You Are Heroic with Brian Johnson

Heroic Chat with William B. Irvine: What It Means To Be a Hero

Sep 24, 2023

In this Heroic Chat, Brian Johnson interviews William B. Irvine, a professor of philosophy and author of philosophy books for a general audience. They discuss mindful living, the philosophy of stoicism, the power of framing setbacks, stoic responses to insults, living in integrity, and embracing discomfort.

01:04:47

Creator website

Episode guests

William B. Irvine

AI Summary

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Stoicism offers strategies to manage emotions, embrace setbacks, and focus on what can be controlled.

Seneca exemplified stoicism by navigating challenges with integrity and uplifting others.

Stoicism promotes voluntary discomfort, strategic thinking, and reflection to expand comfort zones and align actions with values.

Deep dives

The Stoic Approach to Negative Emotions and Positive Emotions

Stoicism offers strategies to avoid and minimize negative emotions, while embracing and cultivating positive emotions. It emphasizes framing setbacks in a positive light and focuses on what can be controlled. Stoicism encourages acts of voluntary discomfort and choosing virtues to live by.

Stoicism's Approach to Managing Negative Emotions

01:45

Embracing Discomfort through Competitive Rowing

01:19

Introduction

2min

Mindful Living and Heroism

7min

Unveiling the Journey to Philosophy and the Impact of Stoicism

21min

Exploring the Power of Framing Setbacks and Emotions

2min

Responding to Insults and Playing Different Games in Life

5min

Living in Integrity and Embracing Discomfort

25min

Expressing Gratitude, Previewing Upcoming Guests, and Promoting the Heroic Chat Series

3min

In today’s Heroic Chat, we are joined by William B. Irvine.

William B. Irvine is professor of philosophy at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Irvine writes books on philosophy for an average audience. He says, “I am not interested, as most of my philosophical colleagues are, in writing primarily for other philosophers. Rather, my intended audience can best be described as intellectually-upscale general readers who have a minimal background in philosophy but who are interested in carefully rethinking the assumptions of everyday life.”

He is also the author of The Stoic Challenge and A Guide to the Good Life.

Get the full show notes here: https://www.heroic.us/optimize/heroic-chat-william-b-irvine

Move from Theory to Practice to Mastery:

'Areté: Activate Your Heroic Potential' is now available in stores! Purchase your copy TODAY: https://heroic.us/arete

Listen to the first 45+ minutes of the audiobook here: https://www.heroic.us/optimize/the-book/audiobook-preview

Join over 13,000+ people from 115+ countries who have answered the call to their Heroic quests: https://heroic.us/coach

More goodness:

Download the Heroic app: http://heroic.us/app-download

Grab some Heroic swag: https://store-heroic.myshopify.com/

Become a Heroic Ambassador: http://heroic.us/ambassador

Get in touch:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HeroicBrian LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heroicbrian/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/heroicbrian Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heroicbrian Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heroicbrian/ Email: support@heroic.us