Sam McVane is currently working on his dissertation “Paradox and the Fool in Seneca.” It explores paradox as a feature that unites both Seneca’s philosophy concerning the nature of ignorance and his highly original artistic practice of using paradox to reflect this condition in his text. Sam’s scholarly interests include ancient philosophy, particularly Hellenistic ethics and epistemology, Stoicism, and the Roman Stoics; the early Greek wisdom tradition; and non-philosophical authors’ engagement with philosophical ideas. He has published on the nature of joy (gaudium) in Seneca and written on philosophical topics in Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus, as well as Aristotle’s treatment of Herodotean and Solonic ideas in Book 1 of the Nicomachean Ethics and Lucian’s learned parody of Stoicism in hisVitarum Auctio. Sam has taught Introductory Ancient Greek, Intensive Elementary Latin, and Ancient Philosophy in Greek and Latin: The Stoics, which surveyed Stoicism through readings in the original Greek. He has also served as a TA for courses on ancient philosophy, ancient Greek history, and the ancient novel. Email Sam McVane.