Ivan Bock
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ivanbock.bsky.social
Ivan Bock
@ivanbock.bsky.social
PhD (Phil) student at Stellenbosch Uni.
I blog infrequently. Interested in virtue ethics, moral psychology, pragmatism, existentialism, agnosticism, moral anti-realism, and skepticism.

Life is luck! Be kind to all!
Blog: ivanbock.wordpress.com
Pretty decent summary of Epictetus' views and teachings. It has that classic stoic sentiment and psychological theory, while also stressing Epictetus' 'role ethics'. That combination, I think, is a particularly useful and socially just perspective to take.

#stoicism #ethics
November 7, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Fun day at the #RedBullFlugTag !
We came without a plan and ended up getting some nice seats.
November 2, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Truly a beautiful time in Cape Town as the flowers start to bloom. Our bird-of-paradise plants are looking great!
#flowers #capetown
October 26, 2025 at 5:47 AM
This is such an amazing passage from The Brothers Karamazov! It is easy to see why some considered Dostoyevsky to be a prophet.
Now more than ever, we must remeber this message. Don't foster solitude, foster brotherly love.
#booksky
October 5, 2025 at 8:51 AM
I just uploaded my new profile banner. I feel like it represents so much of life...so profound...
Also...our dog is adorably cute...
#dog
August 13, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Went for a trip today to get lunch and check out some book shops close to the sea.
Managed to find two introductions from the Oxford series, one on Hume and the other on Locke. Super happy. The best part is that I bought both for less than the price of a Big Mac meal here in SA.
#booksky #philsky
August 8, 2025 at 3:51 PM
From the SEP article on wisdom:
S is wise iff:
S has a wide variety of epistemically justified beliefs
S has a wide variety of justified beliefs on how to live rationally
S is committed to living rationally
S has very few unjustified beliefs and is sensitive to her limitations.
#philsky #wisdom
July 31, 2025 at 12:49 PM
I finished reading Campus' The Outsider and thoroughly enjoyed it! I think I liked it much more than Sartre's Nausea, but I still like both.
Now, on to a big one, The Brothers Karamazov.
#booksky #existentialism
July 19, 2025 at 10:39 AM
I wanted a copy of this little essay for my bookshelf. I'm very happy to report my copy of On Bullshit by Frankfurt has arrived. It's a small, almost entirely black little hardcover book. I think this is a really important essay and concept to discuss in critical thinking classes.

#philsky #booksky
July 4, 2025 at 11:29 AM
May 19, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Just wanted to share my new Fyodor Dostoevsky novels. Look at this nice collection of hardcover books!
I've only read one so far, so I'm very excited to get to the rest.
#Dostoevsky #BookSky
April 24, 2025 at 3:05 PM
We had our first official Philosophy Cafe lesson today. It went better than I could have hoped for! The kids were engaged and keen to ask questions.
It was one of the more theory heavy lessons, given that we focused on introducing key terms. So it can only get better from here!
#PhilSky
February 19, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Your last saved meme is your moral philosophy
February 8, 2025 at 4:03 PM
I finally received the physical copy of last year's Stellenbosch Socratic Journal. It came out beautifully, and the photo does not do the deep green cover justice.

Well done to the team!

You can access this volume and all the past ones at: www0.sun.ac.za/philosophy/s...

#PhilSky #Stellenbosch
February 7, 2025 at 1:55 PM
I finally received the physical copy of last year's Stellenbosch Socratic Journal. It came out beautifully, and the photo does not do the deep green cover justice.

Well done to the team!

You can access this volume and all the past ones at: www0.sun.ac.za/philosophy/s...

#PhilSky #Stellenbosch
February 7, 2025 at 1:55 PM
I enjoyed reading the book Philosophers Take On The World. One of my favorite essays was the one by Korsgaard on treating people (and animals) like animals.
You can read that essay here:
blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2015/01/trea...
#PhilSky #Ethics
January 23, 2025 at 6:42 AM
It has finally arrived! I waited so long for my free copy of @charactergap.bsky.social 's Character and Moral Psychology. I found it in my mailbox this morning! This is going to be a great resource for my studies.
Thanks, Dr. Miller for the fantastic gift!!!
#PhilSky #PsychSky
January 13, 2025 at 6:08 AM
I finally own a text on pragmatism for my bookshelf. My copy of William James' Pragmatism and Other Writings has arrived today! I'm very excited to read through this.

#BookSky #PhilSky #Pragmatism
January 10, 2025 at 11:18 AM
This was by far one of my hotest takes back on twitter. As I tried to clarify to someone:
If there is no ultimate meaning, then meaning can be anything you make of it, or anything can be meaningful. There is a sort of freedom that comes with a completely meaningless life.
#philsky #ethics
January 3, 2025 at 5:49 AM
I am starting my vacation reading today. I'm going to try and get through Crime and Punishment. Wish me luck!
#booksky #existentialism
December 22, 2024 at 7:21 AM
I found this in a secondhand bookstore in Mossel Bay, Cape Town. I'm excited to start reading it!
#Philsky #Booksky #Existentialism
December 10, 2024 at 10:17 AM
I am very excited that my new annotated version of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations has arrived. I truly love the Maxwell Staniforth translation and think it is the nicest to read and quote. But this version by Martin Hammond is a brilliantly useful version, and the hardcover is beautiful.
#philsky
December 6, 2024 at 11:15 AM
I'm just reuploading the image as it looks weird on my side on BlueSky
November 19, 2024 at 7:38 PM
I just finished reading Voltaire's Optimism. Such a wonderful satire.
The constant optimism contrasted with the aweful events that occur makes for an entertaining read. I think he forcefully shows that you can only think this is the best of all possible worlds if you don't think about it too much.
November 19, 2024 at 7:28 PM
Really been feeling lately
October 10, 2024 at 7:28 AM