Index

Roman Agora in Athens, with the Acropolis in the background. Photo by the Author.

Here is a handy list of all the posts that have appeared in Figs in Winter, periodically updated. They are organized by philosopher and by the three classic topoi of logic, science (broadly construed, including the humanities), and ethics. (Why? See here.) Additional subheadings group, among others, the Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers series and Stoic practice sessions. Most recent essays are usually on top within each subheading.

Use the (subtle) ToC feature on the left side of the screen (only in the desktop version, not available on mobile or in the app, ask Substack!) to navigate to a specific section. You should see short vertically parallel lines, click on them, and the ToC will reveal itself. You can also simply search within the page for something that interests you using a keyword.

The current version of the index covers posts published between September 9, 2022 (beginning of publication) and September 10, 2025 (included). Check back from time to time for further updates.

Please note that the Ars Vivendi videos are listed in a separate tab on FiW’s main menu (above) and that the entries below do not include our occasional Suggested Readings.

If you’d like to check out my books, they are also listed in a separate tab on the main FiW menu above.

Massimo’s own stuff

• Books that Matter: the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius

• Video: Beyond Stoicism—A guide to the good life with Stoics, Skeptics, Epicureans, and other ancient philosophers

• Beyond Stoicism, introduction to the book

• Video: The Quest for Character—What the Story of Socrates and Alcibiades Teaches Us about Our Search for Good Leaders

• Five insights about character (from The Quest for Character)

• Alas, Alcibiades, what condition you suffer from! (Excerpt from The Quest for Character)

• Video: A Field Guide to a Happy Life—53 Brief Lessons for Living

Philosophers worth reading

• Aristotle vs the Stoics: part II, ethics

• Aristotle vs the Stoics: part I, metaphysics and logic

• On Ayn Rand and Aristotle

• Dan Dennett

• Einstein, Stoic?

• Epictetus as Socratic teacher

• Epictetus and the wand of Hermes

• Epictetus’s radical Stoicism—Part II

• Epictetus’s radical Stoicism—Part I

• Be a Stoic like Epictetus

• Reflecting on Ken Frazier, skeptic

• Heraclitus and Stoicism

• Marcus Aurelius’ Ten “Commandments” to Himself

• Plato’s Academy as political think tank

• Tracking Plato and Cicero in Syracuse

• Protagoras: should we re-evaluate the Sophists?

• In defense of Seneca

• How to be good according to Socrates

• Socrates’s rules of engagement

• The Socratic view of the world

Empirical naturalism

• History’s guide to human nature

• The meaning of life, or lack thereof?

• On the question of cosmic meaning (or lack thereof)

• The science and philosophy of morality

• The Shroud of Turin and the nature of faith

• Without evidence, there is no knowledge

• Oh no! Am I a reductionist??

• A visit to the Cryptozoology Museum

• Do extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence?

• On the objectivity of ethical judgments

• The neuroscience and philosophy of evil

• The two reasons I left Christianity

• I very much doubt the universe thinks

• What would change my mind about God?

• Determinism, swerves, and the relationship between metaphysics and ethics

• Why we can’t, ultimately, prove anything

• How to assess the probability of pretty much everything

• Is it true that you can’t derive an ought from an is?

• Plato’s mistake

Philosophical (not psychological) Pessimism (PnotpP)

• Schopenhauer and Stoicism

• Leopardi’s challenge to Stoicism

Profiles in Skepticism

• Sextus Empiricus

• Cicero

• Carneades

• Arcesilaus, founder of the Skeptic Academy

• Pyrrho

• The Cyrenaics

Profiles in Pseudoscience

• Monica Gagliano

• Steve Fuller

• Deepak Chopra

Logic (i.e., good reasoning)

• Two meanings of truth

• The (hermeneutic) circle of understanding

• Eagles and errors

• Should academics be political activists?

• Against scientism

• Is rationality a fiction? Nope

• But is it fascism?

• On the worth of comedy and tragedy

• Why the Greco-Romans?

• It ain’t no fallacy: on living according to Nature

• The Nazi problem, a Stoic take

• The problem with presentism

• Should we be moral skeptics?

• Should we be skeptical of religion?

• The crucial question of burden of proof

• The unfortunate devolution of four crucial words

• ChatGPT, the ultimate sophist?

• How to evaluate a philosophical theory

• What, if any, is the difference between religion and philosophy?

• Three cheers for the end of the world?

• What criterion for knowledge?

• Who’s afraid of skepticism?

• The importance of doubting

Science & Humanities (i.e., understanding the world)

• Flow as a component of meaningful living

• So, what exactly is wrong with the Enlightenment?

• On democracy

• The battle that started western civilization

• The great transformation of the Axial Age

• Stoicism, emotions, and the “irrational tug”

• “Up to us”: the Stoic take on the free will problem

• Let’s talk about (biological) sex—part II

• Let’s talk about (biological) sex—part I

• I’m skeptical, not afraid, of AI

• Self-Evident: How Benjamin Franklin’s two-word edit changed American history

• Free will and the problem of evil

• On the Stoic God (or absence thereof)

• The problem of the perverse

• Why Epicureans and Utilitarians are wrong: on the axiology of pain and pleasure

• The story of Pseudo-Seneca

• Stoicism and beauty

• The hedonic treadmill vs the eudaimonic staircase

• Scientific facts, scientific theories, and dishonest legislators

• The great philosophical exodus of 86 BCE

• Totalitarianism as a novel form of “government”

• The full colors of Greece and Rome

• On the steps of Marcus Aurelius: visiting Carnuntum

Ethics (i.e., good living)

• Stoic paradoxes

• Don’t practice Stoicism, live it!

• Is Stoicism politically conservative?

• The problem of the Prince

• Bear and forebear

• What does it mean to “practice” Stoicism?

• Five Roman myths—part II

• Five Roman myths—part I

• On elections

• Some thoughts on Effective Altruism

• Stoic role ethics: a primer

• The universality of virtue ethics—III—Daoism

• The universality of virtue ethics—II—Confucianism

• The universality of virtue ethics—I—Buddhism

• Stoicism as a subversive activity

• Here are a few things I learned

• Virtue ethics, rules, and consequences

• The story of the pale Stoic in the storm

• A Stoic guide to your Valentine Day

• There is no upside to anger

• Interview with a Cynic

• Facing old age and death: a study in contrasts

• The Columnist and the Dog: a tale of two ascetics

• Love, kindness, … and Stoicism?

• Going to the Stoic Mind Gym

• Timon’s three questions

• What’s your ikigai?

• Should we not be disturbed by the death of a loved one?

• The fertile garden of philosophy

• How to talk to your emotions

• The three rules of Stoic Club

• Odysseus and Dante

• Odysseus and the Epicureans

• Odysseus and the Stoics

• Odysseus and the Cynics

• Stoic cosmopolitanism

• Secular pilgrimages

• What should we do with a tyrant?

• The three stages of philosophical therapy

• Dealing with insults, the Stoic way

• Telic vs atelic activities and the meaning of life

• Vita Dulcis: fear and desire in the Roman Empire

• Prosochē or not prosochē? On Stoic mindfulness

• Five questions that will change your life

• The varieties of bad Stoicism

• There’s no such thing as a happy nihilist

• Birthday meditation on death

• What does it mean to live according to nature?

• Where are you from?

• New Year’s Resolutions, Stoic Style

• A few thoughts on Buddhism

• Everything you always wanted to know about Greek philosophy

• The philosophy of football

• Philosophy as a Way of Life—IV—Only the present is our happiness

• Philosophy as a Way of Life—III—Socrates and the finest state of the human soul

• Philosophy as a Way of Life—II—Spiritual exercises

• Philosophy as a Way of Life—I—How to run a philosophical school

• The nine kinds of ethical life

• The axiom of futility

• Figs in winter and the idea of an art of living (The first article in this newsletter.)

Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers

• XXXIII, How to eat with Galen, Pliny, Seneca, and others

• XXXII, How to lose yourself with Buddha and followers—Part I & Part II

• XXXI, How to get over a breakup with Ovid

• XXX, How to be queer with Sappho and Plato

• XXIX, How to make money with Pliny & co.

• XXVIII, How to flourish with Aristotle

• XXVII, How to do the right thing with Seneca

• XXVI, How to focus with John Cassian

• XXV, How to have a life with Seneca

• XXIV, How to be healthy with Galen

• XXIII, How to stop a conspiracy with Sallust

• XXII, How to innovate with Aristotle

• XXI, How to be a farmer like you mean it

• XX, How to tell a joke with Cicero and Quintilian

• XIX, How to give with Seneca

• XVIII, How to think about God with Cicero

• XVII, How to keep your cool with Seneca

• XVI, How to think about war with Thucydides

• XV, How to be a friend with Cicero

• XIV, How to win an argument with Cicero

• XIII, How to grow old with Cicero

• XII, How to run a country with Cicero

• XI, How to win an election with Quintus T. Cicero

• X, How to be a bad emperor with Suetonius

• IX, How to be content with Horace

• VIII, How to tell a story with Aristotle

• VII, How to die with Seneca

• VI, How to grieve with Pseudo-Cicero

• V, How to say no with Diogenes and the Cynics

• IV, How to drink with Obsopoeus

• III, How to be a leader with Plutarch

• II, How to keep an open mind with Sextus Empiricus

• I, How to be free, Epictetus style

New Stoicism

• Some modest suggestions

• Steven Gambardella’s new modern Stoicism

• Piotr Stankiewicz’s Reformed Stoicism

• Becker’s update

• Stoic ethics

• Stoic logic

• Stoic physics

Stoic practice: Discipline of Assent

• Practice like a Stoic: Conclusion

• 52, Apply the dichotomy of control from dawn to night

• 51, Pay attention to the right things

• 50, Decompose your difficulties

• 49, Speak just the facts about others

• 48, Counter anger with maxims

• 47, Analyze anger

• 46, Pause when angry

• 45, Study each impression scientifically

• 44, Decompose desired externals

• 43, Challenge your anxious thoughts

• 42, Retreat to your inner citadel

• 41, Question judgments around pain and disease

• 40, Focus on the mind-body connection

• 39, Keep basic Stoic concepts always at hand

• 38, Observe and counter four moods of the mind

• 37, Catch and examine the judgments underlying your impressions and impulses

• 36, Catch and apply the dichotomy of control to initial impressions

Stoic practice: Discipline of Action

• 35, Question every action

• 34, Care about more people (and other beings)

• 33, Set up social rules for living

• 32, Practice Stoic sympathy stealthily

• 31, Act with reservation

• 30, Do whatever political good you can

• 29, Review your actions nightly

• 28, Put the sage on your shoulder

• 27, Act the opposite of anger

• 26, Turn difficulties into opportunities

• 25, Deal virtuously with frustrating people

• 24, Premeditate on encountering difficult people

• 23, Don’t speak about yourself

• 22, Roll with insults

• 21, Choose your company well

• 20, Speak little but well

• 19, Cut out busyness

• 18, Keep your peace of mind in mind

Stoic practice: Discipline of Desire & Aversion

• 17, Meditate on others’ virtues

• 16, Contemplate death, and how to live

• 15, Remind yourself of impermanence

• 14, Evaluate your goals

• 13, Start practicing minimalism

• 12, Put temptations out of sight

• 11, Moderate at mealtime

• 10, Act the opposite

• 9, Be careful what you call good and bad

• 8, Meditate on nature and the cosmos

• 7, Take a very broad perspective

• 6, Premeditation of future adversity

• 5, Strengthen yourself through minor physical hardship

• 4, Take another’s perspective

• 3, Take an outside view

• 2, Focus on what is completely in your control

• 1, Discover what’s really in your control

• Practice like a Stoic: Introduction