Chapter four of How To Be A Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci introduces the Stoic principle “live according to nature.” Nature is defined as the community and world. In Meditations, Marcus Aurelius states, ”Even chance is not divorced from nature.”
The laws of nature and physics define what is possible, and we live within those possibilities/boundaries. There are several ideas within this chapter, I want to highlight two beginning with the relationship between nature and community.
The idea of community is critical to understanding the Stoic definition of nature. Stoics built on Aristotle’s idea that man is a rational animal by layering in relations with others. The Stoic need to live life according to nature stems from the belief that humans are both social and rational – the social is as important as the rational. The ancient Greek word for community is polity and cosmo-polity for the broader world (which evolved to cosmopolitan). Zeno held that we are all interconnected and that we had to continuously reflect on that interconnectedness to support an organized society or “polity.”Marcus Aurelius stated, “If it’s bad for the bee it’s bad for the hive.” Stoicism requires the use of reason to build the best society possible.
Note: I am listening to Ryan Holiday’s Lives of the Stoics. There are several times when leading Stoics seemingly wandered away from that last requirement. For example, Seneca tutored Nero long after it was apparent that Nero was a despot. Rome suffered; the best society was not built.
Another point in the chapter that struck me both times I read it, is the is-ought problem (also known as Hume’s Law). The problem is that you cannot logically derive prescriptive conclusions (what should be done) solely from descriptive premises (how things are). For example, just because something exists or occurs in a particular way doesn’t automatically imply that it should exist or occur in that way. The idea of living according to nature is turned into an “appeal to nature.” This rhetorical technique is a form of an is-ought problem. Just because something is natural does not mean that it is good for you, for example – poisonous mushrooms. Another common reflection of Hume’s Law that I often see in agile circles is that if Scrum is a good framework for development, it can be used for all work. Logical arguments built using an is-ought construction are at best sloppy and often dangerous. They are often common and insidious when they leverage falsehoods or conspiracy theories as a base. Telescopes are very powerful but we can’t see lunar modules; therefore no one has landed on the moon.
Living according to nature is a cornerstone of living ethically and pragmatically in the real world.
Buy a copy of How To Be A Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci and read along
Previous Entries:
Week 1: Logistics and Opening Thoughts
Week 2: The Unstraightforward Path
Week 3: A Roadmap For The Journey
