Patrick Ussher, its founding editor, started Stoicism Today in October 2012, following the “Stoicism and Its Modern Uses” workshop bringing academics and psychotherapists together at the University of Exeter. The very first Stoic Week, held in November 2012, was soon publicized and discussed in Stoicism Today. Since then, the blog has grown to become one of the main resources and forums for contemporary Stoicism on the internet. After several years of progressively building Stoicism Today, Patrick Ussher stepped down in the Spring of 2016, and Greg Sadler took on the role of editor. Harald Kavli came on as assistant editor in 2021. In 2023, Greg Sadler stepped down as editor, Harald Kavli took on the role of editor, and Judith Stove became the new assistant editor.
Articles and essays on a wide range of topics pertaining to Stoicism are published weekly on Saturdays. Interviews, event announcements, and other special posts are published on occasional Wednesdays. Stoicism Today features a significant number of authors. Some are past or present members of the Modern Stoicism organization. Others are podcasters, bloggers, writers, or practitioners whose work engaged with Stoicism. We also feature posts by guest authors of all walks of life, ranging from students to working professionals, and everything in between. The common thread connecting all of these various posts together is an interest in classic Stoic philosophy and practices and their contemporary application to life.
Stoicism Today books
Stoicism Today articles
Stoicism Today has several main purposes
To increase public awareness of the Modern Stoicism organization and its activities (including Stoic Week, STOICON, and the SMRT course).
To be an online magazine, posting articles on a wide variety of topics relating to the practice and interpretation of Stoicism, written by a wide variety of authors.
To allow for conversation between members of the public on a wide range of topics related to Stoicism
To publish articles of good quality from the blog in a regular Stoicism Today series of books
To publicize courses, workshops, and other opportunities for studying and practising Stoicism
Contributions of many types are published in Stoicism Today. Some authors focus on personal narratives of how they learned about, experimented with, succeeded or failed, and came to better understand Stoicism in practice. Other authors discuss key ideas or practices derived from classic Stoic thinkers or texts and their applications to present-day problems and circumstances. Yet others delve into controversial or difficult Stoic doctrines, providing explanations and clarifications useful for our readership. We also publish engaging reviews of contemporary literature about Stoicism.
Interested in submitting a piece to Stoicism Today?
Here are some general guidelines:
- All submissions must be fully written by a human.
- Contributions should be original for Stoicism Today, not previously published.
- Recommended length: between 1500-4000 words
- All sources must be cited (any citation style is fine).
- Stoic quotations should include author, book, chapter, and/or verse, where applicable (example: Epictetus, Discourses, 1.1); you may choose to cite the translator or not.
- For longer essays, use headings throughout the piece to help organize content.
- Essays should not be overly self-promotional. You may include information about your work, publications, services, etc., in a brief bio accompanying your piece.
- Use minimal formatting (no weird fonts, indentations, centering, etc.). Submit drafts as MSWord documents, not in other formats like PDF.
- Drafts will be reviewed and may be accepted as is, or suggestions for revisions, expansions, etc., may be made by the editor(s). Some posts go through several stages of revision before getting published.
We recommend that you browse our archives to get a feel for the type of pieces we publish. If you have a potential submission that meets these guidelines, use the button below to submit your piece.
If you have questions before submitting, feel free to contact us (link to stoicismtoday@modernstoicism.com).
