Café Inquiry (ONLINE) – Stoicism for Humanists

 This event is held online. (Click the button to join the Zoom meeting.)

Stoicism, an ancient philosophy, has been enjoying a recent resurgence. In 2019, Meditations, written by
the famous Stoic Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, sold more than 100,000 copies. It has been suggested
that Humanism has roots in Stoic philosophy. At the next online Café Inquiry, we will take a break from
current events. Instead, we’ll examine the philosophy of Stoicism and look at the ancient roots of
modern Humanist thought. Massimo Pigliucci, a professor of philosophy at the City College of New York and longstanding humanist, describes his reasons for adopting a philosophy of Secular Stoicism in this article from New Humanist. In this article, Jules Evans, a philosopher and author of the book Breakfast with Seneca, discusses the reasons for the recent increased interest in Stoic philosophy. There is a link in the article to an interesting 15 minute video which goes into a little more depth. Finally, Canadian philosopher Trudy Govier discusses her exploration into and thoughts about Stoic philosophy. Hope to see you there!

Café Inquiry starts with a short introduction of the day’s topic, followed by casual discussion.

This event is free and open to the public. Donations appreciated, but not expected.

Attendees are able to future propose topics which would align with Michigan Humanist’s purpose: from atheism, agnosticism, humanism, secularism, and freethinking to broader subjects in science and humanities, such as religion, philosophy, social issues, politics, evolution, morality, ethics, and psychology.

Café Inquiry (Grand Rapids) meets each month IN PERSON on the second Sunday and ONLINE on the fourth Sunday.

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Michigan Humanists values the participation of all guests — requests for reasonable accommodation may be made by contacting the event host at least three days prior to the event.

Michigan Humanists expects all guests to engage in respectful discussion. Critiques on views and claims based on merit are allowed, but not attacks on individuals who hold other perspectives.

Any person engaging in disruptive behavior or harassment will be asked to leave, and may be banned from future events pending the severity of the action. Please speak to the event host or contact info@michiganhumanists.org if you feel these expectations are being violated.