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PODCAST

John Vespasian

JOHN VESPASIAN is the author of sixteen books, including “When everything fails, try this” (2009), “Rationality is the way to happiness” (2009), “The philosophy of builders” (2010), “The 10 principles of rational living” (2012), “Rational living, rational working” (2013), “Consistency: The key to permanent stress relief” (2014), “On becoming unbreakable” (2015), “Thriving in difficult times” (2016), “Causality: Aristotle’s life and ideas” (2024), “Foresight: Schopenhauer’s life and ideas” (2024),

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All Episodes

6:25

Refutation of Schopenhauer’s views on love and...

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/27

The ideas of Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) on love and relationships contain fundamental mistakes. Schopenhauer did not devote sufficient attention to these matters. As a result, his observations and conclusions leave a lot to be desired. His conception of love and relationships is instinctual. They are driven by the will (“life force”), argues Schopenhauer, and this explains why people behave erratically when they fall in love. The will prompts them to pursue the beloved at any cost, and without

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7:45

Seneca’s methods for overcoming stress

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/25

More than two thousand years have passed since Seneca first defined his methods for overcoming anxiety, worry and other negative emotions. The context has changed, but his examples and recommendations remain valid. I am going to summarise those methods, sometimes quoting Seneca’s precise words and examples, and other times, putting the method in the context of our century. For the sake of clarity, when I present Seneca’s insights, I’m going to use modern terminology. #seneca didn’t employ words such

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5:40

Why Seneca’s anti-stress methods still work today

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/25

For the most part, ancient techniques have become obsolete. We no longer use horses and triremes as our principal means of transportation. Neither do we build houses and roads according to the methods employed in Ancient Greece and Rome. However, we can still rely on anti-worry methods conceived by Seneca. Why have they remained effective? Because human nature has not changed since Ancient Rome. The changes in technology have raised our living standards, but many individuals still suffer from worry,

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8:07

Seneca’s key insight for overcoming stress

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/25

I have often observed that insouciant people seldom suffer from worry. They go about their business without thinking long of the consequences, accept setbacks philosophically, and keep trudging ahead despite criticism and opposition. #seneca did not regard insouciance as a valid philosophical stance because it reduces humans to a perceptual level. It makes humans prone to accidents of all sorts because they have not taken basic precautions. Dogs and cats do not worry about the future because they

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6:06

Seneca on time management

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/25

We tend to regard time management as a uniquely modern concept, but nothing could be further from the truth. The fact that our ancestors employed more primitive technology did not prevent them from pursuing personal effectiveness. #seneca was not an exception in this respect. After devoting years to philosophical research, he put his ideas down to paper, aiming at producing a large literary output. If we compare Seneca with #marcusaurelius (121-180 AD), we can appreciate a large difference in their

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6:01

Seneca’s specific advice on tranquillity

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/11

Although imperfect, the #philosophy developed by #seneca concerning peace of mind is worth studying. It has been practised by thousands of people across the centuries, and still today, can prompt us to improve our lifestyle. Seneca believed that adversity, if faced properly, can help us become emotionally stronger. The difficult question, however, is how to face #adversity effectively, so that we can emerge stronger, not weaker, from setbacks. In his 68th Letter to Lucilius, Seneca praised Gaius

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6:55

Seneca: tranquillity in extreme situations

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/11

#philosophy becomes more convincing when it’s subjected to the test of extreme adversity. In order to gain wide acceptance, theoretical discussions need to be validated by experience, preferably on multiple occasions. #seneca came up with a compelling recipe for achieving #peaceofmind in times of turmoil; he told his readers to accept the inevitable, and deploy steady efforts to ameliorate the factors that can be influenced. The problem, of course, lies in the difficulty of correctly categorizing

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5:34

Seneca on how to live a good life

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/11

Since the mid-twentieth century, many philosophers are not employing the term “happiness” any more in their goal setting. They do no longer preach that happiness is the goal of human life because, I guess, they find it unattainable. Instead of happiness, they are employing the term “the good life” as something that #philosophy can reasonably deliver. The goal has become modest and inconspicuous, and even then, the promises of philosophers are subject to numerous disclaimers. This modern

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7:33

Seneca: myths about the good life

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/11

In the search for #happiness , it is as important to do the right thing as it is to avoid dire mistakes. #seneca put together a list of mistakes to avoid, and warned us against our natural tendency to look for shortcuts. When it comes to #virtue , character and happiness, I am afraid that every inch of progress needs to be earned. Every millimetre of ground needs to be conquered. There is no way to magically jump forward and avoid the required effort. Let us review the list of mistakes compiled by

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5:42

Seneca: putting the good life into practice

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/09

In ancient Greece and Rome, philosophy was conceived as a practical science; the purposes of philosophical learning were clearly defined: success, joy and happiness. #aristotle (384-322 BC) wrote his “Eudemian Ethics” and “Nicomachean Ethics” with the stated goal of helping his students achieve happiness. #seneca was not an exception in this regard. A prolific writer, he devoted the great majority of his essays and letters to dispensing advice about happiness. His #insights are based on human nature

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6:10

Seneca on dealing with criticism

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/09

Conflict is the one of main sources of preoccupations in life. Interpersonal conflicts tend to generate higher anxiety than natural disasters. Most people find daily quarrels with their spouses more nerve-wrecking than one-in-a-lifetime damages inflicted by a volcano. In his 78th Letter to Lucilius, #seneca studied negative emotions and provided useful recommendations. The validation of those strategies relies on historical anecdotes and Seneca’s own experience. Seneca concentrated on how to deal

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7:45

Seneca: effectiveness in the face of criticism

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/09

It is easy to dispense advice in retrospect and tell people what they should have done. It is far more difficult to make the right decisions in real time, while being bitterly criticised and publicly attacked. Psychological pressure is hard to resist, especially when it is coming at us from all directions. #seneca knew that, in the absence of a solid #philosophy , individuals tend to break down under pressure and commit one error after another. How do we preserve our #effectiveness in the face of

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5:33

Philosophical lessons from Seneca’s life (Part 4)

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/09

When a philosopher spends his life telling others what to do, it’s fair to ask if his own life has been a success. In the case of Seneca, the fact that he committed suicide at sixty-nine makes it hard to categorize his life as success. Emperor Nero had decided Seneca’s execution, but giving him first the order to commit suicide. If Seneca had refused, a Roman soldier would have killed him right away, decapitated him, and taken his head to Rome. In the Roman Empire, it wasn’t considered a sign of

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5:53

Philosophical lessons from Seneca’s life (Part 3)

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/09

It frequently happens that individuals will criticise someone else’s mistakes more readily than they will admit their own. We all find our own psychological defences hard to overcome and #seneca was the paramount example. When he became tutor to Nero, the future Roman Emperor, it didn’t take long for Seneca to realize that Nero was a psycho. In his mid-teens, Nero was already displaying alarming cruelty and paranoia. The encroaching #danger was written on the wall. Seneca possessed sufficient

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5:41

Philosophical lessons from Seneca’s life (Part 2)

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/05

Due to the edict issued by Emperor Claudius, #seneca spent eight years in exile in Corsica. His property, family and friends had remained in Rome. Since the imperial edict had not specified the length of the exile, Seneca believed that he would have to stay in Corsica for the rest of his life. When Seneca first set foot on Corsica, he was only forty-five years old, far too young to give up all hope. Nevertheless, he had witnessed how exile had gone for other people. None of them had been pardoned;

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5:59

Philosophical lessons from Seneca’s life (Part 1)

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/05

When analysing the insights of great philosophers, I love to look at their biographies and see the practical implications. Do their biographies reflect the benefits of their insights? Did their choices prove particularly perceptive and clever? #seneca (4 BC-65 AD) passed the biography test with flight colours. His choices mirrored his philosophy and all his friends admired his #inspiring , reflective personality. I view as a minor issue that some of Seneca’s actions do not match his philosophical

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6:39

How to use Seneca’s philosophy today

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/05

Philosophy is either perennial or false because it is based on the principles underlying the universe and human nature. Great thinkers such as #aristotle (384-322 BC) identified and codified those principles. When we affirm that Aristotle’s #philosophy is true, we mean that Aristotle has correctly identified those principles and then codified them in an intelligible manner. Generation after generation, people have been relying on a handful of philosophers to figure out the world. True answers help

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6:58

Schopenhauer’s philosophy of life compared with Taoism

John Vespasian ·

2026/02/27

Arthur #schopenhauer (1788–1860) was deeply familiar with Eastern philosophy, in particular #buddhism and #hinduism . He held in high regard the Eastern approach to stress reduction by reducing one’s emotional engagement. In Schopenhauer’s books, you won’t find a call for “nirvana” and other Eastern philosophical concepts. Nonetheless, he put forward recommendations that are similar to “nirvana.” There’s no doubt that Schopenhauer deployed great efforts to draw the best ideas from Buddhism and

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6:15

Idealism in Schopenhauer’s views on love and...

John Vespasian ·

2026/02/27

In his works, Arthur #schopenhauer (1788–1860) pointed out that #love #relationships often fail because people will initially idealise their beloved, and experience disappointment when they realise that their expectations do not match reality. Schopenhauer presented those views in “The world as will and representation” (1818) and in “Parerga and Paralipomena” (1851). He warned readers against seeking short-term pleasure without assessing the cost and risks involved. According to Schopenhauer, the

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7:19

Schopenhauer’s influence on Freud

John Vespasian ·

2026/02/27

Sigmund #freud (1856–1939) did not acknowledge at every opportunity an intellectual debt towards Arthur #schopenhauer (1788–1860) because he claimed to have created the theory of the #unconscious or theory of #instincts as a driving force of human psychology. However, anyone familiar with Freud’s and Schopenhauer’s ideas cannot possibly fail to notice the close similarity between Freud’s theory of the unconscious and Schopenhauer’s ideas, in particular, the theory of the will (“life force”). Let us

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