Learn at Your Own Pace
Courses
Self-paced introductions to Stoic philosophy, and a way into the Society’s reading groups.
Our courses are a benefit of membership. They are self-paced and free to members, whether you are meeting Stoicism for the first time or returning to it after some years away. Each one moves in short, manageable steps, with a little reading and a brief quiz to help the ideas settle.
They are also a gentle on-ramp. Once the groundwork is in place, you are well prepared for the Society’s reading groups, where we read the Stoic texts themselves, slowly and in good company.
We recommend working through the courses in order: begin with An Introduction to Stoicism, then The Lectures of Musonius Rufus, then The Enchiridion of Epictetus, and finally The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius.
Foundations
An Introduction to Stoicism
Six modules · About 90 minutes · Self-paced · Free to members
A short course covering the core of Stoic philosophy, from the origins of the school to putting its ideas into practice today. Each module pairs a clear lesson with a brief quiz, so you can check your understanding as you go. It covers the origins and overview of Stoicism, the dichotomy of control, the virtues and the good, the three disciplines of desire, action, and assent, Stoic practices, and living Stoicism today.
In Development
The Enchiridion of Epictetus
In preparation · About 90 minutes · Self-paced · Free to members
A close reading of Epictetus’s short handbook of Stoic practice. Blunt and practical, the Enchiridion distils the philosophy into working rules for daily life. This course will move through the text in the Robin Hard translation, organised around the three disciplines of desire, action, and assent, and building directly on the foundations laid in the first course.
Coming Soon
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
In preparation · About 90 minutes · Self-paced · Free to members
A close reading of the private notebook of a Roman emperor. Written for no audience but himself, the Meditations show Stoic philosophy worked out in the midst of a difficult life: how to meet adversity, govern the mind, and keep to what matters. This course will move through the work in the Robin Hard translation, drawing out its central themes and setting them alongside the practices introduced in the first course.
Coming Soon
The Lectures of Musonius Rufus
In preparation · About 90 minutes · Self-paced · Free to members
A close reading of the teacher who shaped Epictetus, and through him the whole of the Society’s Stoic curriculum. Direct and unsentimental, the Lectures apply Stoic principle to the full texture of daily life: education, marriage, livelihood, exile, and old age. This course will move through Cora Lutz’s translation of the twenty-one Lectures, grouped thematically and building on the foundations laid in the first course.
Members who would like to do one of the courses can do so for free. Please contact us to request access, indicating the course you would like to do.