Zeno of Citium

Stoicism (Greek Στωικισμός) is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early 3rd century BC. The Stoics taught that destructive emotions resulted from errors in judgment, and that a sage, or person of "moral and intellectual perfection," would not suffer such emotions.^[1]

Stoics were concerned with the active relationship between cosmic determinism and human freedom, and the belief that it is virtuous to maintain a will (called prohairesis) that is in accord with nature. Because of this, the Stoics presented their philosophy as a way of life, and they thought that the best indication of an individual's philosophy was not what a person said but how he behaved.^[2]

Later Stoics, such as Seneca and Epictetus, emphasized that because "virtue is sufficient for happiness," a sage was immune to misfortune. This belief is similar to the meaning of the phrase "stoic calm", though the phrase does not include the "radical ethical" Stoic views that only a sage can be considered truly free, and that all moral corruptions are equally vicious.^[1]

From its founding, Stoic doctrine was popular with a following throughout Greece and the Roman Empire, including the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, until the closing of all philosophy schools in 529 AD by order of the Emperor Justinian I, who perceived their pagan character as being at odds with the Christian faith.^[3][4]

Basic tenets[link]

The Stoics provided a unified account of the world, consisting of formal logic, non-dualistic physics and naturalistic ethics. Of these, they emphasized ethics as the main focus of human knowledge, though their logical theories were of more interest for later philosophers.

Stoicism teaches the development of self-control and fortitude as a means of overcoming destructive emotions; the philosophy holds that becoming a clear and unbiased thinker allows one to understand the universal reason (logos). A primary aspect of Stoicism involves improving the individual’s ethical and moral well-being: "Virtue consists in a will that is in agreement with Nature."^[6] This principle also applies to the realm of interpersonal relationships; "to be free from anger, envy, and jealousy,"^[7] and to accept even slaves as "equals of other men, because all men alike are products of nature."^[8]

The Stoic ethic espouses a deterministic perspective; in regard to those who lack Stoic virtue, Cleanthes once opined that the wicked man is "like a dog tied to a cart, and compelled to go wherever it goes."^[6] A Stoic of virtue, by contrast, would amend his will to suit the world and remain, in the words of Epictetus, "sick and yet happy, in peril and yet happy, dying and yet happy, in exile and happy, in disgrace and happy,"^[7] thus positing a "completely autonomous" individual will, and at the same time a universe that is "a rigidly deterministic single whole."

Stoicism became the foremost popular philosophy among the educated elite in the Hellenistic world and the Roman Empire,^[9] to the point where, in the words of Gilbert Murray "nearly all the successors of Alexander [...] professed themselves Stoics."^[10]

History[link]

Antisthenes, founder of the Cynic school of philosophy

Beginning at around 301 BC, Zeno taught philosophy at the Stoa Poikile (i.e., "the painted porch"), from which his philosophy got its name.^[11] Unlike the other schools of philosophy, such as the Epicureans, Zeno chose to teach his philosophy in a public space, which was a colonnade overlooking the central gathering place of Athens, the Agora.

Zeno's ideas developed from those of the Cynics, whose founding father, Antisthenes, had been a disciple of Socrates. Zeno's most influential follower was Chrysippus, who was responsible for the molding of what is now called Stoicism. Later Roman Stoics focused on promoting a life in harmony within the universe, over which one has no direct control.

Scholars usually divide the history of Stoicism into three phases:

• Early Stoa, from the founding of the school by Zeno to Antipater.
• Middle Stoa, including Panaetius and Posidonius.
• Late Stoa, including Musonius Rufus, Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius.

As A. A. Long states, no complete work by any Stoic philosopher survives from the first two phases of Stoicism. Only Roman texts from the Late Stoa survive.^[12]

Stoic logic[link]

Propositional logic[link]

Diodorus Cronus, who was one of Zeno's teachers, is considered the philosopher who first introduced and developed an approach to logic now known as propositional logic. This is an approach to logic based on statements or propositions, rather than terms, making it very different from Aristotle's term logic. Later, Chrysippus developed this approach to logic into a system that became known as Stoic logic and included a deductive system (Stoic Syllogistic) which was considered a rival to Aristotle's Syllogistic. New interest in Stoic logic came in the 20th century, when important developments in logic were based on propositional logic. Susanne Bobzien wrote, "The many close similarities between Chrysippus' philosophical logic and that of Gottlob Frege are especially striking."^[13]

Bobzien also notes that "Chrysippus wrote over 300 books on logic, on virtually any topic logic today concerns itself with, including speech act theory, sentence analysis, singular and plural expressions, types of predicates, indexicals, existential propositions, sentential connectives, negations, disjunctions, conditionals, logical consequence, valid argument forms, theory of deduction, propositional logic, modal logic, tense logic, epistemic logic, logic of suppositions, logic of imperatives, ambiguity and logical paradoxes."^[14]

Stoic Categories[link]

The Stoics held that all being (ὄντα) -- though not all things (τινά) -- is corporeal. They accepted the distinction between concrete bodies and abstract ones, but rejected Aristotle's belief that purely incorporeal being exists. Thus, they accepted Anaxagoras' idea (as did Aristotle) that if an object is hot, it is because some part of a universal heat body had entered the object. But, unlike Aristotle, they extended the idea to cover all accidents. Thus if an object is red, it would be because some part of a universal red body had entered the object.

They held that there were four Categories.

substance (ὑποκείμενον)

The primary matter, formless substance, (ousia) that things are made of

quality (ποιόν)

The way matter is organized to form an individual object; in Stoic physics, a physical ingredient (pneuma: air or breath), which informs the matter

somehow disposed (πως ἔχον)

Particular characteristics, not present within the object, such as size, shape, action, and posture

Somehow disposed in relation to something (πρός τί πως ἔχον)

Characteristics related to other phenomena, such as the position of an object within time and space relative to other objects

Epistemology[link]

The Stoics believed that knowledge can be attained through the use of reason. Truth can be distinguished from fallacy; even if, in practice, only an approximation can be made. According to the Stoics, the senses constantly receive sensations: pulsations that pass from objects through the senses to the mind, where they leave an impression in the imagination (phantasia). (An impression arising from the mind was called a phantasma.)^[15]

The mind has the ability to judge (sunkatathesis)—approve or reject—an impression, enabling it to distinguish a true representation of reality from one that is false. Some impressions can be assented to immediately, but others can only achieve varying degrees of hesitant approval, which can be labeled belief or opinion (doxa). It is only through reason that we achieve clear comprehension and conviction (katalepsis). Certain and true knowledge (episteme), achievable by the Stoic sage, can be attained only by verifying the conviction with the expertise of one's peers and the collective judgment of humankind.

Make for yourself a definition or description of the thing which is presented to you, so as to see distinctly what kind of a thing it is in its substance, in its nudity, in its complete entirety, and tell yourself its proper name, and the names of the things of which it has been compounded, and into which it will be resolved. For nothing is so productive of elevation of mind as to be able to examine methodically and truly every object that is presented to you in life, and always to look at things so as to see at the same time what kind of universe this is, and what kind of use everything performs in it, and what value everything has with reference to the whole.

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, iii. 11.

Stoic physics and cosmology[link]

According to the Stoics, the universe is a material, reasoning substance, known as God or Nature, which the Stoics divided into two classes, the active and the passive. The passive substance is matter, which "lies sluggish, a substance ready for any use, but sure to remain unemployed if no one sets it in motion."^[16] The active substance, which can be called Fate, or Universal Reason (Logos), is an intelligent aether or primordial fire, which acts on the passive matter:

The universe itself is god and the universal outpouring of its soul; it is this same world's guiding principle, operating in mind and reason, together with the common nature of things and the totality that embraces all existence; then the foreordained might and necessity of the future; then fire and the principle of aether; then those elements whose natural state is one of flux and transition, such as water, earth, and air; then the sun, the moon, the stars; and the universal existence in which all things are contained.

—Chrysippus, in Cicero, de Natura Deorum, i.

Everything is subject to the laws of Fate, for the Universe acts only according to its own nature, and the nature of the passive matter it governs. The souls of people and animals are emanations from this primordial fire, and are, likewise, subject to Fate:

Constantly regard the universe as one living being, having one substance and one soul; and observe how all things have reference to one perception, the perception of this one living being; and how all things act with one movement; and how all things are the cooperating causes of all things that exist; observe too the continuous spinning of the thread and the structure of the web.

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, iv. 40.

Individual souls are perishable by nature, and can be "transmuted and diffused, assuming a fiery nature by being received into the Seminal Reason (logos spermatikos) of the Universe."^[17] Since right Reason is the foundation of both humanity and the universe, it follows that the goal of life is to live according to Reason, that is, to live a life according to Nature.

Stoic ethics and virtues[link]

The ancient Stoics are often misunderstood because the terms they used pertained to different concepts in the past than they do today. The word 'stoic' has come to mean 'unemotional' or indifferent to pain, because Stoic ethics taught freedom from 'passion' by following 'reason.' The Stoics did not seek to extinguish emotions; rather, they sought to transform them by a resolute 'askēsis' that enables a person to develop clear judgment and inner calm.^[18] Logic, reflection, and concentration were the methods of such self-discipline.

Borrowing from the Cynics, the foundation of Stoic ethics is that good lies in the state of the soul itself; in wisdom and self-control. Stoic ethics stressed the rule: "Follow where reason leads." One must therefore strive to be free of the passions, bearing in mind that the ancient meaning of 'passion' was "anguish" or "suffering",^[19] that is, "passively" reacting to external events—somewhat different from the modern use of the word. A distinction was made between pathos (plural pathe) which is normally translated as passion, propathos or instinctive reaction (e.g., turning pale and trembling when confronted by physical danger) and eupathos, which is the mark of the Stoic sage (sophos). The eupatheia are feelings that result from correct judgment in the same way as passions result from incorrect judgment.

The idea was to be free of suffering through apatheia (Greek: ἀπάθεια) or peace of mind (literally, 'without passion'),^[20] where peace of mind was understood in the ancient sense—being objective or having "clear judgment" and the maintenance of equanimity in the face of life's highs and lows.

For the Stoics, 'reason' meant not only using logic, but also understanding the processes of nature—the logos, or universal reason, inherent in all things. Living according to reason and virtue, they held, is to live in harmony with the divine order of the universe, in recognition of the common reason and essential value of all people. The four cardinal virtues of the Stoic philosophy are wisdom (Sophia), courage (Andreia), justice (Dikaiosyne), and temperance (Sophrosyne), a classification derived from the teachings of Plato.

Following Socrates, the Stoics held that unhappiness and evil are the results of human ignorance of the reason in nature. If someone is unkind, it is because they are unaware of their own universal reason, which leads to the conclusion of kindness. The solution to evil and unhappiness then, is the practice of Stoic philosophy—to examine one's own judgments and behavior and determine where they diverge from the universal reason of nature.

The Stoics accepted that suicide was permissible for the wise person in circumstances that might prevent them from living a virtuous life.^[21] Plutarch held that accepting life under tyranny would have compromised Cato's self-consistency (constantia) as a Stoic and impaired his freedom to make the honorable moral choices.^[22] Suicide could be justified if one fell victim to severe pain or disease,^[21] but otherwise suicide would usually be seen as a rejection of one's social duty.^[23]

The doctrine of "things indifferent"[link]

In philosophical terms, things that are indifferent are outside the application of moral law, that is without tendency to either promote or obstruct moral ends. Actions neither required nor forbidden by the moral law, or that do not affect morality, are called morally indifferent. The doctrine of things indifferent (ἀδιάφορα, adiaphora) arose in the Stoic school as a corollary of its diametric opposition of virtue and vice (καθήκοντα kathekon and ἁμαρτήματα hamartemata, respectively "convenient actions," or actions in accordance with nature, and mistakes). As a result of this dichotomy, a large class of objects were left unassigned and thus regarded as indifferent.

Eventually three sub-classes of "things indifferent" developed: things to prefer because they assist life according to nature; things to avoid because they hinder it; and things indifferent in the narrower sense.

The principle of adiaphora was also common to the Cynics and Sceptics. The conception of things indifferent is, according to Kant, extra-moral^{[citation needed]}. The doctrine of things indifferent was revived during the Renaissance by Philip Melanchthon.

Spiritual exercise[link]

Marcus Aurelius, the Stoic emperor

Philosophy for a Stoic is not just a set of beliefs or ethical claims, it is a way of life involving constant practice and training (or askesis, see asceticism). Stoic philosophical and spiritual practices included logic, Socratic dialog and self-dialog, contemplation of death, training attention to remain in the present moment (similar to some forms of Eastern meditation), daily reflection on everyday problems and possible solutions, hypomnemata, and so on. Philosophy for a Stoic is an active process of constant practice and self-reminder.

In his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius defines several such practices. For example, in Book II, part 1:

Say to yourself in the early morning: I shall meet today ungrateful, violent, treacherous, envious, uncharitable men. All of these things have come upon them through ignorance of real good and ill... I can neither be harmed by any of them, for no man will involve me in wrong, nor can I be angry with my kinsman or hate him; for we have come into the world to work together...

Prior to Aurelius, Epictetus in his Discourses distinguished between three topoi: judgment, desire and inclination.^[24] According to French philosopher Pierre Hadot, Epictetus identifies these three acts with logic, physics and ethics respectively.^[25] Hadot writes that in the Meditations "Each maxim develops either one of these very characteristic topoi, or two of them or three of them."^[26]

The practices of spiritual exercises have been described as influencing those of reflective practice by Seamus Mac Suibhne .^[27] Parallels between Stoic spiritual exercises and modern cognitive-behavioral therapy have been detailed at length in Robertson's The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.^[28]

Social philosophy[link]

A distinctive feature of Stoicism is its cosmopolitanism: All people are manifestations of the one universal spirit and should, according to the Stoics, live in brotherly love and readily help one another. In the Discourses, Epictetus comments on man's relationship with the world: "Each human being is primarily a citizen of his own commonwealth; but he is also a member of the great city of gods and men, where of the city political is only a copy."^[29] This sentiment echoes that of Diogenes of Sinope, who said "I am not an Athenian or a Corinthian, but a citizen of the world."^[30]

They held that external differences such as rank and wealth are of no importance in social relationships. Instead they advocated the brotherhood of humanity and the natural equality of all human beings. Stoicism became the most influential school of the Greco–Roman world, and produced a number of remarkable writers and personalities, such as Cato the Younger and Epictetus.

In particular, they were noted for their urging of clemency toward slaves. Seneca exhorted, "Kindly remember that he whom you call your slave sprang from the same stock, is smiled upon by the same skies, and on equal terms with yourself breathes, lives, and dies."^[31]

Stoicism and Christianity[link]

The major difference between the two philosophies is Stoicism's pantheism where God is never fully transcendent but always immanent. God as the world-creating entity is personalized in Christian thought, but Stoicism equates God with the totality of the universe; the Stoic idea that all being is corporeal was deeply contrary to Christianity. Also, Stoicism, unlike Christianity, does not posit a beginning or end to the universe, nor does it assert that the individual continues to exist beyond death.^[32]

Stoicism was later regarded by the Fathers of the Church as a 'pagan philosophy',^[3][4] nonetheless, some of the central philosophical concepts of Stoicism were employed by the early Christian writers. Examples include the terms "logos", "virtue", "Spirit", and "conscience".^[32] But the parallels go well beyond the sharing (or borrowing) of terminology. Both Stoicism and Christianity assert an inner freedom in the face of the external world, a belief in human kinship with Nature (or God), and a sense of the innate depravity—or "persistent evil"—of humankind^[32] as well as the futility and temporarity of worldly possessions and attachments. Both encourage Ascesis with respect to the passions and inferior emotions (viz. lust, envy and anger) so that the higher possibilities of one's humanity can be awakened and developed.

Stoic writings such as the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius have been highly regarded by many Christians throughout the centuries. The Stoic ideal of dispassion is accepted to this day as the perfect moral state by the Eastern Orthodox. St. Ambrose of Milan was known for applying Stoic philosophy to his theology.

Modern usage[link]

The word "stoic" commonly refers to someone indifferent to pain, pleasure, grief, or joy. The modern usage as "person who represses feelings or endures patiently" was first cited in 1579 as a noun, and 1596 as an adjective.^[33] In contrast to the term "epicurean", the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's entry on Stoicism notes, "the sense of the English adjective ‘stoical’ is not utterly misleading with regard to its philosophical origins."^[34]

Stoic quotations[link]

Below are some quotations from major Stoic philosophers, selected to illustrate common Stoic beliefs:

Epictetus:

• "Freedom is secured not by the fulfilling of men's desires, but by the removal of desire." (iv.1.175)
• "Where is the good? In the will. Where is the evil? In the will. Where is neither of them? In those things that are independent of the will." (ii.16.1)
• "Man is disturbed not by things, but by the views he takes of them." (Ench. 5)
• "If, therefore, any be unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone." (iii.24.2)
• "I am formed by nature for my own good: I am not formed for my own evil." (iii.24.83)
• "Permit nothing to cleave to you that is not your own; nothing to grow to you that may give you agony when it is torn away." (iv.1.112)

Marcus Aurelius:

• "Get rid of the judgment, get rid of the 'I am hurt,' you are rid of the hurt itself." (viii.40)
• "Everything is right for me that is right for you, O Universe. Nothing for me is too early or too late that comes in due time for you. Everything is fruit to me that your seasons bring, O Nature. From you are all things, in you are all things, to you all things return." (iv.23)
• "If you work at that which is before you, following right reason seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract you, but keeping your divine part pure, as if you were bound to give it back immediately; if you hold to this, expecting nothing, but satisfied to live now according to nature, speaking heroic truth in every word that you utter, you will live happy. And there is no man able to prevent this." (iii.12)
• "How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything that happens in life!" (xii.13)
• "Outward things cannot touch the soul, not in the least degree; nor have they admission to the soul, nor can they turn or move the soul; but the soul turns and moves itself alone." (v 19)
• "Because your own strength is unequal to the task, do not assume that it is beyond the powers of man; but if anything is within the powers and province of man, believe that it is within your own compass also" (vi.19)
• "Or is it your reputation that's bothering you? But look at how soon we're all forgotten. The abyss of endless time that swallows it all. The emptiness of those applauding hands." (iv.3)

Seneca the Younger:

• "The point is, not how long you live, but how nobly you live." (Ep. 101.15)
• "That which Fortune has not given, she cannot take away." (Ep. 59.18)
• "Let Nature deal with matter, which is her own, as she pleases; let us be cheerful and brave in the face of everything, reflecting that it is nothing of our own that perishes." (De Provid. v.8)
• "Virtue is nothing else than right reason." (Ep. 66.32)

Stoic philosophers[link]

• Zeno of Citium (332–262 BC), founder of Stoicism and the Stoic Academy (Stoa) in Athens
• Aristo of Chios, pupil of Zeno;
• Herillus of Carthage
• Cleanthes (of Assos) (330–232 BC), second head of Stoic Academy
• Chrysippus (280–204 BC), third head of the academy
• Diogenes of Babylon (230–150 BC)
• Antipater of Tarsus (210–129 BC)
• Panaetius of Rhodes (185–109 BC)
• Posidonius of Apameia (c. 135 BC – 51 BC)
• Diodotus (c. 120 BC – 59 BC), teacher of Cicero
• Cato the Younger (94–46 BC)
• Seneca (4 BC – 65 AD)
• Musonius Rufus
• Rubellius Plautus
• Thrasea Paetus
• Epictetus (55–135 AD)
• Hierocles (2nd century AD)
• Marcus Aurelius (121–180 AD)

See also[link]

• Glossary of Stoic terms
• Megarian school
• Pneuma
• Ekpyrotic (cosmological theory)
• Plank of Carneades
• Categories (Stoic)
• List of ancient Greek philosophers
• Stoic Natural Law

References[link]

Further reading[link]

Primary sources[link]

• A. A. Long and D. N. Sedley, The Hellenistic Philosophers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
• Inwood, Brad & Gerson LLoyd P. (eds.) The Stoics Reader: Selected Writings and Testimonia Indianapolis: Hackett 2008.
• Long, George Enchiridion by Epictetus, Prometheus Books, Reprint Edition, January 1955.
• Gill C. Epictetus, The Discourses, Everyman 1995.
• Hadas, Moses (ed.), Essential Works of Stoicism (1961: Bantam)
• Harvard University Press Epictetus Discourses Books 1 and 2, Loeb Classical Library Nr. 131, June 1925.
• Harvard University Press Epictetus Discourses Books 3 and 4, Loeb Classical Library Nr. 218, June 1928.
• Long, George, Discourses of Epictetus, Kessinger Publishing, January 2004.
• Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (transl. Robin Campbell), Letters from a Stoic: Epistulae Morales Ad Lucilium (1969, reprint 2004) ISBN 0-14-044210-3
• Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Meditations, translated by Maxwell Staniforth; ISBN 0-14-044140-9, or translated by Gregory Hays; ISBN 0-679-64260-9.
• Oates, Whitney Jennings, The Stoic and Epicurean philosophers, The Complete Extant Writings of Epicurus, Epictetus, Lucretius and Marcus Aurelius, Random House, 9th printing 1940.

Studies[link]

• Bakalis, Nikolaos, Handbook of Greek Philosophy: From Thales to the Stoics. Analysis and Fragments, Trafford Publishing, May 2005, ISBN 1-4120-4843-5
• Becker, Lawrence C., A New Stoicism (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998) ISBN 0-691-01660-7
• Brennan, Tad, The Stoic Life (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005; paperback 2006)
• Brooke, Christopher. Philosophic Pride: Stoicism and Political Thought from Lipsius to Rousseau (Princeton UP, 2012) excerpts
• Inwood, Brad (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to The Stoics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003)
• Irvine, William, A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008) ISBN 978-0-19-537461-2
• Long, A. A., Stoic Studies (Cambridge University Press, 1996; repr. University of California Press, 2001) ISBN 0-520-22974-6
• Robertson, Donald, The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: Stoicism as Rational and Cognitive Psychotherapy (London: Karnac, 2010) ISBN 978-1-85575-756-1
• Sellars, John, Stoicism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006) ISBN 1-84465-053-7
• Stephens. William O., Stoic Ethics: Epictetus and Happiness as Freedom (London: Continuum, 2007) ISBN 0-8264-9608-3
• Strange, Steven (ed.), Stoicism: Traditions and Transformations (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2004) ISBN 0-521-82709-4
• Zeller, Eduard; Reichel, Oswald J., The Stoics, Epicureans and Sceptics, Longmans, Green, and Co., 1892

External links[link]

• Stoicism entry by Dirk Baltzly in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Stoicism entry in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Stoic Philosophy of Mind Stoicism entry in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• The Stoic Library
• The Rebirth of Stoicism
• Stoic Logic: The Dialectic from Zeno to Chrysippus
• Annotated Bibliography on Ancient Stoic Dialectic
• BBC Radio 4's In Our Time programme on Stoicism (requires RealAudio)
• An introduction to Stoic Philosophy

Tim Ferriss
Born	(1977-07-20) July 20, 1977 (age 34) East Hampton, NY
Occupation	Writer
Alma mater	Princeton University
Genres	Nonfiction
Notable work(s)	The 4-Hour Workweek The 4-Hour Body

Timothy Ferriss (born July 20, 1977) is an American author, entrepreneur, and public speaker.^[1] In 2007, he published The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, which was a New York Times and USA Today bestseller.^[2][3] In 2010, he followed up with The 4-Hour Body. Ferriss' third book, The 4-Hour Chef, was announced in 2011.^[4]

Early life[link]

Ferriss grew up in East Hampton, NY and graduated from St. Paul's School. He received a degree in East Asian Studies from Princeton University in 2000.^[5]

Career[link]

In 2001, at the age of 23, Ferriss founded BrainQUICKEN, a San Jose-based online company that sold sports nutrition supplements.^[6][7] He sold the company to a London-based private equity firm.^[8] He also claims to be a full-time angel investor^[9] who has invested in DailyBurn (formerly Gyminee),^[10] Twitter, Posterous, Reputation Defender, Foodzie, Badongo, RescueTime, and SimpleGeo.^{[citation needed]}

He claims to have acted as an advisor to StumbleUpon and Shopify^[9] in exchange for equity, according to his interviews with Kevin Rose.^{[citation needed]}

He holds the Guinness Book of World Records' record for the most consecutive tango-spins in one minute.^[11] Ferriss and his dance partner Alicia Monti set the record live on the show Live with Regis and Kelly.^[12] Prior to his writing career, Ferriss claimed that he became the national champion in the 1999 USAWKF Sanshou (Chinese kickboxing) championship through a process of shoving opponents out of the ring and by starving himself before weign in to compete several classes below his actual weight, although this has never been verified and no public record of this event exists.^[13]In fact, the news and results section of the 1999 USAWKK webpage reveals no mention at all of Tim Ferriss competing in any of their tournaments.^[14] Likewise, an extensive archive of results in a variety of Chinese kickboxing disciplines, dating from 1999 to present, reveals no mention of Tim Ferriss.^[15] In 2008, he won Wired Magazine's "Greatest Self-Promoter of All Time" prize^[16] and was named one of Fast Company's "Most Innovative Business People of 2007".^[17] Ferriss has also spoken at the EG Conference.^[18]

His show Trial By Fire aired on the History Channel in December 2008. In the show, Ferriss had one week to attempt to learn a skill normally learned over the course of many years, and in the pilot episode he practiced yabusame, the Japanese art of horse archery.^[19] The show was canceled due to low ratings.

The Aspen Institute named Ferriss a 2009 Henry Crown Fellow in March 2009.^[20]

Productivity and teachings[link]

Ferriss is known for his application of both the Pareto principle and Parkinson's Law to business and personal life.^[21] He has also taken the position that technology such as email, instant messaging and internet-enabled PDAs complicate life rather than simplify it.^[22][23] His teachings fit under the umbrella of what he calls "lifestyle design", in which he promotes "mini-retirements" as an alternative to the "deferred-life" career path where one would work a 9 to 5 job until retirement in one's 60s.^[24][25] This involves breaking what he calls "outdated assumptions" and finding ways to be more effective so that work takes up less of people's time.^[24]

[edit] The 4-Hour Workweek

In April 2007, Random House released his book The 4-Hour Workweek through its Crown imprint. The book warns against information overload, recommends what Ferriss calls "selective ignorance" and coins the phrase "lifestyle design".^[25] He also advocated hiring virtual assistants from developing countries such as India.^[25]

Before the release of the 4HWW, Ferriss was an unknown.^[26] He marketed the book heavily through bloggers with whom he created personal relationships.^[26][27] He has since been praised for this technique.^[26][28] The book eventually hit number 1 on both the New York Times bestseller list and the Wall Street Journal bestseller list. On December 15, 2009, The Four-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated was released by Random House with several more case studies of people who have utilized Ferriss' methods.

The book also spawned a blog run by Ferriss, which shares the same name but covers many topics. It remains in the Top 1000 on Technorati.^[29] Ferriss stated, in a Fast Company interview, that 4HWW is read by many of the "top tech CEOs in the world".^[30] His blog has since become publishing clearing house for many notable entrepreneurs, bestselling authors and thinkers including Chip Conley, Neil Strauss, Tucker Max, Ramit Sethi, Ryan Holiday, Noah Kagan of AppSumo, Chase Jarvis and others.^[31] The resulting influence from such posts on book sales and other metrics has been dubbed the "Tim Ferriss effect."^[32]

[edit] The 4-Hour Body

On December 14, 2010, Ferriss' second book, The 4-Hour Body, was published by Crown Archetype. The book reached the #1 position in the New York Times Hardcover Advice & Misc. list that week.^[33] It also appeared on the Dr. Oz TV show.^[34]

The book, while commercially successful due to Ferriss' innovative marketing and his enlistment of his blog readers in a successful effort to manipulate the book's rating on Amazon, was not as well received by some critics.^{[citation needed]} In a rare New York Times review of a self-help book, Dwight Garner wrote, "'The 4-Hour Body' reads as if The New England Journal of Medicine had been hijacked by the editors of the SkyMall catalog."^[35]

Ferriss has acknowledged using steroids—including testosterone cypionate, testosterone enanthate, Sustanon 250, and human growth hormone (HGH)—under medical supervision during his recovery from shoulder surgery.^[36]

[edit] The 4-Hour Chef

Ferriss' third book, The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life, is set for publication by Amazon in 2012.^[37] Ferriss intends the book to be as much about "the skill of learning skills" as cooking food.^[38]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Timothy Ferriss

• Tim Ferriss Blog
• Problogger Interview: with Tim Ferriss
• Former desk slave Tim Ferriss on why you only need to work a four-hour week from The Independent
• Tim Ferriss: The Clock Watcher from The Daily Telegraph
• Tim Ferriss on YouTube
• Better, Faster, Stronger from The New Yorker

Rick Roderick (1949–2002) was an American professor of philosophy, best known for his lectures for The Teaching Company.

Life[link]

Roderick was born in Abilene, Texas, son of (by his own description^[1]) a "con-man" and a "beautician". He was a teacher of philosophy at several universities, where he was much revered by many students for a socratic style of teaching combined with a brash and often humorous approach. His breakthrough into wider circles came with his engagement with The Teaching Company where he recorded several memorable lecture series. Rick Roderick died in 2002 from a congestive heart condition.

Academic career[link]

Roderick first studied communication (self-admittedly in order to focus on anti-establishment student and anti-war activities^[2]), but moved after a few years towards philosophy. He received his B.A. at the University of Texas at Austin, did post-graduate work at Baylor University and finally earned his Ph.D. at the University of Texas.

Since 1977, Professor Roderick taught at Baylor University, the University of Texas, Duke University and National University in Los Angeles. He was the recipient of the Oldright Fellowship at the University of Texas and served as associate editor to The Pawn Review and Current Perspectives in Social Theory. Dr. Roderick was the editor of the Baylor Philosophy Journal and a member of the Phi Sigma Tau National Honor Society of Philosophy. He presented more than 25 papers, and published 13 reviews and literary criticisms, as well as numerous articles in professional journals.

Roderick was the author of the book Habermas and the Foundations of Critical Theory (1986), which has been translated to German as: Habermas und das Problem der Rationalität. Eine Werkmonographie (1989).

Selected publications[link]

• 1986, Habermas and the foundations of critical theory, Macmillan, 194 pages. ISBN 0-333-39655-3
• 1986, Rick Roderick - Reading Derrida Politically (Contra Rorty), PRAXIS International, issue: 4 / 1986

The Teaching Company series[link]

• "Philosophy and Human Values", 1990
• "Nietzsche and the Post-Modern Condition", 1991
• "Self Under Siege - Philosophy in the 20th Century", 1993
• "Mill on Liberty", guest lecture from "The Great Minds of Western Intellectual Tradition" (1st ed), Part IV, Philosophy in the Epoch of Ideology, 2000

See also[link]

• American philosophy
• List of American philosophers

References[link]

External links[link]

• http://rickroderick.org - Video clips and transcripts
• Download Rick Roderick lecture series in video and audio format
• What happened to Rick Roderick?: The Bill Hicks of Philosophy – lectures and other material can be found here
• Rick Roderick's page at The Teaching Company