Summer Evening 2024#Event 5: 29 August 2024

Virtue is the Only Good

Speaker: William Wray, with Fred Konings and Bryn Williams

‘Virtue is the only good’ is a Stoic maxim. In modern times ‘the good life’ has a completely different meaning than it did for the Stoics. For them it was all to do with self discovery of who we are in truth, and the expression of that knowledge in the world of practical affairs. William will outline the theory, and Fred Konings and Bryn Williams will describe this philosophy’s validity in the tough world of commerce.

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William Wray worked in Further and Higher Education, before joining St James Independent Boys’ School where he became Head of Middle School. He is a playwright, and whilst at St James wrote and produced a range of plays, musicals and operas.

He has written a number of books on philosophical themes, including works on the major traditions, on the philosophy of Leonardo and on the practical relevance of Platonic thinking.

He runs Wisdom Works, an internet based initiative designed to make philosophic ideas practical. He founded Inspiration, days devoted to creative thinking and Art Symposium, a forum in which people who have contributed to the arts speak freely of their inspiration and aspirations. For a number of years he ran The First Year Philosophy in London. He now runs Philosophy As a Way of Life, courses based on Stoic thought.

Fred Konings was born in the Netherlands. He studied at Exeter University and graduated with a degree in Economics in 1975. He went on to become a Chartered Accountant and worked for one of the international accountancy firms as an auditor in four countries before retiring in 2012. He and his wife currently live in London.

 

Bryn Williams is a Strategic Business Leader and Executive Chairman @ Teamwork Technology