Stoicism as a Lens for Modern Challenges

Today we are confronted with multiple, overlapping crises: ecological instability, technological acceleration, political polarisation, and a growing sense of individual disorientation. The ancient Stoics articulated a striking guiding principle: ‘living in accordance with nature’. In a time in which our relationship with nature, technology and ourselves feels increasingly strained, this idea invites renewed attention. What did the Stoics understand by nature, reason and human responsibility? How did they imagine a life that is both realistic about limits and committed to coherence and meaning? And how might this perspective help us interpret the dynamics of our contemporary world? This lecture explores Stoicism as a lens through which modern challenges can be understood in a new way.

Speaker
Michiel Buis, PhD, Lecturer Sustainability & AI, Breda University of Applied Science