99 - Nancy Sherman: Stoicism, Military Ethics, and War

Nancy Sherman is Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University. Before that, she taught at Yale and did her graduate work in ancient philosophy at Harvard University. Nancy has worked broadly across value theory and ancient philosophy, writing on such varied topics as military ethics, moral psychology, the emotions, and Stoicism. The occasion for this episode is Nancy’s recent book, Stoic Wisdom: Ancient Lessons for Modern Resilience (Oxford, 2021), which is now available in paperback, and linked below. Nancy and Robinson discuss what contemporary takes on Stoicism get wrong—they miss the emphasis on connection and community—as well as the relationship between Stoicism and Aristotle, the military, and mental health. Stoic Wisdom: https://a.co/d/7UAGj8i Nancy’s Website: https://www.nancysherman.com Nancy’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/drnancysherman OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode 00:44 Introduction 03:20 Nancy’s Interest in Stoicism and the Military 10:35 Stoicism and Life Hacks 21:00 Aristotelian and Stoic Ethics 30:05 Stoic Metaethics 34:33 Stoicism and War 45:19 Stoicism and Military Education 51:57 Nancy’s Mental Health Experience 59:43 Stoic Wisdom Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.