Farewell from Patrick Ussher
The time has come for me to move on from the Stoicism Today project in order to focus on other work commitments. It has been a privilege to work with the talented group of people who are behind the project and I had little idea of all the exciting things the project would achieve when we started it back in 2012 – which is also when I started this blog. Exciting things continue to be in store (rumours have it Stoicon may be in the Big Apple this year…) and I hope that, one day, the Stoicism Today project will get the research grant it deserves so as to pursue modern applications of Stoicism in even more concrete and practical ways.
I have also enjoyed conversing with many readers of the blog and receiving so many varied and interesting pieces. I think the Stoic revival will continue and grow stronger with each passing year. Stoicism is an important antidote to the increasing trend to see human beings as mere ‘output machines’. We need a different set of values.
I am delighted that joining the Stoicism Today project and taking over in my role as editor of this blog will be Greg Sadler, a pioneer in bringing complex philosophical ideas to a wide audience in accessible ways. Greg is president of ReasonIO which specifically aims to broaden philosophy out from a ‘narrow academic elite’ and to show how all the great thinkers of the past can be relevant to all aspects of life, ranging from the workplace and carer to personal relationships, from organisational leadership to politics and society. Greg has a prodigious and popular philosophy Youtube channel which has had over two and a half million views. He has over 800 videos explaining various insights from philosophers in plain English. Greg is perfectly placed to bring new talents to the Stoicism Today project and to the blog, and I also look forward to seeing the blog flourish under Greg as editor.
I wish to thank Tom McConnell for his invaluable help with the blog since the start of 2015 and also to bid farewell (although I am not quite done yet – a second anthology of Stoicism Today writings will be released in a few months!) to you all and a warm welcome to Greg, the new editor.
Greetings from Greg Sadler
Today marks a point of transition for Stoicism Today, one in preparation for many months. After years of invaluable work building a virtual space for modern reinterpretations of an ancient philosophy, a nexus in which scholars, psychotherapists, practitioners, and the broader interested public could discuss the many aspects and applications of Stoicism, Patrick is moving on to other projects and pursuits. I am now taking on the position of editor of the blog, and this represents, in fact, the first such change in editorial staff.
For my part, not only am I deeply honored to be entrusted with this important position, but also I happily take it on, for multiple reasons. Foremost among these is that Patrick leaves the position I will now fill in an excellent state. The blog has a solid and expanding readership base, built up organically on the basis of consistently providing interesting, thought-provoking, and useful content. Inquiries and ideas about new posts have been crossing my virtual desk already, and I can’t imagine any lack in upcoming Stoicism-related news.
As a functioning whole, any publication is considerably more than the sum of its authorial or editorial parts, and that is particularly the case for Stoicism Today, which is one main part of a significantly larger and ongoing project, carried out by the members of its team. Each of these members plays a significant role in reinterpreting, applying, and publicizing Stoic philosophy in the world today, and the role of Stoicism Today’s editor accordingly is to work in close conjunction with this dynamic team. Again, in moving into this position, I benefit greatly from the years of groundwork that Patrick has laid down over the years. He has set well-established processes, networks, and precedents into place, and I am grateful to Patrick that I am thereby able to step into this position easily and confidently.
As a professional philosopher interested in the practical side of the field, I am very happy to take part in this project – indeed a community – involved in reinterpreting classic Stoic philosophy within the contexts of our late modern times. There is much that is valuable, challenging, or downright admirable within the Stoic tradition, and as I take over this editorial position, I aim to continue the work already done in soliciting, and providing a place for, many perspectives engaging with Stoicism. So, let me end my bit here doing two things. First – many thanks to Patrick Ussher, Tom McConnell, and the rest of the Stoicism Today team not only for bringing me into the heart of an excellent project in practical philosophy but even more for making the transition a very easy and welcoming one! Second – to the readership of Stoicism Today, I look forward to working with the team and our many authors in providing an ongoing forum continuing the now-established legacy of excellent writing, conversations, and events engaging with Stoicism in the late modern age.
Thanks to Stoicism Today (and the Selected Writings), I have a much better understanding and appreciation of Stoicism and have found it to be a very practicable philosophy, alongside certain aspects of Buddhism.
So thank you Patrick, and welcome Greg!
Thank you Patrick ! All the best.
Patrick, thanks for creating and maintaining a fantastic blog that caught my interest two years ago and has been a constant source of insight ever since. It’s sad to see you go but I’m sure you’ll be equally successful in future pursuits.
Greg, welcome and I look forward to continuing to enjoy the blog under your watch.
Best wishes for your bright future, Patrick. Thank you for your work and for all the interesting and valuable content over the years.
Greg, I’ve admired and benefited greatly from your work. I’ll be interested to see your impact here. Welcome!
Thank you very much Patrick and good luck in your future pursuits
Welcome Greg, thank you for stepping on board and I hope you will flourish in the new role.
Farewell Patrick and very many thanks and good wishes for the future. Probably you have heard them many times but perhaps Epictetus’s words are apt – “There is one road to peace and happiness (keep the thought near by morning, noon and night): renunciation of externals; regarding nothing as your own; handing over everything to fortune and the deity. Leave those things in the care of the same people God appointed to govern them, while you devote yourself to the one thing that is truly yours and that no one can obstruct; make that the focus of all your reading, your writing and your lecture attendance.” Discourses, Book IV, [39]&[40].
Good luck, Patrick and Greg. Thank you, Patrick, for sharing your time, insight, and wisdom.
Thank you, Patrick, for the great job you did. I consider Stoicism Today as a beacon for anyone interested in stoicism. I wish you every success in your future career. At the same time I am very pleased that Greg Sadler was chosen as your successor. I thank Greg to have accepted this position and challenge and wish him every success.
Thanks again to both of you.
Thank you Patrick for your work in making this excellent blog.
I’m a subscriber to Greg’s YouTube channel. This blog is in very capable hands. Best wishes Greg.
Thank you for your work and contributions to the community all these years, Patrick.
As a fan of Greg’s youtube channel, whose Stoicism series, has been recommended in the Stoicism Facebook Group on multiple occasions, this is exciting news.
Cheers!
Patrick
Thanks for you patience,
Nigel
Rather than clutter up the page (and taking over the conversation) by my responding to each comment individually, I’d like to thank all of the commenters conveying such a warm welcome and good wishes l as I step into this position that Patrick leaves in such a solid state!
Congratulations Prof. Sadler. I deeply appreciate and respect the work you do, and I wish you luck as editor of Stoicism Today.
Best wishes Patrick, surely just an “au Revoir ” and welcome to Greg, I have been acquainted to your excellent discussions and lectures on YouTube in the past. Thanks for showing me a way to living Stoicism.
My thanks to all who have posted their kind wishes – they are all much appreciated. Patrick
Thanks Patrick for a pioneering blog and looking forward to vol 2 of the book.
Bye Patrick – great to know you! Thank you for enriching my life and enhancing my spiritual practice. I know you will go on to achieve even greater things.
I enjoyed going to your webiste. I rarely leave comments,
but
you definately up deserve a thumbs!
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