Most of us have heard about that exemplary fool, Molière’s Monsieur Jourdain, who was astonished to discover in middle age that he had been speaking prose all his life. After perusing John Lachs’s wise and lively Stoic Pragmatism, many readers will no doubt conclude that they have lived as stoic pragmatists for years without realizing it. For what Lachs offers his readers is nothing less than a philosophy of life in the old-fashioned sense: not a recondite theory or bundle of abstruse arguments, but a vivid and concrete vision by which individuals may steer their practice. And the central thought of this philosophy is simple, sensible, and familiar. On the one hand, we should work hard to improve our lot, to live richer and more rewarding lives; on the other hand, we must always be mindful that the time may come when the best thing we can do is accept that there is nothing we can do. To everything there is a season, and the wise person, according to Lachs’s view, is one who knows when it is best to strive and aspire, and when it is best to practice resignation and simply accept things as they are.

via Stoic Pragmatism // Reviews // Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews // University of Notre Dame.