Let’s begin by dispelling the notion that Stoicism eschews emotion and feeling, rather than a philosophy based on the importance of wisdom, character, and balance. Pigliucci states, “Stoicism is an approach to living in which moral character is the only truly worthy thing to cultivate.” While I believe Spock (Star Trek) has a high moral character, if you are expecting How To Be A Stoic to teach how to be a Vulcan, you will be disappointed. If nothing else, the Stoics have a wry sense of humor. Forewarned is forearmed.
Chapter 1 of How To Be A Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci establishes that the central question of all cultures and philosophies is “how to live.” This is true for all philosophies and religions. I was amused by the suggestion that “a happy sort of nihilism” was a philosophy and could be a conscious approach to living one’s life. Perhaps that was one of those points of wry humor in the book. I have spent more than a few hours jogging contemplating that mental image. The author uses his journey to stoicism to answer why this philosophy provides him with a framework for how to live.
In exploring Stoicism, I have found many of this philosophy’s ideas demanding in today’s consumerism-driven capitalism. The stipulation that moral character is what we should strive to cultivate clashes with the weight our society puts on external characteristics such as beauty, wealth, and power. Stoicism views health, education, and wealth as preferred indifferents – nice to have but only if they don’t get in the way of continually improving your moral character. Note, that improving does not suggest there is a level of perfection, but rather that we are always striving. Salvator Dali stated, “Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it.”
Another of the refreshing components of Stoicism is the philosophy’s evolutionary stance. Stoics by definition are open to science and to considering and incorporating challenges to their doctrines and altering them accordingly. As they learned new things about the world they incorporated them into how they understood nature. Wisdom was one of the highest virtues, ignoring fact is unwise. Stoics embrace a worldview that is innately open to revision as new knowledge is developed.
This is a philosophical framework, not a religion. For example, Stoics are open to incorporating metaphysics. The study of physics (think natural world) is one of the core areas of knowledge in Stoicism. Metaphysics was a component of physics in Ancient Greece where Stoicism was founded. To the Greeks, the gods and nature were intertwined.
Another key from Chapter 1 is the tenet of Stoicism that “we recognize, and take seriously, the difference between what we can and cannot master.” As I have reflected on this idea I have noticed that it is easy to spend immense psychological capital on things that are outside of my control. Debates or even raising to the bait and commenting on inflammatory Facebook posts is an example of spending effort on things outside our control. While it suited Bob Seger as a song title, “Running Against The Wind”, in real life it wastes energy and doesn’t provide value.
The hard part of the control-can’t/control dichotomy is determining what is and what isn’t in our span of control. Deciding requires reflection which means not immediately jumping into a discussion, an argument, or making statements of intent. Reflection in the moment is often difficult. My answer is to spend time mentally role-playing before getting into situations and then retrospectively reflecting on how I handled the scenario. I am not afraid of perfection – not even close.
On a final note: In this chapter, the author introduces Epictetus, one of the earliest Stoic philosophers. The author uses Epictetus as a guide for the rest of the book, a “Virgil to his Dante.” The running conversation with Epictetus is a tool to explore and contrast interpretations of stoicism from its ancient roots to a modern philosophical framework.
Buy a copy of How To Be A Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci and read along.
Week 1: Logistics and Opening Thoughts
