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Path of the Sage: Stoic Philosophy Challenged & Restored
The Path of the Sage is four books, cobbled together, that chronicle four periods in Erik Wiegardt's progress on the path of the sage, the Stoic sage. The author is a Stoic, and he, along with many others, is on a path of exploration and discovery of what it means to be a Stoic in the early 21st century.
Wiegardt began his work in this field in 1994 when after a series of professional failures he systematically began studying Stoic philosophy in his spare time at the library of a nearby university. Erik was unemployed at the time and had a lot of spare time. This was not the result of an idle curiosity; it was an urgent search for meaning in his life.
These four books were written during four different periods of Erik Wiegardt's personal search for meaning. The first he wrote in 1996 in an attempt to understand more about Stoicism than what he had read in the work of the Roman Stoics—Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. Erik wanted the nuts and bolts, the foundation and traditions of Stoic philosophy, and he wanted it to be written in layman's terms.
Then, not long after Wiegardt began to understand the fundamentals of Stoicism, he began to doubt them. Erik was still the director of a website dedicated to Stoic philosophy, but he doubted what he was doing. That's when the author became a Pyrrhonean Skeptic. While he was doubting everything, Wiegardt read extensively, took notes, and the result was the Book of Doubt. Eventually, he called himself a Pyrrhonean Stoic, and he rationalized this oxymoron by saying that our familiar world may or may not be what it appears to be, but, if it is, then he follows the Stoa.
Even today, after leaving skepticism behind, Erik Wiegardt is still open to the possibility that we know nothing. However, the author does have personal experience in the value of Stoic philosophy as a corrective for his life, and rationally it makes more sense to him than any other philosophy he has encountered. And so, with experience and reason he made a conscious choice to be a Stoic.
Once Erik could make that decision, he was able to return to Stoic philosophy, comfortably walking in the middle of the path, and this time he was ready to reduce what he had studied to its barest essentials. That's when the author wrote the 32 Principal Doctrines of the Stoa, Book Three. Erik had never seen any effort to codify Stoicism in this way, to simply lay it all out from start to finish with little more than succinct, descriptive prose organized under general headings and sub-headings, and he decided it was time someone did.
Several years passed, and Wiegardt began to grow weary of all this left brain work—the analysis and never-ending deep thoughts. He just got tired of it, and that's when he decided it was time to investigate some of the early practices of our philosophy. That's when Erik wrote the fourth book on the path, Beyond Theory.
Fortunately, the Path of the Sage is not the only good book on Stoicism today. Stoic philosophy is currently enjoying a remarkable renaissance, and many amateur and professional intellectuals are promoting this great wisdom. Read this book. If you do, then you will know if you are a Stoic.
Erik Wiegardt is the founder of the Internet Stoic community, New Stoa (www.newstoa.com), and the founder and Scholarch of College of Stoic Philosophers (www.stoicscollege.com).
Wiegardt began his work in this field in 1994 when after a series of professional failures he systematically began studying Stoic philosophy in his spare time at the library of a nearby university. Erik was unemployed at the time and had a lot of spare time. This was not the result of an idle curiosity; it was an urgent search for meaning in his life.
These four books were written during four different periods of Erik Wiegardt's personal search for meaning. The first he wrote in 1996 in an attempt to understand more about Stoicism than what he had read in the work of the Roman Stoics—Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. Erik wanted the nuts and bolts, the foundation and traditions of Stoic philosophy, and he wanted it to be written in layman's terms.
Then, not long after Wiegardt began to understand the fundamentals of Stoicism, he began to doubt them. Erik was still the director of a website dedicated to Stoic philosophy, but he doubted what he was doing. That's when the author became a Pyrrhonean Skeptic. While he was doubting everything, Wiegardt read extensively, took notes, and the result was the Book of Doubt. Eventually, he called himself a Pyrrhonean Stoic, and he rationalized this oxymoron by saying that our familiar world may or may not be what it appears to be, but, if it is, then he follows the Stoa.
Even today, after leaving skepticism behind, Erik Wiegardt is still open to the possibility that we know nothing. However, the author does have personal experience in the value of Stoic philosophy as a corrective for his life, and rationally it makes more sense to him than any other philosophy he has encountered. And so, with experience and reason he made a conscious choice to be a Stoic.
Once Erik could make that decision, he was able to return to Stoic philosophy, comfortably walking in the middle of the path, and this time he was ready to reduce what he had studied to its barest essentials. That's when the author wrote the 32 Principal Doctrines of the Stoa, Book Three. Erik had never seen any effort to codify Stoicism in this way, to simply lay it all out from start to finish with little more than succinct, descriptive prose organized under general headings and sub-headings, and he decided it was time someone did.
Several years passed, and Wiegardt began to grow weary of all this left brain work—the analysis and never-ending deep thoughts. He just got tired of it, and that's when he decided it was time to investigate some of the early practices of our philosophy. That's when Erik wrote the fourth book on the path, Beyond Theory.
Fortunately, the Path of the Sage is not the only good book on Stoicism today. Stoic philosophy is currently enjoying a remarkable renaissance, and many amateur and professional intellectuals are promoting this great wisdom. Read this book. If you do, then you will know if you are a Stoic.
Erik Wiegardt is the founder of the Internet Stoic community, New Stoa (www.newstoa.com), and the founder and Scholarch of College of Stoic Philosophers (www.stoicscollege.com).
248 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 25, 2014
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