William B Irvine

The author of this book on insults is a philosophy professor who became interested in the subject of insults and how people react to them thanks to contemplating the Stoic philosophers' opinions on the matter. And... Well, he may be able to speak with authority about Stoic philosophers, to whom he devotes one chapter near the end, but the rest of his thoughts on the matter read like the not-very-insightful ramblings of Just Some Guy, but presented with the tone of a college lecture. Which is show more not a good combination.

Worse, the guy in question comes across as having a very limited and self-centered perspective on things. The examples he offers of insults and responses to them often seem positively weird to me, and his descriptions of how "we" have a natural urge to insult people and to take glee in backbiting and so on seem to say a lot more about him personally than they do about anyone else. He talks a lot about insults as group-bonding banter, because that's apparently how he and his buddies like to interact, and a lot about insults as a sort of social hierarchy game, but seems never to spare a moment's thought for how insults can be used to genuinely abuse, manipulate, oppress, or threaten, probably because he's never been the target of that himself and so doesn't need to care about it. Which is worrying, because it seems to me that a lot of his thoughts about how we ought to respond to insults, while they might be fine for dealing with harmless hecklers, could well be dangerous or damaging for people who are on the receiving end of such things.

Irvine also has some cringe-inducingly shallow thoughts about "political correctness" -- and, yes, he does unironically use that term -- and his discussion of hate speech is positively dripping with a viscous, oozing layer of condescending white guy cluelessness. People today are too thin-skinned! Just don't let stuff get to you, and you won't have a problem! Ugh. Although I will say that it's actually kind of refreshing, after a couple of decades of the Boomers and the Millennials hurling insults at each other and completely ignoring our existence, to actually see someone trotting out the once-familiar canard about how my generation is narcissistic and rude because we were all given participation trophies when we were kids. Still makes me want to roll my eyes, though.

Honestly, the only really good thing about this book was that it quotes a lot of genuinely witty historical zingers, and at least those were fun to read.

You know, ordinarily, I'd feel a bit bad about writing this thoroughly negative of a review. But this guy clearly likes being able to pat himself on the back for how great he is at taking an insult, so, hey, I'm just giving him one more possible opportunity, right? show less

Античната философия на стоицизма прави това, oт което съвременната философия отдавна се е отказала (за съжаление, за сметка на дървеното философстване) - да ни даде насоки как да живеем добър, щастлив и смислен живот.

Обсесията на съвременния свят по чувствата и show more изразяването им на всяка цена си има... цена и тая цена е нарцисизъм, истерия, депресия и тревожност в невиждани размери. Европа не е САЩ, но влиянието на тяхната култура на ходене на психоаналитици цял живот, терапии за всяко нещо и насърчаване за неспирни разговори, анализиране и споделяне на всякакви чувства и мисли навлиза все повече и тук.

Не, "себеизразяването" не е най-важното нещо на света, не, не можеш да "намериш себе си" като нарцистично се взираш в собствените си мисли и чувства и не, "бъди себе си" не е добър съвет. Всъщност е доста лош съвет защото повечето хора са гъзове и е по-добре да се опитват да бъдат нещо по-добро, отколкото безкритично да се опиват от прелестта на "това, което са".

Но алтернатива на тая лигава лудост има. Като цяло всички световни религии и традиционни философии за живот - от християнство до будизъм - са единодушни, че за щастлив и пълноценен живот е нужно точно обратното на това, което твърди съвременната психология - не поддаване на чувствата, а подчиняването им и намаляване на тяхното влияние върху нас.

От еволюционна гледна точка това е повече от очевидно - нашите инстинкти, създадени да ни държат живи в палеолитната савана не са най-добрия съветник в съвременното общество. Емоциите предхождат дори човешкия вид и осланянето главно на тях днес няма как да е добра идея.

Никой не описва този начин на мислене така пълно, както философската школа на Стоицизма - която също така дава и полезни съвети за прилагането му на практика.

"A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy" прави преглед на стоическата философия и начин на мислене, на най-значимите стоици и тяхното виждане относно това как да изградим собствена философия за живота като начин да го живеем щастливо и смислено. show less

I found this book so useful that I stopped reading my library copy and purchased one of my own so I could start over and annotate in the margins throughout. Irvine went all-in on creating a practical guide to living as a stoic in our modern world. After a brief overview of stoicism’s roots in ancient Greece and Rome, he relies on the four most prominent Stoics as the basis for his philosophical guide. In general, he remains true to their writings rather than inventing his own version. The show more one place he does add some interpretation of his own is to reconcile their basis in the Gods as the source by replacing it with a more modern perspective grounded in evolutionary biology. This book is a compelling case for practicing Stoicism - if the reader’s primary goal is tranquility. That’s the one question I left from the book still pondering. show less

If you had gone to Epictetus and said, “I want to live a good life. What should I do?” he would have had an answer for you: “Live in accordance with nature.”

Ever since I heard William B. Irvine on the "Waking Up" app (as it turns out reciting some paragraphs from the book in question), I've grown to wonder about the "Stoic tools" he mentioned. To me, they sounded not so much "not Stoic" but more so slightly redundant to the point of there being barely any use in sticking "Stoicism" show more label to them to make them shimmer fancy. After all, it's nothing new to hear "things could've been worse" or "all is in your hands" - if we are to thank Stoicism for those clichés, be so.

However, there is something about the fact that regardless of how well-conditioned we are to say such things, they don't quite click. After all, we are more used to repeating them than living by them.

Unlike small talks, which handed me each tool at a time, this book provided a kit to put those tools into and a framework. Each tool - be it negative visualisation, trichotomy of control, self-deprecating humour - found its screws and nails in rich-enough context, with repetition legitamasing. Quotes by Stoics such as Seneca and Epectitus, as well as a neat guide through the history of Stoicism, were a much welcome addition to an overall strategic (self-helpy) structure of the book.

This book is not extremely persuasive - and that's exactly what turns it into a pleasant read.

What, if not impressive, then at the very least commendable is that the author, though sharing his personal journey with Stoicism and the kind of effect it had on his overall well-being (which was, thankfully, only sprinkled in the book itself and was served as a desert by the end of it), underlined "the benefit of the doubt". You don't think that Stoicism suits you? Well, you might be right. There is no "the only way", with many other apart from Stoicism to explore in pursuit of one goal - a philosophy of life.
Even the author himself questions whether he won't look back a couple of years after at his "Stoic phase" in dismay.

The author does a great job presenting a somewhat neo, modern-age Stoicism, with evolution instead of Zeus and no suggestions to go outside barefoot or live in barrels.

Coming from personal experience, I assume this book might be helpful for those working consciously through their anxiety-related issues (especially when it comes to formulating narratives) and those willing to challenge their pessimistic inclinations - this book calibrates pessimism to be more realistic, with positive things not being swept under the rug as well. Though it primarily focuses on moderation and appreciation of what one already has, it provides a basis to seek happiness in it - happiness which may remain undiscovered until consciously awakened and assessed. show less