Stoicism is a philosophy originating in Greece (founded by
the 3rd Century BC philosopher Zeno) with a strong focus on how to
live. For this reason, it became very popular well into the Roman Empire,
especially since it was useful in teaching us how to act when faced with
adversity.
Stoicism placed a great deal of emphasis on virtue, which
comprised of the character we display in certain difficult situations. The
essence of this virtue is that we should live according to nature
Stoicism is deterministic on a cosmic level; they believe
that the entire universe is one organism which is entirely governed by a
“divine principle” (pantheism). Therefore, all suffering and hardships are
inevitable and we must learn to accept this. True happiness is the ability to
co-exist with this complex harmonious structure of nature, thus ridding
ourselves of negative emotion.
However, Stoicism advocates a form of soft-determinism,
implying that there are still some things which we are free to control for
ourselves. Examples of these include: our opinions, desires, goals and beliefs.
On the other hand, the actions of others, our reputation and
wealth are simply not up to us to determine. Misery arises when we try to
desire these aspects of life which we are not in control of.
In this sense, we often enslave ourselves, subservient to these
notions of respect and power. Stoics believe that we can use reason to discard
these ideas from our desires, which we can control, thus setting us free from
the misery that come with them. They referred to this reason as the “God within
us” and believed that reason separated us from other forms of life, an
attribute we share with the gods.
As a result, the Stoics suggest that we become indifferent
to all that is outside of our control in order to cultivate a type of inner
freedom. We are still subject to many natural and social causes upon us, but we
can change the way we respond to them in order to live better lives. This is
what it means to be virtuous. We should love everything that comes our way
equally. Even in times of fortune, we must not grow attached to the benefits
that we receive or we will be anxious about losing them. We must not be
dependent on anything.
In times of adversity, things only appear to be bad because
we judge them to be so. Instead we should view it as a mountain to climb and a
hardship to embrace.
It is not what you endure but how you endure it that defines
true character.
A Stoic Sage is someone who perfectly embodies Stoic
principles and, if one existed, would be more god than man. They would use
reason to control themselves and be equally happy in any situation, regardless
of circumstance. Ultimately, Stoicism flourished in Rome because it offered
pragmatic advice on how to cope with the difficulties of living and how to
endure suffering.
Word Count: 495
A. A. Long and D. N. Sedley, The Hellenistic Philosophers
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
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