Ep. 15 - Awakening from the Meaning Crisis - Marcus Aurelius and Jesus

In this episode of "Awakening from the Meaning Crisis," Dr. Vervaeke delves into Stoicism as a response to the Hellenistic meaning crisis, contrasting it with Epicureanism and tracing its roots to the Cynics and Socrates. He explains the Stoic practices of prosoche (attention to how you pay attention) and prohairesis (mindfulness), emphasizing the importance of distinguishing between events and the meanings we assign to them, and advocates for practices like objective seeing, premeditatio, and the view from above. Vervaeke connects these ancient practices to modern cognitive behavioral therapy and construal level theory, and then transitions to discussing Christianity, particularly the concept of agape love as a transformative force, setting the stage for a deeper exploration in the next episode.