What we’re about
Welcome to Orlando Stoics! We are a very active group, with over 3,700 members and five meetings a week. Some meetings are held online, while others are in-person. All classes are free. We also have annual events, like "Stoicon-X Orlando" in November (for the Modern Stoicism movement) and our Winter Social in December (Stoics are allowed to have fun, too).
Why Stoicism? In our world of instant gratification, constant stimulation, and endless distractions, Stoicism offers a novel perspective on life. Interested in developing an unconquerable mind? Stoicism has the answers. We also link ideas to Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Existentialism, Minimalism, and other "lived philosophy" systems. We love in-depth discussions!
If you join our group, feel free to adjust the email and notification settings to suit your preferences. Since we have new meetings every week, those emails might be too much for your inbox. Feel free to turn them off (go to our meetup page, click "You're a Member", and then click group notifications). You can still check our meetup page for upcoming events whenever you want.
What is Stoicism? It's an ancient Greek school of philosophy founded about 300 BC in Athens. The first teacher was Zeno of Citium. The school taught that virtue (the highest good) is based on knowledge, and that wise people live in harmony with nature. The school also taught tolerance and self-control. Famous Stoics were Seneca the Younger, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. We also study modern Stoics.
The goals of our group:
1. We read the ancient books, plus the modern books on Stoicism.
2. We discuss Stoicism in the media, pop culture, and arts & literature.
3. We compare recurring themes in Stoicism to history, religion, and psychology.
There have always been people attracted to Stoicism. It was a significant influence on Shakespeare, JD Salinger, Tom Wolfe, and Nelson Mandela. It has also attracted political and military leaders, such as Frederick the Great, President Bill Clinton, and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, who stated that he has read Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations over 100 times.
We hope you will join us. The group is open to the public and has no subscription fee. Stoicism can help you cope with life's stresses, while retaining your ethics & character.
We hope to see you soon!
Upcoming events
19
•OnlineUnderstanding Justice: Moral Luck and Political Philosophy
OnlineEvery Sunday, a new lecture. Our meeting starts at 9:00 AM with a friendly conversation, then a dialogue at 9:15 AM, and a Q&A discussion follows.
This week, we turn to two modern giants of political philosophy who, despite their shared liberal foundations, arrive at radically different conclusions about what makes a society just: John Rawls and Robert Nozick.
We begin with John Rawls, who argues for distributive justice and the fairness of the outcome. His powerful "original position" thought experiment—where people decide the rules of society from behind a "veil of ignorance" regarding their own status—leads to two principles: equal basic liberties for all, and the "difference principle," which permits social and economic inequalities only if they benefit the least advantaged members of society. For Rawls, a robust, active, social-democratic state is necessary to intervene and ensure genuinely equal opportunity and that basic liberties hold fair value.
Next, we move to Robert Nozick, who emphasizes the justice of the process and individual entitlements. His "entitlement theory" focuses strictly on justice in acquisition, transfer, and rectification. Nozick directly counters Rawls's emphasis on final outcomes by arguing that as long as the initial distribution is just, any subsequent distribution arising from free, voluntary transfers is also just. He illustrates this with his famous Wilt Chamberlain argument: if millions of people voluntarily choose to give a quarter each to a basketball star for entertainment, the resulting massive inequality is just because every step was consensual. Any state intervention to redistribute that wealth through taxation for social programs is an unjust violation of the right to self-ownership and property rights, which he equates to forced labor. For Nozick, justice depends entirely on the historical process of voluntary exchange, not enforcing a specific pattern of wealth distribution.
Finally, we turn to Thomas Nagel, whose work on moral luck complicates both of these theories. Rawls and Nozick assume our actions and resulting outcomes are fundamentally under our control and thus subject to moral evaluation. Nagel challenges this very notion, arguing that luck can profoundly influence the morality of our choices and their consequences—whether it's the circumstances we are born into (circumstantial luck), the kind of person we are (constitutive luck), or the outcomes of our actions (resultant luck). So how can we hold individuals solely responsible for justice or injustice if luck dictates so much of their capacity to act morally or achieve success?
All these ideas raise important questions: Is a just society one that prioritizes fair outcomes for all citizens, or one that rigorously protects the process of individual liberty and property rights? And how much do chance and fortune undermine our attempts to build a perfectly just system?
Join Plato’s Cave and the Orlando Stoics for a discussion on justice, rights, and the structure of a fair society.
READING MATERIALS
Robert Nozick: Robert Nozick - Wikipedia
Entitlement Theory: Nozick, Robert | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (See the section on "Nozick's Entitlement Theory of Justice")
John Rawls: John Rawls - Wikipedia
Original Position: John Rawls (1921—2002) - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (See the section titled "The Original Position")
Thomas Nagel: Thomas Nagel - Wikipedia
Moral Luck: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_luck
Thomas Nagel, "Moral Luck" (PDF): https://rintintin.colorado.edu/~vancecd/phil1100/Nagel1.pdf
TIMEZONES
For our members in other states:
6:00 AM — Pacific Time USA
7:00 AM — Mountain Time USA
8:00 AM — Central Time USA
9:00 AM — Eastern Time USA
For members in other countries, please convert time using:
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The meeting begins at 9:00 AM Eastern, with dialogue starting 9:15 AM sharp.20 attendees
•OnlineONLINE / SPANISH: CARTAS A LUCILIO DE SENECA
OnlineEsta reunión es cada miércoles a las 7 p.m. EST
CALENDARIO
12/12/2025
Carta 61: La buena disposición de Séneca para la muerte
Carta 77: Sabiduría y serenidad ante la muerte
11/19/2025
Carta 78: Ante las perspectivas de la muerte
Carta 101: Vivamos cada día con plenitud ante la inminencia de la muerte
IV. La muerte
11/26/2025
Carta 4: El temor a la muerte nos distrae de la realización de la vida
Carta 30: Cómo debemos esperar la muerte
12/3/2025
Carta 36: Aprendizaje del desprecio a la muerte
Carta 63: Moderación en el duelo por el amigo muerto
12/10/2025
Carta 70: Frente a la vida humillada, la muerte deliberada
Carta 82: Los falsos silogismos de Zenón sobre la muerte
Carta 99: Debemos perseverar en el recuerdo en la muerte de un ser querido
V. Otras cartas
12/17/2025
Carta 40: El discurso de la verdad debe ser sencillo y sin adornos
Carta 47: Trato humano con los esclavos
Carta 75: Sencillez en el estilo.
Carta 84: En la lectura debemos imitar a las
ZONAS HORARIAS
Hora de encuentro (EE. UU.):
19:00 h, hora del este
18:00 h, hora central
17:00 h, hora de las montañas
16:00 h, hora del Pacífico
Para nuestros amigos internacionales:
Conviertan la hora con la herramienta gratuita
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ENLACE ZOOM
HAGA CLIC PARA COMENZAR LA REUNIÓN - https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7156108004
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Nuestro grupo disfruta de conversaciones abiertas y respetuosas sobre el estoicismo y su relación con la ciencia, la cultura, la filosofía, otros sistemas de creencias e incluso la cultura popular (libros y películas). A veces "acordamos estar en desacuerdo", pero el objetivo a largo plazo es mejorar nuestras mentes a través de debates grupales.
En general, el estoicismo nos enseña cómo manejar personas y eventos difíciles, cómo evitar la ira y la preocupación y, sobre todo, a utilizar la moderación en todos los aspectos de nuestra vida.
Esta reunión es gratuita y abierta al público.3 attendees
Travels with Epicurus, Chapter 3, Online Friday Nights
Location not specified yetTime: Dec 12, 2025 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Every week on Fri, 109 occurrence(s)
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Join us as we continue to discuss Daniel Klein’s book, “Travels with Epicurus.” This week, we will do a deep dive into Chapter 3, “Tasso’s Rain Spattered Photographs.” With beautiful prose, Klein invites us to glance at the personal choice we may all face – he invites us to contemplate the conflict posed by two different philosophies of how to face old age. Should we enter what Eric Erikson coins the eighth stage of life with a commitment to deeply reflect on our past, to live authentically, and gain wisdom? Or should we direct our thoughts to the future and heed Bertrand Russell’s advice: Keep DOING to keep LIVING?
(If anyone is interested in being on the “dialogue” panel, just send an email to Linda at LLB1966@gmail.com.)
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