ABOUT BRANDON SMITHMA Philosophy, BA Honors English and PhilosophyBrandon has a Bachelor of Arts Honours in English and Philosophy and a Master of Arts in Philosophy, both from Carleton University. His Master’s thesis 'The Un-Stoic Spinoza: An Analysis of Spinoza, Aristotle, and Epicurus’s Accounts of Pleasure', pushes against Stoic readings of Spinoza by showing his strong affinities with Aristotle and Epicurus concerning the nature of pleasure and its role in happiness. Brandon is currently a doctoral candidate at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. His research concerns Spinoza’s engagement with ancient Greek philosophy, namely how the latter’s account of happiness compares to and improves on those of Aristotle, Epicurus, and the Stoics.