Robert Rosenkranz: How To Use Stoicism To Build a Meaningful Life

The billionaire philanthropist explores how stoic philosophy shaped his views on capitalism, politics, and philanthropy, arguing for rational optimism, individual responsibility, and civil public discourse as foundations for life.

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Robert Rosenkranz: How To Use Stoicism To Build a Meaningful Life

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Are you part of the growing stoicism movement? Built on virtue, reason, and self-control, the ancient Roman philosophy is gaining popularity in a world that just seems to get crazier and crazier.

Today's guest is a self-described stoic. Robert Rosenkranz is the author of The Stoic Capitalist: Advice for the Exceptionally Ambitious, which takes a deep dive into how stoic principles can lead to personal, financial, and social success. Rosenkranz charts his path from a small, cramped family apartment in 1950s New York City to becoming a billionaire deal-maker and founder of Open To Debate, a nonprofit that hosts nationally broadcasted debates about the toughest issues of the day.

The Stoic Capitalist is an emotional memoir with snippets of philosophy from the likes of Seneca and Marcus Aurelius. It illustrates the power of rational thinking and purposeful action in all parts of life. Reason's Nick Gillespie and Rosenkranz talk about the political journey from a New Frontier liberal to more of a libertarian-leaning Reagan Republican to a philanthropist deeply committed to promoting intense but civil debate. They also talk about how the creative destruction that undergirds capitalism displaces people not just economically but culturally—and how to make it easier for people to adapt to the unending change that is necessary for improvements in living standards.

This interview was recorded at a live event in New York City.

Upcoming Reason events:

• Rise Above: Nick Gillespie and Scott Barry Kaufman in Conversation, May 19
• Reason Speakeasy: Nick Gillespie and Susannah Cahalan on The Acid Queen, June 3
• Reason Versus debate: Jacob Sullum and Billy Binion vs. Charles Fain Lehman and Rafael Mangual, June 24

 

0:00—Introduction
1:48—Rosenkranz's new book: The Stoic Capitalist
5:00—Threats to the American experiment
8:23—Rosenkranz's upbringing and secular Jewish identity
14:22—Finding inspiration from Joseph Kennedy Sr., Marcus Aurelius, and Seneca
17:30—Rosenkranz's political evolution
24:35—What killed American optimism?
29:51—How taking huge risks reaped Rosenkranz huge rewards
32:17—Rosenkranz's business philosophy
34:51—The best argument for capitalism today
39:17—Open To Debate and stoic dialectic
43:10—Organ markets and life extension experiments
49:50—The stoic view on death

• Video Editor: Ian Keyser

Comments

[Yuno Hoo]

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius is *well* worth reading and reflecting about, IMHO. He gets a little repetitive, but in fairness he was hammering stuff home to *himself* in personal notes. In general, his writings are chock full of useful inputs for self-improvement.

[Sun Wukong]

A guy who claims to be a stoic thinks improving living standards is the end all and be all of society. I don't think he quite understood what he read. Just saying.

[Gaear Grimsrud]

Nothing against this guy but it seems like Gillespie is on a mission to drag old millionaires into his lair and force them to buy into his vision of libertarianism. Kinda creepy. And the leather jacket is a little off putting, to point out the obvious. But carry on Reason! It doesn't matter what you print when nobody reads it!

[The Margrave of Azilia]

"how stoic principles can lead to personal, financial, and social success"

Maybe he's accurate sociologically, but Stoicism the philosophy makes virtue, not earthly success, the measure of what is good. If being virtuous leads to poverty, torture and death, then virtue is still preferred. To the pure Stoic philosophy, it's an easy choice.

It's not hard to imagine situations where by pursuing Stoic virtue, you could lose your earthly possessions and even your life. The ancient Stoics, for instance, knew of a frequent real-world example: pursuing the public good when the Emperor was in a bad mood toward advocates of the public good.

[Speaking for normal people]

Seneca was much loved and quoted by the Christians.
That kind of attitude might not have corrupted you, but that hardly makes it the guide for life. Bezos and Gates had good families and marriages that money broke up, and Gates with Epstein !!! It wasn't because of Gates' 6-pack abs.

When you die, you think of the wife and kids, not the super-yacht
Warren Burffet too with the two wives.

[Anastasia Beaverhausen]

Transcript please!

[Speaking for normal people]

Muslims killing Christians , raping all over Europe, no Religious Freedom in much of the world and you suggest :Stoicism

St Augustine thought it inhuman and despinging of actual people. Yeah, we need that more in the world. Religion without morality