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Massimo Pigliucci

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Born
in Monrovia, Liberia
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Influences

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June 2022

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[NOTE: I do not update here, because GR is owned by Amazon. Please follow me over at TheStoryGraph instead!]

Massimo Pigliucci is an author, blogger, podcaster, as well as the K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York.

His academic work is in evolutionary biology, philosophy of science, the nature of pseudoscience, and practical philosophy. His books include How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life (Basic Books) and Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk (University of Chicago Press).

His new book is How to Be a (Happy) Skeptic: The Power of Doubt in a Meaningful Life (Penguin).

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Massimo Pigliucci There aren't any mysteries in my life, I'm afraid. I'd rather write books than be the subject of one.…moreThere aren't any mysteries in my life, I'm afraid. I'd rather write books than be the subject of one.(less)
Average rating: 3.98 · 21,736 ratings · 2,107 reviews · 80 distinct worksSimilar authors
How to Be a Stoic: Using An...

4.03 avg rating — 15,468 ratings — published 2017 — 49 editions
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A Handbook for New Stoics: ...

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4.05 avg rating — 1,191 ratings — published 2019 — 21 editions
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Nonsense on Stilts: How to ...

3.89 avg rating — 1,238 ratings — published 2008 — 11 editions
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A Field Guide to a Happy Li...

3.75 avg rating — 1,132 ratings — published 2020 — 18 editions
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How to Live a Good Life: Ch...

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Think like a Stoic: Ancient...

4.02 avg rating — 525 ratings3 editions
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Answers for Aristotle: How ...

3.76 avg rating — 354 ratings — published 2012 — 9 editions
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The Quest for Character: Wh...

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Beyond Stoicism

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Philosophy of Pseudoscience...

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More books by Massimo Pigliucci…

Zombie Freud, part I

Freud as a zombie, imagined by Nano Banana.

Mark Solms is a South African neurophysiologist and Freudian psychoanalyst. An odd combination, as we shall see. He has recently published a book boldly entitled The Only Cure: Freud and the Neuroscience of Mental Healing. It is the latest in a long line of attempted rehabilitations, and it has arrived with respectful reviews in The Atlantic (by Scott

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Published on September 15, 2026 03:01

Massimo’s Recent Updates

Massimo Pigliucci wrote a new blog post

Zombie Freud, part I



Freud as a zombie, imagined by Nano Banana.Mark Solms is a South African neurophysiologist and Freudian psychoanalyst. An odd combination, as we shal Read more of this blog post »
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M. L'ora del destino by Antonio Scurati
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How to Think Like Socrates by Donald J. Robertson
" The "amateur philosopher" is clearly an amateur, as well as a reckless, commentator. I read the book before it came out, it ain't AI. ...more "
Massimo Pigliucci rated a book it was amazing
Un Anno sull'Altipiano by Emilio Lussu
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Non sapevo di Emilio Lussu fino a che, poco tempo fa, un amico non me lo ha menzionato. Sono subito andato a leggermi Un Anno sull'Altipiano e l'ho trovato importante e affascinante. Affascinante perché è raro avere resoconti di prima mano sulla prim ...more
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Un Anno sull'Altipiano by Emilio Lussu
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22 Cells in Nuremberg  by Douglas M. Kelley
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This is one book that everyone ought to read, even though it had been out of print for a while before its recent re-release. If you have seen the movie "Nuremberg," starring Rami Malek and Russell Crowe, you have already met the author: US Army psych ...more
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Jainism by Sherry Fohr
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I was perplexed about Jainism before reading this book and my perplexity, if anything, has increased a bit. Setting aside the unusual practices for which the religion is known, especially among "renouncers," that is, monks and nuns who made strict vo ...more
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The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa
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This is a most definitely puzzling novel, and I say this as someone who has read a fair share of Japanese fiction. The story is clearly absurdist, along the kind of disturbing lines one finds in Kafka. Moreover, there is a story-within-the-story that ...more
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Quotes by Massimo Pigliucci  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“If a theory purports to explain everything, then it is likely not explaining much at all.”
Massimo Pigliucci

“Better to endure pain in an honorable manner than to seek joy in a shameful one.”
Massimo Pigliucci, How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life

“[T]he nature of science is not that of a steady, linear progression toward the Truth, but rather a tortuous road, often characterized by dead ends and U-turns, and yet ultimately inching toward a better, if tentative, understanding of the natural world.”
Massimo Pigliucci, Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk

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“We should not be too confident in our belief of anything. (Cicero, Tusculan Disputations I.32)”
Marcus Tullius Cicero

“It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brains fall out.”
Carl Sagan

“UWTB, or the Universal Will to Become. UWTB is what makes universes out of nothingness—that makes nothingness insist on becoming somethingness.”
Kurt Vonnegut Jr., The Sirens of Titan

“I myself don’t know the facts of these matters, but I’ve never met anyone, including the people here today, who could disagree with what I’m saying and still avoid making himself ridiculous.”
Ward Farnsworth, The Socratic Method: A Practitioner's Handbook

“Renouncing the honors at which the world aims, I desire only to know the truth, and to live as well as I can, and, when I die, to die as well as I can. And, to the utmost of my power, I exhort all other men to do the same.”
Ward Farnsworth, The Socratic Method: A Practitioner's Handbook

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