Massimo Pigliucci on Doubt, Moral Courage, and Living Without Illusions

Two of the major schools in Gregoroman times were the Epicureans and the Stoics. They both had an answer to the question of what does it mean to have a good character, but Their answers were different. They both said that what you want to do is to, quote, live according to nature, meaning that you want to ask yourself what kind of a animal is a human being? And on the basis of that The answer to that question, you're gonna decide what is a good life for a human being, what is a flourishing life for a human being, and then you're gonna try to act accordingly. The big difference between the Stoics and the Epicureans was in their major conclusion, uh what that good life looks like. The word ethics comes from the Greek Not surprisingly, етикос, which has to do with character, so with goodness of character. So somebody who is etical is somebody who has a good character. When Cicero translated the word eticos into Latin, there was no word in Latin for that kind of concept. So he picked moralis. Morales in Latin had a slightly different understanding. It had to do with the mores, with the habits of a community, right? So when you put the two things together, it turns out that to be ethical or moral means to have a good character within the context of your social group.

All right, everybody, it's Michael Shermer. It's time for another episode of the Michael Shermer Show. My guest today is Dr. Massimo Pigliucci, the author blogger and podcaster and philosopher and evolutionary biologist, as well as the K D Arani 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 Nonsense on Stilts. Philosophy of pseudoscience.

Denying evolution, creationism, scientism, and the nature of science. So you can see why. He and I are good friends. How to be a Stoic, using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life and Beyond Stoicism. A guide to the good life, the stoics, skeptics, epicureans, and other ancient philosophies. His new book is How to Be a Happy Skeptic. You can see why I wanted to read this book and have him on the show. Um I think I'm a happy skeptic, I'm not sure, but it's uh it's the power of doubt in a meaningful life lessons from Cicero's Philosophies also published in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal Big Think and others, and he lives in New York City. He's coming to us from Italy right now. Massimo, nice to see you. Nice seeing you as usual. Thanks for having me.

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