Stoic Ethics: The Basics is now available for preorder!

A new book on Stoic ethics by Christopher Gill and Brittany Polat

I’m delighted to announce that my new book with Chris Gill, Stoic Ethics: The Basics, is now available for preorder! You can preorder it on the Routledge website (use code AFLY03 to receive a 20% discount!) or from Amazon or other bookstores. By preordering you will receive the book as soon as it is released on August 26.

Stoic Ethics is part of Routledge’s The Basics series of “accessible guidebooks which provide an overview of the fundamental principles of a subject area in a jargon-free and undaunting format.” That is exactly what Chris and I aim to do in this book. With the growing popularity of Stoicism in popular culture, we saw a need to bring an academically authoritative version of Stoic ethics to a wider audience. Many of you are already familiar with Chris’s vast body of scholarly work on Stoicism, as well as his role in founding and leading Modern Stoicism. He very kindly invited me to collaborate with him in crafting a work that makes scholarly ideas accessible to a wider audience. We hope our book will be a useful reference for the many people who now rely on Stoicism to live a good life.

Here is a brief description of the book:

At a time of unprecedented interest in Stoicism, this book offers a comprehensive introduction to Stoic ethics for students and for readers interested in Stoic life-guidance. It combines an explanation of the main philosophical ideas in ancient Stoic ethics by Christopher Gill with discussion of how to put these ideas into practice in our own lives by Brittany Polat.

The first seven chapters examine central Stoic ethical claims and the questions raised by their claims, including:

Why does our happiness in life depend solely on virtue?

Is ethics grounded on nature; and, if so, does this mean human nature or the natural world?

What is the connection between gaining ethical understanding and relating properly to other people?

What counts as right action and how do we learn to make good decisions?

What is the proper place of emotion in the good life?

The two final chapters discuss the significance of these Stoic ideas for modern thought, especially for virtue ethics and environmental ethics, and the Stoic contribution to guidance on living.

Chris and I worked very hard to make Stoic Ethics accessible and relevant to everyday life, while also accurately and thoroughly representing the most important aspects of Stoic ethical theory. At around 150 pages for the main text, it’s a very concise overview of the most significant points you need to know about Stoic ethics. There is also a glossary at the end (so you can easily look up all the confusing Greek terms) and suggestions for further reading (for those eager to chase up the scholarly sources and read in more depth).

Overall, I think Stoic Ethics: The Basics will help clear up some of the misconceptions that swirl around Stoic ethics and answer many of the questions that both new and experienced practitioners may have. If you’ve ever wondered why Stoicism is centered around virtue, or what living according to nature really means, or how to make good decisions as a Stoic, or why Epictetus says we should whisper that our loved ones will die, then you will probably find value in this book.

If you’d like to know more about the book or our writing process, feel free to leave a comment below. Otherwise, please consider ordering a copy and sharing this email with others who may be interested!

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