An Interview with Bill Broadwater

The Stoic Fellowship is happy to offer this interview with Bill Broadwater, the founder and President of the Philadelphia Stoa.

SD = StoicDan (Organizer of the Orlando Stoics)

BB = Bill Broadwater

SD: Thanks for sharing your knowledge with the Stoic Fellowship. Let’s start with the group you organize, the Philadelphia Stoa. When did it start and what have you learned in 2021?

BB: Upon adopting Stoicism as my philosophy of life, I felt a strong need to interact with others interested in the philosophy. Unable to find any Stoic groups, or any individual Stoics, in the Philadelphia area, I decided to start the group to attract anyone in the area interested in discussing Stoicism. We held our very first meeting in May 2018 at a neighborhood public library. With the help of Meetup and a mailing list I created of everyone I knew that I thought might be open to hearing about Stoicism, eighteen people attended.

My main motivation for starting the group was to facilitate the formation of a community interested in studying, discussing, and practicing Stoicism. I believed that a community founded on helping and inspiring one another to progress toward virtue was an effective way to practice Stoicism. In February 2019 we expanded to a second meeting venue at the Ethical Society in downtown Philadelphia. We maintained monthly meetings at both locations until we began meeting on Zoom in April 2020. Due to the pandemic, we have continued to meet only on Zoom. The meetings we’ve had in 2021 demonstrated that we can have a successful virtual community that includes reliable participants from outside our immediate geographic area. When we return to in-person meetings, we plan to continue holding some of our meetings on Zoom.

SD: Your group is currently reading the book “Being Better”. Can you tell us a little about the authors’ approach to teaching Stoicism and how your group’s members have responded to this?

BB: The authors emphasize in the book that Stoicism is a philosophy of life for guiding us toward being better people and that becoming better people involves working to improve not only our own character, but the world. At the end of each chapter in the book the authors pose thought-provoking questions to highlight the necessity of fully utilizing our capacity for reason in applying Stoic principles to personal challenges and societal issues. In this respect, when co-author Kai Whiting met with our group this past year, he posed challenging questions about applying Stoicism and virtue in certain difficult situations. We were required to think deeply about hypothetical scenarios from angles we ordinarily overlook. Most members responded very positively to this mode of teaching and relished being challenged in this way, understanding that real progress often involves getting out of our comfort zone to consider things in a fresh way.

SD: What brought you to philosophy originally? Was there a certain author or book that interested you in wisdom for life?

BB: I spent years exploring life philosophies, well-being techniques, and religions, especially Buddhism, before discovering Stoicism. In 2014, while preparing to teach a lifelong learning course on the science of happiness, I came across the book, “The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking” by Oliver Burkeman. I was intrigued by the author’s depiction of the Stoic practice of premeditating on adversity and explanation of how Stoicism inspired psychotherapist Albert Ellis’s creation of rational emotive behavior therapy. From there, I went on to read a number of books on Stoicism by the ancients and modern writers. Nearly everything I read resonated with me in some way and prompted me to begin trying to apply Stoic principles in my daily life. I found that doing so helped me deal more calmly and effectively with some challenges I faced.

SD: In your group discussions, which of the ancient Stoics resonate with your members? It could be Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, or a modern author?

BB: I would say that of the ancients, Marcus Aurelius resonates the most on the basis that the group seemed most interested in reading the Meditations before reading Seneca or Epictetus. Also, our practice group recently chose to dive deeply into the Inner Citadel, a study of the Meditations by the French philosopher Pierre Hadot. The reason for selecting the Meditations probably has to do with the book being somewhat well known, appearing on some lists of the all-time greatest books, and that Marcus Aurelius is more known than the other ancient Stoics. Also, the nature of the book, being a private journal in which we see into Marcus’s psyche as he works on his own ethical self-improvement seems to pique people’s interest.

SD: Do the members of your group represent certain fields, like Engineers or Military? We’ve noticed some correlation with certain careers and Stoicism.

BB: I haven’t noticed that any particular field clearly stands out in our group, although it seems as though a few of our most active members are in the psychology field.

SD: Many of our readers are Stoa organizers, so what tips can you offer them? The frequently-asked questions are about setting up a group on Meetup and running a group (either weekly or monthly). Also, please give us the web address of your group, so other organizers can see your events.

BB: I think it’s important to have events on a regular basis and announce them clearly, consistently, and in a timely manner on Meetup. Most months we have three open meetings on a different book or topic. In addition to Being Better, we currently have monthly meetings on William Irvine’s “A Guide to the Good Life”. We also recently started a recurring “Introduction to Stoicism” meeting for first-timers. Meetings are usually facilitated by me and/or our two co-organizers, Joe Bullock and Amjol Shrestha. For book meetings, the facilitator prepares a document containing key passages from the book for discussion. Also, I like to have pertinent questions prepared to ask the group concerning key points to stimulate discussion.

We also run a weekly closed meeting for our practice group made up of consistently participating members who have committed to doing all the necessary readings and practices. Each week we discuss any challenges members have faced, how we practiced during the week, and members’ suggestions for practicing if warranted. Information about our open meetings is available at https://philadelphiastoa.org.

SD: What resources of the Modern Stoicism movement help your members put Stoicism into practice? Is it books or articles or videos?

BB: We use articles, videos, and books as resources for meetings and practice. When we have meetings on specific topics, we usually provide a link beforehand to an article or video suitable for the topic. I think, however, that books are the primary resource. The book we find ourselves referring to the most for practice is the Handbook for New Stoics by Massimo Pigliucci and Greg Lopez. We spent a year going through the book as a group and continue to refer to it often in discussions about practice as the need arises. Other books we have read as a group that have helped with our practice include “How to Be a Stoic” by Massimo and “The Practicing Stoic” by Ward Farnsworth.

SD: Have you invited academics to speak at your group or any of the scholars from the Modern Stoicism movement? How can a group grow from including academics or scholars?

BB: Massimo spoke to us in person at our meeting venue a few months before COVID and Kai Whiting spoke to us via Zoom in 2021. Going forward, we plan to invite other scholars and authors to speak. Such personages can impart valuable knowledge to help us better practice the philosophy and may attract people who don’t often attend meetings, as well as newcomers who may go on to become regular participants. Their knowledge and status within the Modern Stoicism movement may inspire those who are marginally interested in Stoicism to become more committed to practicing the philosophy.

SD: Thanks so much for granting this interview. My last question is about the future. What are some of your possible plans for the new year?

BB: Two significant projects that we have already started working on are building a website for the group and registering as a 501c3 non-profit corporation under the name Philadelphia Stoa. We are also looking to create a Stoicon-X event for the fall. When we are able to resume in-person meetings, we plan to add new meeting venues and events including social get-togethers, hikes, charitable activities, and presentations on Stoicism to community groups.

Thank you, Dan, for the opportunity to present this information about the Philadelphia Stoa.