1.4% of Stoicism Explained
WHAT
Stoicism is a two-thousand year old philosophy dedicated to helping people better themselves, stop caring about things outside their control, and live virtuous lives. On the outside, life today couldn’t be more different from life one hundred years ago, let alone two thousand years ago. Humans today have social media, cars, and countless other things that even emperors couldn’t dream of possessing back then. But internally, humans have pretty much stayed the same. We lose our patience over petty things, care too much what other people think, and struggle to deal with change.
What is Stoicism?
Stoicism is a tool set that helps us direct our thoughts and actions in an unpredictable world. We don’t control and cannot rely on external events, but we can (to a certain extent) control our mind and choose our behavior.
In the end, it’s not what happens to us but our reactions to it that matter.
For those who like it super quick, Stoicism in a sentence…,
“Stoicism teaches how to keep a calm and rational mind, no matter what happens to you and it helps you understand and focus on what you can control and not worry about and accept what you can't control.”
For those who like it lightning fast, Stoicism in simple words..,
“indifference to pleasure or pain”
WHO
Stoicism is an ancient philosophy founded in Athens by the Phoenician merchant Zeno of Citium around 301 BC.
But over the centuries, nearly two millennia, the once so essential knowledge faded from view and almost got forgotten.
It was only since the 1970s that Stoicism has grown in popularity again. Mainly because it’s been the philosophical inspiration for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and because of authors like William Irvine and Ryan Holiday who wrote about the philosophy.
Against the odds, old documents from Stoic teachers and practitioners have survived. Meet the 3 Stoic principal leaders:
Marcus Aurelius:
“If it is not right, do not do it, if it is not true, do not say it.” — Marcus Aurelius.
The last good emperor of the Roman Empire, the most powerful man on earth, sat down each evening to reflect on the day and write down in his private diary. This private diary has been published as the book Meditations and it’s the most significant source of Stoic Philosophy.
Epictetus:
“Men are disturbed not by things but the view which they take of them. ” — Epictetus.
Born a slave, gone a legend. He founded his own school and taught many of Rome’s greatest minds, one of which was Marcus Aurelius. His teachings have been written down by one of his students, Arrian – Discourses and Enchiridion. As a side note, Enchiridion often gets translated as “handbook“ but it literally means “ready at hand“ – more like a sword than a handbook, always ready to deal with life’s challenges.
Seneca:
“Let us train our minds to desire what the situation demands.” — Seneca.
Tutor and adviser to Nero (the Roman emperor who later forced Seneca to commit suicide) and Rome’s best playwright and wisest power broker – the modern day entrepreneur if you will. Many of his personal letters survived and serve as a great source of Stoic philosophy.
WHERE & WHEN
History of Stoicism:
Stoicism was a school of ancient philosophy founded in Athens by the Phoenician merchant Zeno of Citium around 301 BC. It was originally called Zenonism but came to be known as Stoicism because Zeno and his followers met in the Stoa Poikilê, or Painted Porch.
The Stoics met outside in the public, on this porch, and anyone could listen to the debate. You could argue it was somehow a ‘philosophy of the street’ for ordinary people, not only aristocrats.
From the onset and for nearly five centuries Stoicism was one of the most influential and highly-regarded schools of philosophy. It was one of the most popular civic disciplines in the West, practiced by the rich and the poor, the powerful and the sufferer alike in the pursuit of the Good Life.
WHY
The principle of ‘dichotomy of control’ (some things are within our control and others are not) is especially useful today, since it urges us to redirect all our energy and time towards changing what we actually are capable of changing.
Stoicism in itself helps you master yourself , and use your emotions in a healthy way, but in this era, since there are far more distractions than ever, it can prevent us from doing things that are futile. Also, it can make us more progress oriented, helping us focus more on the journey than the outcome. Again, in this age of distractions, it can help us not to lose foresight, to not get caught up with changing what we simply can’t.
HOW
In Stoicism, we find four great Virtues that can make us independent:
1. Prudence
Perhaps the most important and most general. Being prudent is having practical wisdom to act in the right way and accept what we cannot control. Prudence means that we are in harmony with nature as a whole, with everyone around us, and ourselves.
With Prudence, we learn what to do or not to do and when to do or not do to live well. This allows you to go through the most diverse situations in a calm, balanced, and serene way because you know yourself, others, and the world.
The opposite of prudence is ignorance, folly, doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.
In this way, the prudent person is wise enough to easily recognize which way to go, and knows where things can end well or badly. He has this keen intuition and knows what is the most appropriate action at the moment.
A person with Prudence always asks: do I know what I’m doing?
2. Temperance
Temperance is simply the moderation of our actions, thoughts, and affections. It is linked with the Logic part of the Stoic philosophy and is part of the Discipline of Assent. This discipline teaches us to live in harmony with our own essential nature as rational beings, which means living in accord with reason and truthfulness in both our thoughts and speech.
To be temperate is to examine yourself to know what your limit is, when to stop and how much you can continue.
Temperance always asks itself: Am I still in control of the situation? Does it make sense to continue?
3. Courage
Courage is the ability to face the challenges of the world, no matter how difficult they seem. It is part of Physics, as it disciplines the desire to want only what the world gives us.
Courage is the strength, the certainty of knowing what we should and shouldn’t do—train to face any problem.
Its opposite is cowardice, not facing something we would win, but also recklessness, facing something we know we can’t. Courage is the ability to face dangers, to face them head-on.
With his sister Temperance, Courage always asks itself: am I up to what I’m going to face? Am I prepared for life’s challenges?
4. Justice
Stoic justice goes far beyond the legal field. It is part of Ethics and exists for disciplinary action. We are primarily talking about the relationship with the other.
Moral justice teaches us to give each one his due so that everyone can take part in good proportions. It is the art of correctly dividing the world around us, finding the best relationship with each other where everyone can grow and prosper.
Its opposite is injustice, where the division of reality does not match and is unnatural or irrational with what happens. The objective is to multiply goods and divide evils.
Justice always asks itself: Am I giving or receiving what is deserved? Is the relationship with others proportional or disproportionate?
The Takeaway
Remember the 4 questions so that you can get closer to the four virtues:
Do I know what I’m doing?
Am I still in control of the situation? Does it make sense to continue?
Am I up to what I’m going to face? Am I prepared for life’s challenges?
Am I giving or receiving what is deserved? Is the relationship with others proportional or disproportionate?
Stoicism, due to its deceptively simple, yet complex and holistic approach is uniquely equipped to provide us with a new way to generate meaning in a rational way. It teaches us how to become better people by improving our character, dealing with negative emotions and encouraging social engagement on a local and global level.
In short, Stoicism insists that this world, this life, right here right now (hic et nunc) is all we’ve got. So we better make the most of it.
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