FOR OUR MONEY...:

Are there any new books about Stoicism that stand out for you as particularly interesting?

Yes, the past few years have seem quite a number of new entries! I'd start by mentioning Donald Robertson's How to Think Like a Roman Emperor, a philosophical biography of Marcus Aurelius, using key moments in the emperor's life to introduce readers to the principles and practice of Stoicism, updated on the basis of the author's experience as a cognitive behavioural therapist.

Then there is William Irvine's The Stoic Challenge, which uses a crucial tool in Stoicism -- what modern psychologists call the framing effect -- to change the way we think about setbacks. When something happens that is not according to your plans, like, you know, being stuck for months in your house because of a pandemic, reformulate the situation in your mind as a challenge issued to you by the universe. Keep track of how well you respond to the challenge, even using a self-scoring rubric, and when you judge the challenge to be over give yourself a thorough evaluation. There is very good empirical evidence that this actually helps significantly.

A third book I'd like to mention is John Sellars's Lessons in Stoicism, written by one of the foremost scholars in ancient and modern Stoic philosophy. It's short and organized around seven basic and highly useful concepts: the philosopher as doctor, what we control, the problem of emotions, dealing with adversity, our place in nature, life and death, and how to live together.

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