Philosophy, Side by Side

What the great schools and thinkers share, and where they really disagree

Stoicism or Buddhism? Plato or Aristotle? East or West? These head to head guides lay out the key similarities and real differences in plain language, so you can see which ideas actually speak to you.

Stoicism vs Buddhism

Two ancient paths to the same destination: inner peace

Stoicism vs Taoism

Discipline meets flow: two ways to live well

Buddhism vs Taoism

Two Eastern paths with one shared destination: freedom

Plato vs Aristotle

The idealist and the realist who shaped Western thought

Seneca vs Epictetus

A senator and a former slave who taught the same truth

Confucius vs Lao Tzu

Order and flow: two Chinese visions of the good life

Nietzsche vs Buddha

Two radical responses to the problem of suffering

Socrates vs Confucius

East meets West at the root of all wisdom

Marcus Aurelius vs Seneca

An emperor's journal meets a senator's letters

Eastern Philosophy vs Western Philosophy

Two hemispheres of human wisdom

Stoicism vs Existentialism

Ancient discipline meets modern freedom

Mindfulness vs Stoic Awareness

Two ancient arts of paying attention

Virtue Ethics vs Duty Ethics

Who should I become? versus What should I do?

Acceptance vs Ambition

Can you be at peace and still reach for more?

Solitude vs Community

Alone together: the balance every life needs

Simplicity vs Ambition

Want less or do more? Maybe both

Rumi vs Buddha

The path of love meets the path of awareness

Zhuangzi vs Nietzsche

Two rebels who saw freedom differently

Buddhism vs Hinduism

Born from the same soil, yet they see the self very differently.

Epictetus vs Marcus Aurelius

A slave and an emperor walked the same philosophical path.

Socrates vs Plato

The questioner and the system-builder -- where does one end and the other begin?

Mindfulness Meditation vs Stoic Meditation

Two ways to train your mind -- one observes, the other prepares.

Confucianism vs Taoism

One builds society through structure; the other frees you through nature.

Philosophy vs Religion

Both seek truth -- one through questions, the other through faith.

Nietzsche vs The Stoics

He attacked them relentlessly -- and quietly borrowed their best ideas.

Aristotle vs Confucius

Separated by continents, united by a vision of virtue and the good life.

Lao Tzu vs Zhuangzi

The cryptic sage and the playful storyteller -- two faces of Taoism.