A Life Worth Living

December 23, 2019
Ferraiolo (Meditations on Self-Discipline and Failure), philosophy professor at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, Calif., argues that stoicism can help negotiate most modern ills in this wide-ranging, quirky work. To make the case, he presents the ancient Greek school of thought through the writings and reflections of slave Epictetus and emperor Marcus Aurelius, encouraging readers to take up stoicism as a life plan for peace and tranquility regardless of one’s circumstances. Centered on cultivating virtue and living in harmony with reason—and being indifferent to the twists and turns of pleasure and pain—stoics, Ferraiolo writes, take the world as it comes and do not seek to govern what is not within their power. This, Ferraiolo argues, is the only means of staying sane in a world that is so often out of control. Straightforward, practical, and level-headed (as one might expect from a stoic), Ferraiolo’s counsel is convincing. Most intriguing are his discussions about how stoicism does not require belief in a deity and about suicide being a perfectly moral choice to make in the face of a life not worth living. Unfortunately, the text often wanders off topic, with chapters featuring the author’s musings about, for instance, Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men, multiverse theory, and the “problem of evil.” Despite this, those interested in using philosophy for self-help will enjoy Ferraiolo’s ode to stoicism.