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Stoicism and Its Legacies
June 11, 2022 @ 9:00 am - 12:30 pm
A Distinguished Scholar Half-Day Seminar featuring Michael Vazquez, Teaching Assistant Professor and Director of Outreach, Philosophy Department
The philosophical and ethical themes of ancient Stoic thinkers have attracted renewed attention in recent decades as people struggle to cope with public events that are far beyond anyone’s personal control. Global economic systems, vast governmental structures, polarizing political conflicts, disruptive pandemics, senseless wars, and huge institutional bureaucracies have provoked new debates about the meaning of personal freedom and ethical choices: how can individuals find meaningful lives within a world they can never control? This was also the question for ancient Stoic thinkers such as Zeno of Citium, Seneca, and Epictetus, whose ideas gained wide influence in antiquity and created cultural legacies that have endured from the era of the Roman Empire into our own historical moment. In this timely seminar, UNC philosopher Michael Vazquez will discuss key Stoic ideas and note their lasting philosophical attraction; and Lloyd Kramer will join a concluding dialogue to provide additional historical perspectives.
TOPICS
Stoic Philosophers and Their Place in the Ancient Greco-Roman World
The Uses of Stoicism from Cicero to Kant to the Silicon Valley
Why has Stoicism Attracted Adherents throughout Western Cultural History?
A panel discussion with Professor Vazquez and Lloyd Kramer, Professor of History and Director of Carolina Public Humanities
TIME AND TUITION
9:00 am-12:30 pm, Saturday, June 11. The tuition is $65 to attend in person or $50 for virtual viewing. A meal will not be offered with this seminar.
UNC Students can attend for free, but pre-registration is required. Discounts are available for UNC faculty, & staff. To register as a UNC Student, Staff, or Faculty, see our Registration Policy here.
Co-Sponsored by the General Alumni Association. For information about GAA discounts and other scholarships available to Humanities Program participants, click here.
In-person tuition for teachers is $32.50. Current K-12 teachers interested in receiving a complimentary virtual viewing registration for this seminar can apply here.
*Registration for this event closes on June 10 at 3pm*
