Meditations book club questions

The reading plan

Meeting 1: Books 1 to 5

1. How much should praise matter when deciding whether an action is worth doing?
2. What makes personal examples convincing guides for dealing with difficult people?
3. Where might governing desires support acceptance of nature, and where might the two pull apart?
4. Does readiness for death make just conduct more urgent, or could it weaken that urgency?
5. When does inner retreat help people meet shared duties, and when might it become avoidance?

Meeting 2: Books 6 to 8

6. Must turning toward justice mean turning away from pleasure?
7. What difference might daily exercises make to care for others compared with simply valuing that care?
8. Is patience enough to count as care for others, or does care ask for something more?
9. Should service to others be judged by the peace it brings the person serving?
10. How might readiness for death change what service to others means?

Meeting 3: Books 9 to 12

11. Where would you draw the line between patience toward others and neglect of social duty?
12. Does connecting social duty with mental freedom make duty seem more inviting or more demanding?
13. What would make self-examination a useful guide to just action rather than a distraction from it?
14. How can someone examine their conduct without relying on praise as evidence of goodness?
15. How far can self-command take someone toward justice, and what might it leave unresolved?

Themes to talk about

Tips for the host

1. Open each meeting with one question everyone can answer, then go deeper.
2. Anyone who fell behind can catch up with the 15-minute summary.