Massimo Pigliucci
Philosopher at the City College of New York who writes about Stoicism, philosophy of science and reason in his newsletter Figs in Winter.
Massimo Pigliucci did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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Our reading
Their wordsIn this essay, I want to argue that Epictetus also pretty explicitly argued against the death penalty — then very common practice in the Roman world — in a famous passage of the Discourses.
↗Epictetus argues against the death penaltyfigsinwintertime.substack.com 1st of 3 in this piece
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Their wordsThere is no contradiction in saying that someone is sick rather than evil, and yet taking measures so that he is in no position to keep stealing.
↗Epictetus argues against the death penaltyfigsinwintertime.substack.com 2nd of 3 in this piece
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Their wordsAnd just in case you are wondering, the incidence of recidivism is lower than that of harsh retributive approaches like the American “justice” (really, revenge) system.
↗Epictetus argues against the death penaltyfigsinwintertime.substack.com 3rd of 3 in this piece
- 2 weeks earlier
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Their wordsBecause, arguably, when a word applies to everything it describes nothing, and the cost is not pedantic but epistemic: we lose the ability to notice when the real thing shows up.
↗Conceptual stretching: why everyone you dislike is a fascist, or a communist, or both – Part Ifigsinwintertime.substack.com 1st of 2 in this piece
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Their wordsCommunism, according to Karl Marx, is stateless, classless, and post-scarcity, but it is a sub-set of socialism, not a distinct political position.
↗Conceptual stretching: why everyone you dislike is a fascist, or a communist, or both – Part Ifigsinwintertime.substack.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 3 weeks earlier
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Our reading
Condemning people of the past by modern moral standards gets in the way of understanding them.
Their wordsBut the most important problem with presentism is that condemnation crowds out comprehension: you cannot learn from people you’re busy sentencing.
↗The past is not a defendantfigsinwintertime.substack.com 1st of 3 in this piece
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Their wordsSo the standard should not be “could a genius have known better?” but rather “what could a reasonable person embedded in that context be expected to see?”
↗The past is not a defendantfigsinwintertime.substack.com 2nd of 3 in this piece
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Their wordsThe moral truth that slavery is wrong was accessible at all times, in principle, because (I think) it’s a truth about human nature, in line with my naturalistic realism.
↗The past is not a defendantfigsinwintertime.substack.com 3rd of 3 in this piece