STOICISM My thoughts on the stoic approach Jim Anderson Intro to Philosophy Spring 2011 Stoicism! 1
STOICISM My thoughts on the stoic approach Jim Anderson Intro to Philosophy Spring 2011 Preface Let me begin by saying that choosing a topic for this paper was one of the most difficult things that I d had to do in quite some time. I really wanted to pick something that I felt I could wholly agree with and that I felt that I knew enough about to justify wholly agreeing with. The latter being the harder part of my personal requirement list. I know that I love aspects of many schools of philosophy, but I have not, yet, established which schools mostly agree with me and my current way of thinking. Some of the philosophers that I considered were Hume, Kant, Arendt, Hitchens, Foucault, Diogenes, Barthes, and Wittgenstein, but ultimately they all fell by the wayside. Stoicism, through various interpretations and misinterpretations, seems to exemplify a lot of the strengths and weaknesses inherent in a life lived through apathy (by the Hellenistic definition of the word). This is, ultimately, what made my decision settle there. Here s hoping that I have a good handle on the topic! Introduction To begin, I d like to say that I, along with many others across the globe and across time, wish that there was more available to us from the proposed founder(s) of Stoicism, Zeno of Citium, Cleanthes, and Chrysippus. It s really hard to imagine that some of the founding Stoicism! 2
ideas haven t been lost with the lack of writings there. Of course, if we were to have some of the founders writings, they would get the same (good or bad) interpretation treatment that anything goes through, so who s to say we would be any better off having that. My only stance there would be that more knowledge leads to the possibility of more understanding and that is rarely a bad thing. Let s also begin the introduction by outlining some qualities that are considered virtuous in the Stoic philosophy. They are: simplicity, wisdom, honesty, integrity, justice, courage, and temperance. On the other side of that Stoics denounce the following: anger, greed, weakness, lies, etc. A really good synopsis of this contrast was given in class where it was said that, Stoicism is not a macho philosophy. You must be nice, generous, etc with others but you must also be tough on yourself. This, to me, makes it a philosophy of true inflection and discipline. Not for the weak or will nor the lazy of action. The Stoic Life One of the main tenets of Stoicism is Logos. I think Logos is best described as The Soul of Nature or The Spiritual Blueprint of Universe. Logos is the thing that rules everything. It is a controlling force. Logos has purpose. Logos has, and is, reason. Logos has a plan for everything and everyone. Should one try to go against Logos, they will fail and their life will only be made more difficult in the struggle. There is no defeating Logos. If one should come across difficulty in life, that is because they are going against Logos. The difficulty is a sign that they should re-examine what they are doing (and what they want) and adjust to the will of The Universe. Stoicism! 3
Another big doctrine of the Stoic s philosophy is Fatalism. Accidents don t exist. One should learn to accept one s destiny as fate. The Plan of Logos will be, no matter how much (or how little) one struggles against it. If we desperately want to go to a lecture but our car breaks down, that was Logos stopping us from going to said lecture - never mind the reason. The reason may, or may not, be apparent to us. It could be that we were meant to not be there so as to avoid a much larger life mistake (which would make the Logos path even harder on us in the long run). If one was really hoping to avert meeting a group of strangers, but is happened upon by said group, there was a reason for that. Maybe one of those people needed some help that could only be provided by you. Knowing that Logos has a plan for us makes things both easier and more difficult, depending on how one chooses to take this knowledge. If one is truly practicing the stoic life, one will be always aware of Logos and will have, if practiced properly, successfully tamped out desire, ambition and expectation, which will bring them closer to the ideal, closer to the true nature of the reality of fatalism. On the other hand, it seems to me that, if misinterpreted, it is easy to see the Stoic as having a laissez-faire attitude or being lazy and noncontributory. This does not speak to true Stoicism however. True Stoicism places high value on trying. If you fail to try, then you have failed in your duty. Failure is not a condemnation (which I personally love) but a result of an effort! By all means, try again! Careful though, because there is a dilemma lingering there. The dilemma of control versus influence. Control is a reminder that one needs to always control their self. By all means try, and try often if that is what is needed, but keep control of your self. Don t let the attempt become an obsession or a hindrance to your duty. Sometimes failure is Logos saying that something isn t supposed to happen. Influence is all about Stoicism! 4
leading by example or modeling. Your influence can be seen and heard much more greatly if shown through action, rather than by word. True Stoicism is deeply rooted in duty and imbalance. A true Stoic takes on the mantra of dissymmetry, one of I owe more than I am owed. Each one of us has a duty, as defined by Logos, and it is our prime objective to live up to that duty. At the end of the day, one has truly lived according to the Stoic principle if one can say that, I have fulfilled my duty. To me, this seems an impossible task and borders on requiring desire to accomplish. If there is a flaw to Stoicism, that may be it. Another major component of the Stoic is to be able to control one s emotions. Note that this is not a mandate to ignore one s emotions. The idea is that emotions are fine to acknowledge, just not to act upon or to be driven by. This is particularly true for the man. An emotional man is a weak man, an immoral man. This man cannot be trusted to be levelheaded enough to fulfill their duty because emotion will cloud judgement. A woman, according to Aurelius Stoic philosophy is different. A woman has but one responsibility, and that is to love. Women are, according to Aurelius, more natural beings and, since emotions are more natural, it is only natural that a woman should live by that inclination. A woman s essence is to love. I have a love/hate perspective on this aspect of Stoicism. Firstly, this perspective is undeniably sexist and, undoubtedly to some, condescending to women. This perspective clearly places women in a lesser light and gives them less significance. To me, it also seems like a breakdown in logic and control. It seems like a power struggle where the men kept the women cleanly encased in a box that was comfortable for them (the men) to interact with. Secondly, I agree that women are Stoicism! 5
much better at feeling, and expressing (at least in our society), emotion. To that end, I love that they should love. On the other hand, I too find myself in deep touch with emotions like love and would like to also be free to express and experience them fully. I think it can probably go without saying - but I ll say it anyway - that a Stoic takes this philosophy incredibly seriously. There is no room for a part-time Stoic. It is deeply embedded in the philosophy that this should be an ongoing, often reminded and reflected upon, never faltering, lifestyle. The practice should always be in one s mind and actions. To do otherwise would be to allow anger, hate, desire, anguish, suffering, and pain into one s life. One more thing I d like to touch on is that of the Stoic perspective on misfortune. The Stoic believes that misfortune does not happen by accident. Remember that there are no accidents. Misfortune, as I see it being taught, happens from one of two reasons - one of which I have already touched on. The first reason for misfortune is that the receiver of misfortune is fighting against Logos. They have tried to go against what has been established as their path, or their path is in need of a fairly dramatic shift in order to get back in line. If they have veered off of the path too far, maybe misfortune is the only way for Logos to correct the detour. The second reason for misfortune, according to the Stoic doctrine, is that Logos needs to test us, from time to time, as a show of respect. Logos only tests the strong. There is no need to test the weak, they are compliant and malleable. In other words, if some misfortune came upon you, do not fret. Twas only a test of Logos and you should take it as a compliment and forge on with confidence. This, to me, seems very arbitrary and strange. It seems like it is a cop-out for the woes of the time, in a society that was suffering. Stoicism! 6
Quotes from Stoics Finally, I d like to finish up with some quotes that I consider to well distinguish the philosophy of the Stoic. These are quotes that have resonated with me for one reason or another. I hope they do the same for you... Markus Aurelius Say to yourself in the early morning: I sha" meet today ungrateful, violent, treacherous, envious, uncharitable men. A" of these things have come upon them through ignorance of real good and i" I can neither be harmed by any of them, for no man wi" involve me in wrong, nor can I be angry with my kinsman or hate him; for we have come into the world to work together The mind in itself wants nothing, unless it creates a want for itself; therefore it is both free from perturbation and unimpeded, if it does not perturb and impede itself. Epictetus Freedom is secured not by the fulfilling of one's desires, but by the removal of desire. If, therefore, any be unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone. Every person must deal with each thing according to the opinion that he holds about it. Seneca Let Nature deal with matter, which is her own, as she pleases; let us be cheerful and brave in the face of everything, reflecting that it is nothing of our own that perishes. A Note on the Cover Picture I chose the cover picture (with kind permission from Michael, found on his LiveCloud blog) because I think it does a good job capturing the essence of the Stoic. Children are so good at coping with what has been dealt them. Only the young would find, and play on, a Stoicism! 7
swing set in the midst of such obvious catastrophe. The picture really show an attitude of keep trying and of accept what happens as destiny. This picture is really quite inspiring! Stoicism! 8