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4.5 · 1,588 Amazon ratings
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How to Be a Stoic
How to Be a Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci Review: A Practical, Philosophically Grounded Modern Guide
How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life by Massimo Pigliucci (Basic Books) is a rigorous yet accessible self-help philosophy book that channels the ancient Stoic tradition — particularly the teachings of Epictetus — into a framework for contemporary living, written by a professional philosopher who brings both academic depth and personal conviction to the subject.
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
General readers who want a philosophically rigorous yet personally grounded entry point into Stoicism as a lived practice, backed by real scholarly credentials rather than self-help approximations.
Worth it if
You want an accessible, structured guide to Stoic ethics and practical techniques — one written by an actual philosopher who has personally road-tested the tradition against contemporary science and secular thought.
Skip if
You're looking for a comprehensive scholarly treatment of Stoic metaphysics or coverage of the tradition's views on sexuality and passion — this book deliberately trades technical depth for accessibility and personal applicability.
What readers & critics say
The Philosophers' Magazine archive calls it "an excellent advertisement to general audiences not only for Stoicism, but also for philosophy in general," praising its application to everyday living. The Washington Independent Review of Books describes it as "highly readable, written in clear and accessible prose, and illuminated with anecdotes of both a personal and an historical nature," noting that many of its points resonate with contemporary concerns.
Sources: The Philosophers' Magazine (archive), Washington Independent Review of Books4.5from 1,588 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
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How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life by Massimo Pigliucci channels the ancient Stoic tradition — centred on the teachings of Epictetus — into a structured, practical guide for contemporary living, written by a credentialed academic philosopher rather than a self-help generalist. The book's great strength is its dismantling of the "cold and emotionally repressive" caricature of Stoicism, replacing it with a humanistic, socially engaged philosophy backed by twelve concrete techniques drawn from Stoic practice. Readers seeking a deep scholarly treatment of Stoic metaphysics or engagement with the tradition's views on sexuality and passion will find the book deliberately selective, but as an accessible, authoritative entry point into Stoic ethics, it stands apart from the crowded self-improvement shelf.
- Is it worth reading?
- For readers curious about Stoicism as a practical philosophy rather than an academic subject, How to Be a Stoic is one of the more credible entry points available — written by Massimo Pigliucci, the K. D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at CUNY, it carries genuine scholarly authority that most popular philosophy titles lack. Donald J. Robertson, author of How to Think Like a Roman Emperor, called it "lucid, engaging, and persuasive" and praised it as "a fine primer for the aspiring Marcus Aurelius." The key caveat is selectivity: certain technical dimensions of Stoic philosophy, and topics such as Stoic views on sexuality and passion, are not addressed, so readers wanting an exhaustive treatment of the tradition will need to look further.
- Similar books
- Readers who enjoy How to Be a Stoic often turn to the primary sources Pigliucci draws on: Marcus Aurelius's Meditations is the most read Stoic text in the canon, and Seneca's Letters from a Stoic offers another accessible entry into the tradition. Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman's The Daily Stoic provides a more devotional, day-by-day format for engaging with Stoic thought. For philosophy made accessible to general readers without a self-help frame, Alain de Botton's The Consolations of Philosophy and Viktor E. Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning both explore how ancient and modern philosophical frameworks can guide a meaningful life.
- Who should read this?
- How to Be a Stoic is best suited to general readers who want philosophy as a practical tool for everyday life and who are willing to engage with some conceptual rigour — it is written by an academic philosopher, not a self-help generalist. It will particularly appeal to readers who are sceptical of purely motivational self-improvement books and want their reading grounded in an actual intellectual tradition. Those already familiar with the ancient texts or looking for an exhaustive scholarly treatment of Stoic metaphysics may find the conversational approach too selective, and readers hoping for discussion of Stoic views on sexuality and passion will need to look elsewhere.
- Does it correct common myths about Stoicism?
- One of the book's most deliberate aims is dismantling the popular image of Stoicism as cold, joyless, and emotionally repressive. As The Philosophers' Magazine noted in its coverage, Stoicism carries a reputation for being "cold and callous" — a caricature Pigliucci pushes back against directly, presenting instead what the same source describes as "a more nuanced interpretation" that affirms friendship, love of relatives, and, in Pigliucci's own words, a philosophy that "was very much a philosophy of social engagement and encouraged love for all humankind and Nature as well." The book is explicit that Stoics are asked to distinguish what they can and cannot govern — not to cultivate emotional numbness.
- Is the author a real philosopher or a self-help writer?
- Pigliucci is unambiguously a credentialed academic philosopher — he holds the K. D. Irani Professor of Philosophy chair at the City College of New York and has authored or edited sixteen books. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Salon, and he has written about philosophy's relevance to everyday life for years, including through his blog "Footnotes to Plato," hosted by The Philosophers' Magazine. The review notes that this pedigree matters: the book is not a self-help writer borrowing philosophical window dressing, but a practising philosopher making an earnest case for a tradition he has personally adopted.
- What does the book leave out?
- The book's conversational, practical focus means certain technical dimensions of Stoic philosophy receive less coverage — readers seeking deep scholarly treatment of Stoic metaphysics or a full survey of the ancient sources may find the treatment deliberately selective. The Philosophers' Magazine specifically noted that Stoic views on sexuality and passion are not addressed, leaving some aspects of the tradition's scope unexplored. What the book offers in their place is a coherent, well-argued entry point into Stoic ethics and practice designed, as the publisher frames it, to demonstrate that "whoever we are, Stoicism has something for us."
Summarize this book
Is it worth reading?
Who should read this?
Does it correct common myths about Stoicism?
Is the author a real philosopher or a self-help writer?
What does the book leave out?
Summarize this book
How to Be a Stoic is structured as an extended imaginary dialogue between Pigliucci and the ancient Stoic philosopher Epictetus, using that conversational device to walk readers through the core principles of Stoic thought — most centrally the distinction between what is and what is not under our control, the concept of virtue (arete) as excellence, and the Stoic commitment to social engagement and love for humankind. The book includes twelve practical techniques drawn from the Stoic tradition, giving it a structured, actionable dimension alongside its philosophical argument. Pigliucci also traces his own intellectual journey to Stoicism, explaining how he found it uniquely consistent with both contemporary science and secular philosophy after being dissatisfied with New Atheism and finding Buddhism too mystical.
Follow up
Why is Epictetus the focus?
What are the twelve techniques about?
Do I need to read the original Stoic texts too?
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Our Review
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A serious philosopher's case for Stoicism as a living practice — not a museum piece — this book makes one of antiquity's most misunderstood traditions genuinely usable for modern readers.
What the Book Actually Is and Does
How to Be a Stoic is a work of popular philosophy structured around an extended imaginary dialogue between the author and the Stoic philosopher Epictetus. Rather than offering a dry academic survey, Pigliucci uses this conversational device — what the Barnes & Noble product page describes as "imaginary conversations with Epictetus" — to walk readers through the core principles of Stoic thought, including the foundational distinction between what is and what is not under our control, the concept of virtue (arete) as excellence and living in accord with reason, and the Stoic commitment to social engagement and love for humankind.
The book also includes twelve practical techniques drawn from the Stoic tradition, making it a structured guide as well as a philosophical argument.
The Author's Credentials and Context
Massimo Pigliucci is the K. D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York, and the author or editor of sixteen books. He has written on philosophy's relevance to everyday life for years, including through his blog "Footnotes to Plato," hosted by The Philosophers' Magazine, and in earlier volumes such as Answers for Aristotle: How Science and Philosophy Can Lead Us to a More Meaningful Life.
His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and Salon. That pedigree matters here: this is not a self-help writer borrowing philosophical window dressing, but a credentialed philosopher making an earnest case for a tradition he has personally adopted.
Pigliucci explains in the book that, having found the New Atheists "downright irritated" him and Buddhism "too mystical," he was drawn to Stoicism as a framework consistent with both contemporary science and secular philosophy.
The Central Argument: A More Nuanced Stoicism
One of the book's most deliberate moves is confronting — and dismantling — the popular image of Stoicism as cold, joyless, and emotionally repressive. As The Philosophers' Magazine observed in its coverage, Stoicism has a reputation for being "cold and callous," given maxims that appear to reduce everything from illness to passion to mere indifferents.
Pigliucci pushes back against that caricature, presenting what the same source describes as "a more nuanced interpretation," one that affirms friendship, love of relatives, and, in his own words, a philosophy that "was very much a philosophy of social engagement and encouraged love for all humankind and Nature as well." The book is explicit that Stoics are asked to take responsibility for their own thoughts and actions — not to cultivate emotional numbness, but to distinguish clearly between what they can and cannot govern.
Reception and Strengths
Critical and peer reception has been strong. Donald J. Robertson, author of How to Think Like a Roman Emperor, called it "a fine primer for the aspiring Marcus Aurelius" and praised the imaginary Epictetus conversations for carrying "the reader effortlessly along while grounding the discussion firmly in the ancient Stoic tradition."
Robertson's full endorsement, published on the Barnes & Noble platform, describes the book as "lucid, engaging, and persuasive" and commends its picture of Stoic life as "both eminently ethical and down-to-earth practical." The framing of the work — grounded in the ancient texts yet connected explicitly to Pigliucci's own life experience — is consistently cited as one of its distinguishing qualities among readers familiar with the genre.
Who This Book Is For — and Where It Has Limits
How to Be a Stoic is aimed at general readers curious about philosophy as a practical tool rather than an academic discipline, and at those who want their self-improvement reading backed by genuine scholarly grounding. Readers seeking a comprehensive scholarly treatment of Stoic metaphysics or a full survey of the ancient sources may find the book's conversational structure and practical focus deliberately selective — depth in certain technical areas is traded for accessibility and personal applicability.
Equally, readers who come to the book looking for engagement with Stoic views on sexuality or passion will find, as The Philosophers' Magazine noted, that those topics are not taken up. What the book offers instead is a coherent, well-argued entry point into Stoic ethics and practice — one designed, as the publisher frames it, to demonstrate that "whoever we are, Stoicism has something for us."
Sources & Further Reading
The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.
- Cited in this review
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- 3
- 4
- Further reading
- 5
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- 7
Washington Independent Review of Books
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Adult
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who it suits
Skip if you want a comprehensive scholarly treatment of Stoic metaphysics or engagement with Stoic views on sexuality and passion.
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