Stephens is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Creighton University, Omaha, Neb. USA. He has published articles on topics in Stoicism, Epicureanism and friendship, ecology and vegetarianism, ethics and animals, sex and love, sportsmanship, and the concept of a person. His books include Epictetus’s Encheiridion: A New Translation and Guide to Stoic Ethics (Bloomsbury, 2023) with Scott Aikin; a revised edition of an English translation of Adolf Bonhöffer, The Ethics of the Stoic Epictetus (Peter Lang, 2021); Marcus Aurelius: A Guide for the Perplexed (Continuum [Bloomsbury], 2012); Stoic Ethics: Epictetus and Happiness as Freedom (Continuum [Bloomsbury], 2007); and The Person: Readings in Human Nature (Prentice Hall, 2006). Phone: 4029811398
The Routledge Handbook of Hellenistic Philosophy, 2020
An overview of the Stoic philosophers and the main elements of their system. A chronological pres... more An overview of the Stoic philosophers and the main elements of their system. A chronological presentation of brief biographies of the Stoics with the most notable contributions of each individual is followed by a sketch of their philosophical system divided into the branches of logic, physics, and ethics. Logic includes topics in rhetoric, dialectic, and epistemology. Physics is the account of physical reality, including ontology, cosmology, and theology. The synopsis of ethics includes the Stoics’ version of naturalism, the doctrine of oikeiōsis, the virtues, emotions, the sage, moral progress, and cosmopolitanism.
Environmental Ethics in the Midwest: Interdisciplinary Approaches, 2022
Agrarianism views rural society as superior to urban society and the independent farmer as superi... more Agrarianism views rural society as superior to urban society and the independent farmer as superior to the paid worker. Agrarians believe farming is a way of life that can shape the ideal social values. The legend of Cincinnatus helped inspire ancient Roman agrarianism. The Roman statesman and farmer Cato the Elder was praised by later authors for being a stoic (small ‘s’). Cicero declared that no profession is better, more pleasing, more delightful, or more becoming to a free man than agriculture. He praises agrarian life as ‘the teacher of parsimony, industry, and justice.’ The Roman Stoic (capital ‘S’) Musonius Rufus judged farming to be an especially admirable profession. The Stoics held that the goal of life is living in agreement with nature. They were naturalists who idealized the virtues of self-sufficiency, perseverance, equanimity, modesty, and civic responsibility. Respect for limits, Wendell Berry notes, is a virtue essential to agrarianism. I argue that ancient Stoic agrarianism offers promising ideas for developing Midwest Stoic agrarianism (MSA) – a practical environmental virtue ethics to tackle the ecological and sociopolitical pressures confronting Midwest farmers in the Anthropocene. MSA dictates producing locally sourced, sustainably grown crops instead of livestock in CAFOs.
Brill's Companion to Musonius Rufus, J. Sellars and L. Gloyn eds., 2025
Rufus contends that meticulous grooming and styling of hair is unmanly because it is contrary to ... more Rufus contends that meticulous grooming and styling of hair is unmanly because it is contrary to a man’s nature. A man who lives agreeably with nature, he believes, improves himself by gaining virtue, not by altering his appearance to boost his sex appeal, enhance his popularity, or display his social class or wealth. Fastidious hairdressing and shaving to please others cannot win self-respect; only gaining virtue does. Hair protects the skin, and so it is no burden, as some wrongly believe.
Brill's Companion to Musonius Rufus, J. Sellars and L. Gloyn eds., 2025
In this essay on Musonius Rufus's Discourse 18 "On Food" I discuss the typical foods of first-cen... more In this essay on Musonius Rufus's Discourse 18 "On Food" I discuss the typical foods of first-century Romans and characterize their dietary choices as rooted in opposed pairs of concepts: raw/cooked, pure/impure, civilized/barbarian, austere/luxurious, and strong/soft. Within this scheme I situate meat as a locus of moral debate. I contextualize Rufus's arguments in ancient philosophical vegetarianism. I reconstruct and analyze his arguments. Finally, two sorts of eaters portrayed in Περὶ τροφῆς are contrasted.
An informal essay on two popular lawn care practices that are contrary to nature from a Stoic per... more An informal essay on two popular lawn care practices that are contrary to nature from a Stoic perspective.
10 WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? Reading the Liberal Humanist Romance in Antony and Cleopat... more 10 WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? Reading the Liberal Humanist Romance in Antony and Cleopatra LINDA CHARNES There's beggary in the love that can be reckoned. -ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA* What's love got to do, got to do with it? —TINA ...
The Roman imperial Stoics were familiar with exile. I argue that the Stoics’ view of being a refu... more The Roman imperial Stoics were familiar with exile. I argue that the Stoics’ view of being a refugee differed sharply from their view of what is owed to refugees. A Stoic adopts the perspective of a cosmopolitēs, a ‘citizen of the world’, a rational being everywhere at home in the universe. Virtue can be cultivated and practiced in any locale, so being a refugee is an ‘indifferent’ that poses no obstacle to happiness. But other people are our fellow cosmic citizens regardless of their language, race, ethnicity, customs, or country of origin. Our natural affinity and shared sociability with all people require us to help refugees and embrace them as welcome neighbors. Failure to do so violates our common reason, justice, and the gods’ cosmic law.
The Routledge Handbook of Hellenistic Philosophy, 2020
An overview of the Stoic philosophers and the main elements of their system. A chronological pres... more An overview of the Stoic philosophers and the main elements of their system. A chronological presentation of brief biographies of the Stoics with the most notable contributions of each individual is followed by a sketch of their philosophical system divided into the branches of logic, physics, and ethics. Logic includes topics in rhetoric, dialectic, and epistemology. Physics is the account of physical reality, including ontology, cosmology, and theology. The synopsis of ethics includes the Stoics’ version of naturalism, the doctrine of oikeiōsis, the virtues, emotions, the sage, moral progress, and cosmopolitanism.
Environmental Ethics in the Midwest: Interdisciplinary Approaches, 2022
Agrarianism views rural society as superior to urban society and the independent farmer as superi... more Agrarianism views rural society as superior to urban society and the independent farmer as superior to the paid worker. Agrarians believe farming is a way of life that can shape the ideal social values. The legend of Cincinnatus helped inspire ancient Roman agrarianism. The Roman statesman and farmer Cato the Elder was praised by later authors for being a stoic (small ‘s’). Cicero declared that no profession is better, more pleasing, more delightful, or more becoming to a free man than agriculture. He praises agrarian life as ‘the teacher of parsimony, industry, and justice.’ The Roman Stoic (capital ‘S’) Musonius Rufus judged farming to be an especially admirable profession. The Stoics held that the goal of life is living in agreement with nature. They were naturalists who idealized the virtues of self-sufficiency, perseverance, equanimity, modesty, and civic responsibility. Respect for limits, Wendell Berry notes, is a virtue essential to agrarianism. I argue that ancient Stoic agrarianism offers promising ideas for developing Midwest Stoic agrarianism (MSA) – a practical environmental virtue ethics to tackle the ecological and sociopolitical pressures confronting Midwest farmers in the Anthropocene. MSA dictates producing locally sourced, sustainably grown crops instead of livestock in CAFOs.
Brill's Companion to Musonius Rufus, J. Sellars and L. Gloyn eds., 2025
Rufus contends that meticulous grooming and styling of hair is unmanly because it is contrary to ... more Rufus contends that meticulous grooming and styling of hair is unmanly because it is contrary to a man’s nature. A man who lives agreeably with nature, he believes, improves himself by gaining virtue, not by altering his appearance to boost his sex appeal, enhance his popularity, or display his social class or wealth. Fastidious hairdressing and shaving to please others cannot win self-respect; only gaining virtue does. Hair protects the skin, and so it is no burden, as some wrongly believe.
Brill's Companion to Musonius Rufus, J. Sellars and L. Gloyn eds., 2025
In this essay on Musonius Rufus's Discourse 18 "On Food" I discuss the typical foods of first-cen... more In this essay on Musonius Rufus's Discourse 18 "On Food" I discuss the typical foods of first-century Romans and characterize their dietary choices as rooted in opposed pairs of concepts: raw/cooked, pure/impure, civilized/barbarian, austere/luxurious, and strong/soft. Within this scheme I situate meat as a locus of moral debate. I contextualize Rufus's arguments in ancient philosophical vegetarianism. I reconstruct and analyze his arguments. Finally, two sorts of eaters portrayed in Περὶ τροφῆς are contrasted.
An informal essay on two popular lawn care practices that are contrary to nature from a Stoic per... more An informal essay on two popular lawn care practices that are contrary to nature from a Stoic perspective.
10 WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? Reading the Liberal Humanist Romance in Antony and Cleopat... more 10 WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? Reading the Liberal Humanist Romance in Antony and Cleopatra LINDA CHARNES There's beggary in the love that can be reckoned. -ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA* What's love got to do, got to do with it? —TINA ...
The Roman imperial Stoics were familiar with exile. I argue that the Stoics’ view of being a refu... more The Roman imperial Stoics were familiar with exile. I argue that the Stoics’ view of being a refugee differed sharply from their view of what is owed to refugees. A Stoic adopts the perspective of a cosmopolitēs, a ‘citizen of the world’, a rational being everywhere at home in the universe. Virtue can be cultivated and practiced in any locale, so being a refugee is an ‘indifferent’ that poses no obstacle to happiness. But other people are our fellow cosmic citizens regardless of their language, race, ethnicity, customs, or country of origin. Our natural affinity and shared sociability with all people require us to help refugees and embrace them as welcome neighbors. Failure to do so violates our common reason, justice, and the gods’ cosmic law.
A brief historical introduction is followed by an account of the reception of the Memoranda (Medi... more A brief historical introduction is followed by an account of the reception of the Memoranda (Meditations), description of its salient features, reconstruction of its central overarching argument, and discussion of Marcus' relation to earlier philosophers.
This paper compares the two major conceptions of manliness competing in Tom Wolfe’s _A Man in Ful... more This paper compares the two major conceptions of manliness competing in Tom Wolfe’s _A Man in Full_. It argues that the plot of the novel reveals that the Stoic manliness rooted in integrity of character, perseverance, self-reliance, and self-control is more reliable, more durable, and more authentic than the conception of manliness grounded in physical domination (of nature), athletic prowess and fame, military valor, business success, affluence, materialism, sexual vitality and conquest, political clout, and prestige.
Page 1. Page 2. Page 3. Barbara Wehner Die Funktion der Dialogstruktur in Epiktets Diatriben One ... more Page 1. Page 2. Page 3. Barbara Wehner Die Funktion der Dialogstruktur in Epiktets Diatriben One USNB-5T3-FWBN Page 4. Philosophie der Antike Veröffentlichungen der Karl-und-Gertrud-Abel-Stiftung Herausgegeben von ...
What is a person? The history of this concept (πρόσωπον = prosōpon in Greek, persona in Latin, Pe... more What is a person? The history of this concept (πρόσωπον = prosōpon in Greek, persona in Latin, Person in German, personne in French) is intertwined with the histories of such concepts as human being, individual, soul, subject, self, ego, and mind. But while these comprise a constellation of interconnected and sometimes overlapping ideas, each has its own conceptual history, its own distinct evolution. Consequently, person does not admit of a clumsy, ham-handed semantic reduction to more basic concepts. This selection of readings is an attempt to trace in outline one trajectory in the philosophical history of the idea of the person. It is of course not intended even to approach a comprehensive study. While not disguising preferences, I tried to avoid indulging in idiosyncrasy. My goal is to offer a group of stimulating readings that revolve around a single rich, widely debated, and seemingly indefeasible concept. My hope is that this book will prove useful to students and teachers of philosophy in a variety of courses in which the concept of the person figures, including courses on the Philosophy of Mind, Philosophical Anthropology, and Personal Identity. The reader will judge the extent to which I have succeeded in weaving together these diverse selections with continuous thematic threads. If the net result is closer to a coherent whole than a hodgepodge, I will be satisfied. To allow flexibility in course design, two tables of contents are provided-one chronological, one topical. Topics are grouped under seven headings: A) conceptual history, B) personology (account of the person), C) identity of persons, D) divine persons in the Christian tradition, E) nonhuman persons and human non-persons, and F) persons viewed from outside Christian, Euro-American culture. Some readings appear under more than one heading. Instructors are encouraged to experiment with grouping the readings to serve their particular needs. For ease of reference, the readings are arranged chronologically. They begin with the prehistory of the concept in Plato and Aristotle. The inception of the concept in ancient Stoicism (Cicero and Epictetus) is followed by the development of the concept through medieval discussions of the divine persons of the Trinity. Key texts on the concept in the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and 19 th century European philosophy show an increasing emphasis on theories of personal identity. Selections from 20 th century Anglo-American males are balanced with contributions by women philosophers (Weil, Warren, Rorty, Midgley). Some religious pluralism is gained with the perspectives of Taoism (Smullyan), Buddhism (R. Taylor, Parfit), and Islam (Legenhausen) alongside the texts in Christian theology.
This monograph contains several insightful and subtle comments on Epictetan and Stoic ethics, and... more This monograph contains several insightful and subtle comments on Epictetan and Stoic ethics, and is of interest to anyone looking for a philosophical treatment of certain problems to which they give rise ... One attractive feature of the book is the author's engagement with general philosophical issues and the frequent comparison he makes between Epictetus and modern thinkers, for example, Erich Fromm (108-9 and 119 n. 9). Stephens' personal opinion on the strengths and weaknesses of Stoic and Epictetan ethics is carefully presented at the end (150-154). From this perspective, and considering also the great clarity with which it is written and the numerous quotations from Epictetus, Stoic Ethics: Epictetus and Happiness as Freedom may be used as a good general introduction to this major Stoic philosopher."-Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
Stephens has written widely on Stoic ethics, and his writing has a lucid and pleasant style ... a... more Stephens has written widely on Stoic ethics, and his writing has a lucid and pleasant style ... a reliable and helpful guide."-Bryn Mawr Classical Review "Marcus's Meditations are a source of inspiration and curiosity. Why did Marcus write the book? ... And what is the lasting significance and impact of the text? William O. Stephens's Marcus Aurelius: A Guide for the Perplexed does an admirable job of answering these questions ... Among the book's virtues is the fact that it is not a rambling exercise in historical erudition or critique. It is primarily an exegesis of the Meditations. Its other primary virtue is found in Stephens's passionate prose, which effectively channels the spirit of Marcus and ancient Stoicism."-Ancient Philosophy
The Ethics of the Stoic Epictetus, An English Translation Revised Edition, 2021
This text remains the only English translation of Bonhoeffer's classic, definitive study of Epict... more This text remains the only English translation of Bonhoeffer's classic, definitive study of Epictetus's ethics. Thorough, knowledgeable, perceptive, and accessible, the unity of this book and its thematic presentation make it an invaluable resource for all students and scholars of Stoicism. The translation is crisp, clear, consistent, and readable. This new edition includes a useful biography of Bonhoeffer, a new overview of the last twenty years of scholarship on Epictetus, and an extensive bibliography.
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