century treatise Ethics According to the Stoics , along with a series of interpretative essays explaining its content and context. Barlaam's text is the earliest interpretative work written on Stoic ethics, a product of the burgeoning Italian Renaissance but also drawing on Barlaam's experience in the Byzantine intellectual world of Constantinople. Intriguingly, it offers a radically different acc…Read more
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27The Pocket StoicThe University of Chicago Press. 2019.To counter the daily anxieties, stress, and emotional swings caused by the barrage of stimuli that plagues modern life, many people have been finding unexpected solace in a philosophy from a very different and distant time: Stoicism. As John Sellars shows in The Pocket Stoic, the popular image of the isolated and unfeeling Stoic hardly does justice to the rich vein of thought that we find in the work of Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius, the three great Roman Stoics. Their works are recogni…Read more
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22Ancient and modern stoicism - (n.) Sherman stoic wisdom. Ancient lessons for modern resilience. Pp. X + 294, ills. New York: Oxford university press, 2021. Cased, £18.99, us$24.95. Isbn: 978-0-19-750183-2 (review)The Classical Review 72 (2): 699-701. 2022.
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17Marion Bourbon, Penser l’individu. Genèse stoïcienne de la subjectivité, Turnhout, Brepols, 2019, 424p (review)Les Etudes Philosophiques 140 (1): 147-150. 2022.
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27Body and Soul in Hellenistic Philosophy, edited by Brad Inwood and James Warren (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020) (review)Philosophy 97 (2): 263-265. 2022.
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35The Pocket EpicureanUniversity of Chicago Press. 2021.A short, smart guide to living the good life through the teachings of Epicurus. As long as there has been human life, we’ve searched for what it means to be happy. More than two thousand years ago, the Greek philosopher Epicurus came to his own conclusion: all we really want in life is pleasure. Though today we tend to associate the word “Epicurean” with indulgence in the form of food and wine, the philosophy of Epicurus was about a life well lived even in the hardest of times. As John Sellars s…Read more
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52Marcus AureliusRoutledge. 2020.In this new study, John Sellars offers a fresh examination of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations as a work of philosophy by placing it against the background of the tradition of Stoic philosophy to which Marcus was committed. The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius is a perennial bestseller, attracting countless readers drawn to its unique mix of philosophical reflection and practical advice. The emperor is usually placed alongside Seneca and Epictetus as one of three great Roman Stoic authors, but he wear…Read more
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7Some Reflections on Recent Philosophy Teaching ScholarshipDiscourse: Learning and Teaching in Philosophical and Religious Studies 2 (1): 110-127. 2002.
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9Teaching Ancient PhilosophyDiscourse: Learning and Teaching in Philosophical and Religious Studies 2 (2): 23-49. 2003.
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44Renaissance Humanism and Philosophy as a Way of LifeMetaphilosophy 51 (2-3): 226-243. 2020.A long-established view has deprecated Renaissance humanists as primarily literary figures with little serious interest in philosophy. More recently it has been proposed that the idea of philosophy as a way of life offers a useful framework with which to re-assess their philosophical standing. However, this proposal has faced some criticism. By looking again at the work of three important figures from the period I defend the claim that at least some thinkers during the Renaissance did see philos…Read more
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20The Cynics - Desmond Cynics. Pp. vi + 290. Stocksfield: Acumen Publishing Ltd, 2008. Paper, £15.99 . ISBN: 978-1-84465-129-0 (review)The Classical Review 60 (1): 56-58. 2010.
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23Hellenistic PhilosophyOxford University Press. 2018.John Sellars presents a broad and lively introduction to Hellenistic philosophy. This was a rich period for philosophy, with the birth of Epicureanism and Stoicism, alongside the activities of Platonists, Aristotelians, and Cynics. Sellars offers accessible coverage of all areas from epistemology to ethics and politics.
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15Henry More as reader of Marcus AureliusBritish Journal for the History of Philosophy 25 (5): 916-931. 2017.I examine Henry More’s engagement with Stoicism in general, and Marcus Aurelius in particular, in his Enchiridion Ethicum. More quotes from Marcus’ Meditations throughout the Enchiridion, leading one commentator to note that More ‘mined the Meditations’ when writing his book. Yet More’s general attitude towards Stoicism is more often than not critical, especially when it comes to the passions. I shall argue that while More was clearly an avid reader of the Meditations, he read Marcus not as a St…Read more
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13Tough luckThe Philosophers' Magazine 55 72-76. 2011.The worst thing that can happen to us is to be blessed with a life of unending luxury, comfort, and wealth, for such a life would make one weak and lazy. But worst of all, the longer we experience a comfortable and easy life, the harder it will hit us when our luck fi nally changes, as it surely one day will.
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87The Routledge Handbook of the Stoic Tradition (edited book)Routledge. 2016.The ancient philosophy of Stoicism has been a crucial and formative influence on the development of Western thought since its inception through to the present day. It is not only an important area of study in philosophy and classics, but also in theology and literature. The Routledge Handbook of the Stoic Tradition is the first volume of its kind, and an outstanding guide and reference source to the nature and continuing significance of Stoicism.
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80An ethics of the eventAngelaki 11 (3). 2006.Deleuze, philosopher, son of Diogenes and Hypatia, sojourned at Lyon. Nothing is known of his life. He lived to be very old, even though he was often very ill. This illustrated what he himself had said: there are lives in which the difficulties verge on the prodigious. He defined as active any force that goes to the end of its power. This, he said, is the opposite of a law. Thus he lived, always going further than he had believed he could. Even though he had explicated Chrysippus, it is above al…Read more
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87The art of living : Stoic ideas concerning the nature and function of philosophyDissertation, Warwick. 2001.The aim of this thesis is to consider the relationship between philosophy and biography, and the bearing that this relationship has on debates concerning the nature and function of philosophy. There exists a certain tradition that conceives philosophy exclusively in terms of rational discourse and as such explicitly rejects the idea of any substantial relationship between philosophy and the way in which one lives. I shall argue that the claim that philosophy cannot have any impact upon biography…Read more
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20Review: Proclus' Hymns: Essays, Translations, Commentary (review)The Classical Review 53 (1): 85-86. 2003.
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