Philosophy — Stoicism in-depth Overview

Part 1

Dichotomy of Control

“Some things are under our control, while others are not under our control. Under our control are conception, choice, desire, aversion, and, in a word, everything that is our own doing; not under our control are our body, our property, reputation, office, and, in a word, everything that is not our own doing. […] Make it, therefore, your study at the very outset to say to every harsh external impression, ‘You are an external impression and not at all what you appear to be.’ After that examine it and test it by these rules which you have, the first and most important of which is this: Whether the impression has to do with the things which are under our control, or with those which are not under our control; and, if it has to do with some one of the things not under our control, have ready to hand the answer, ‘It is nothing to me.’”Epictetus · Enchiridion 1

A dichotomy is a contrast between two opposites. Things in our control are “by nature free, unhindered, and unimpeded,” while things outside of our control are “weak, servile, subject to hindrance, and not our own.” It’s a distinction between external (not in our control) and internal (in our control). You can’t influence external events so the only thing you can do is to accept them, and focus your attention on things that are within your control. You can’t change what happens to you, but you can change how you respond to it. It’s fundamentally about focusing your attention where you can influence the outcome.

Note that you also can’t influence emotions directly. You can only change them indirectly, by changing the underlying perspectives that cause these emotions. An example would be: Instead of getting angry at someone who wronged, to follow Epictetus’ advice instead:

“When someone treats you ill or speaks ill of you, remember that he acts or speaks thus because he thinks it is incumbent upon him. That being the case, it is impossible for him to follow what appears good to you, but what appears good to himself; whence it follows, that, if he gets a wrong view of things, the man that suffers is the man that has been deceived. For if a person thinks a true composite judgment to be false, the composite judgment does not suffer, but the person who has been deceived. If, therefore, you start from this point of view, you will be gentle with the man who reviles you. For you should say on each occasion, ‘He thought that way about it.’”Epictetus · Enchiridion 42

This ties in with Stoic Katalepsis (κατάληψις, grasping/comprehension). This is, however, not necessary for the basics. It’s an advanced term you don’t need to be familiar with. I think the best way to grasp this concept is to let the founder of Stoicism, Zeno of Citium, explain it:

“He (Zeno) would display his hand in front of one with the fingers stretched out and say ‘A visual appearance is like this’; next he closed his fingers a little and said, ‘An act of assent is like this’; then he pressed his fingers closely together and made a fist, and said that that was comprehension (and from this illustration he gave to that process the actual name of katalepsis, which it had not had before); but then he used to apply his left hand to his right fist and squeeze it tightly and forcibly, and then say that such was knowledge, which was within the power of nobody save the wise man.”Cicero · Academica 2.144

The line between good and bad, in your control and not in you control, can sometimes be blurry. There are things that seem to be one, but are actually the opposite. For this distinction reason and virtue are crucial. They show us what to do when and help differentiate between true good and evil.

“I should prefer to be free from torture; but if the time comes when it must be endured, I shall desire that I may conduct myself therein with bravery, honor, and courage. […] The conclusion is, not that hardships are desirable, but that virtue is desirable, which enables us patiently to endure hardships.”Seneca · Moral Letters to Lucilius 67.4

Part 2

Reason and Virtue

“Whatever happens to you, remember to look inside yourself and see what capacity you have to enable you to deal with it… If hard work lies in store for you, you’ll find endurance, if you are insulted you’ll find patience. If you get in the habit of responding this way, you won’t get swept away by your impressions of things.”Epictetus · Enchiridion 10

Virtue comes from the Greek “ἀρετή/arete” and can also be translated with excellence. To strive for virtue means to strive for excellence in every act. You can’t be virtuous without also being reasonable. This is because they are interconnected. Reason guides one towards virtue, which is the highest good. To be virtuous means acting according to reason and Stoic principles. Reason is the way; virtue the finish line. Hence virtues among each other, as well as virtue with reason, are inseparable. They’re all united with each other and make up a fulfilling, moral, and tranquil life. Because terms like reason and virtue are rather vague; Stoics split them up into 4 cardinal virtues, for ease of use. The 4 cardinal virtues are:

Wisdom

helps you be rational, understand what matters most, and exercise good judgment in specific situations. It includes differentiating between good and bad, but also acting upon it.

“In each separate thing that you do, consider the matters which come first and those which follow after, and only then approach the thing itself. Otherwise, at the start you will come to it enthusiastically, because you have never reflected upon any of the subsequent steps, but later on, when some difficulties appear, you will give up disgracefully. […] You must be one person, either good or bad; you must labor to improve either your own governing principle or externals; you must work hard either on the inner man, or on things outside; that is, play either the role of a philosopher or else that of a layman.”Epictetus · Enchiridion 29

Justice

is about interplay between human beings. Treat others and yourself fairly, kindly, and with patience. Strive to help other human beings, as long as it’s with reason and virtue. Giving others what they want doesn’t always help them. Aim for actual help, not for what merely seems like it, by making people feel good.

“Men have come into the world for the sake of one another. Either instruct them then or bear with them.”Marcus Aurelius · Meditations 8.59

Courage

means to act with discipline. Be brave when it comes to things outside of your control and persistent with what’s in your control.

“To what man did they not seem easier in the doing? Our lack of confidence is not the result of difficulty; the difficulty comes from our lack of confidence.”Seneca · Moral Letters to Lucilius 104

Temperance

also often translated with self-control or moderation. It’s all about being moderate in your lifestyle and regaining control over your mind, when emotions overwhelm. Don’t strive for more, strive to be contempt with what’s enough. Don’t strive to be like others; strive to be the best version of yourself.

“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”Seneca · Moral Letters to Lucilius 2

Part 3

Stoic Fundamentals

“What is your art? Well doing. And how else can this come than from sound general principles regarding Nature as a whole, and the constitution of man in particular?”Marcus Aurelius · Meditations 11.5

There are multiple interconnected disciplines, that are supposed to guide us toward virtue.

Ethics (or how to live)

is about knowing the true difference between good and bad, as well as acting accordingly. There are a lot of things that seem to be good or bad, because they make one feel that way, but are the opposite. Being insulted, for example, might cause a bad reaction, but the actual bad thing here is the act of insulting, not being insulted. Therefore, upon such an occasion, one should be compassionate. He, who insults, is suffering bad, not the person being insulted (See Enchiridion 42 in Chapter 1 for more details). Also suppressing thoughts might make you feel better in the short-term, but do more harm in the long-term. More on this below in ‘Logic’. Ethics also ties in with everything previously discussed, as well as with all that follows (except for the next part, ‘Physics’).

“To live happily, my brother Gallio, is the desire of all men, but their minds are blinded to a clear vision of just what it is that makes life happy; and so far from its being easy to attain the happy life, the more eagerly a man strives to reach it, the farther he recedes from it if he has made a mistake in the road; for when it leads in the opposite direction, his very speed will increase the distance that separates him. First, therefore, we must seek what it is that we are aiming at; then we must look about for the road by which we can reach it most quickly, and on the journey itself, if only we are on the right path, we shall discover how much of the distance we overcome each day, and how much nearer we are to the goal toward which we are urged by a natural desire.”Seneca · On the Happy Life 1

Physics (or how the world works)

is about understanding what’s around you and the connections that they have. Stoic physical theory included topics traditionally covered by natural philosophy, and it is where the Stoics developed their ontology and metaphysics. As is to be expected of their systematic approach to philosophy, much of Stoic physics is fundamental in underpinning their views in ethics and also interacts with some of their logic and philosophy of language. Physics is rather controversial in Stoicism. It’s not necessary to live a good, stoic life, and has no significant impact on other aspects of Stoicism.

“Constantly think of the Universe as one living creature, embracing one being and one soul; how all is absorbed into the one consciousness of this living creature; how it compasses all things with a single purpose, and how all things work together to cause all that comes to pass, and their wonderful web and texture.”Marcus Aurelius · Meditations 4.40

Logic (or how to think)

is about having the proper thought processes that lead to a helpful emotional response and makes acting properly easier. The scope of the branch of philosophy the Stoics called “logic” was wide, including not only the analysis of argument forms and the development of a formal system of logic, but also rhetoric, grammar, epistemology, and what we might now call philosophy of language, including extensive theories of language and meaning. Please note that thoughts or emotions that aren’t properly processed stay inside your mind until they are. That’s why undisputed, unhealthy beliefs causes neurosis with various consequences. Of course, not everything that crosses the mind has to be processed instantly. If you don’t have time or it’s overwhelming the best thing to do is to jot the situation down and scheduling a time to think it through. When you do want to process thoughts it’s important to know that it needs to be truthful. Simply repeating positive mantras have little to no affect on mood. Your mind will rebel if it’s not true.

“The Happiness of your Life depends upon the Quality of your Thoughts, therefore guard accordingly: And take care that you entertain no Notions unsuitable to Virtue and reasonable Nature.”Marcus Aurelius · Meditations 3.09

For the next portion it’s important to keep in mind that the first Discipline of Desire takes priority over the others. This is because bad emotions can be traced back to desire and aversion. Desire too much or avert too little and your mind can’t be clear enough to possibly overcome difficulty. I’ll give two examples to undermine this; one from a neuroscientist talking about a paper from a psychologist. The other, of course, is from a fellow Stoic.

“Wegner demonstrated a two-step process of frontocortical regulation: (A) one stream identifies X as being very important; (B) the other stream tracks whether the conclusion is ‘Do X’ or ‘Never do X.’ And during stress, distraction, or heavy cognitive load, the two streams can dissociate; the A stream exerts its presence without the B stream saying which fork in the road to take. The chance that you will do precisely the wrong thing rises not despite your best efforts but because of a stress boggled version of them.”Robert M. Sapolsky · Behave ch.2 p.64

“The most important and urgent of these domains is the one that has to do with the passions. A passion is only ever the result of frustrated desire or ineffective aversion. This is the domain that entails mental turmoil, confusion, wretchedness, misery, sorrow, grief, and fear, and which makes us envious and jealous, until we can’t even to listen to reason.”Epictetus · Discourses 3.2.3

Discipline of Desire (or Stoic Acceptance)

The discipline of desire is the virtue of living in accordance with Nature or the Universe as a Whole. This includes having a philosophical attitude toward life and accepting our Fate as inevitable. Fate here is not some mysterious metaphysical force of predetermination. It simply means the causal network of events that bring about subsequent events (cause and effect).

Goalhave aversion for what is bad and desire for what is good, understanding that virtue is the only true good. Accept your fate and external events as they are, recognizing that they are not within your control.

“Seek not for events to happen as you wish but wish events to happen as they do and your life will go smoothly and serenely.”Epictetus · Enchiridion 8

Discipline of Action (or Stoic Philanthropy)

The discipline of action is essentially undertaking all action in harmony with our fellow humans, as well as helping them flourish (i.e. live a life of eudaimonia), pursuing actions in accordance with the virtues and avoiding the passions. Or, at least making sure our actions don’t go against our virtues and the good of mankind. However, because the condition of others is out of our control, we should undertake these actions with a “reserve clause” such as “Fate permitting”, “God-willing”, etc., always remembering that our actions can be obstructed. It also includes acting in accordance to the aforementioned cardinal virtues and taming the 4 passions, that are:

i.Fear – irrational aversion to something falsely judged as bad (cowardice, procrastination)
ii.Craving – irrational attraction to something falsely judged as good (gluttony, greed, addiction)
iii.Pain – irrational sadness over something falsely judged as bad (moping, self-pity)
iv.Elation – irrational happiness over something falsely judged as good (over-excitement, indulgence)

GoalTo act in accordance with your social roles and duties, and to act with justice, fairness, and kindness. Engage in “love of mankind” and act in ways that are beneficial to your community and society.

“I have recognized the nature of the person who goes wrong, and seen that they are my relative, not because we share blood and seed, but because they share the same mind and portion of divinity […] nor can I be angry at my relative or hate them. We were born to work together, like feet or hands or eyelids, or the rows of upper and lower teeth. To work against one another therefore is to oppose Nature, and to be vexed with another or to turn away from him is to tend to antagonism.”Marcus Aurelius · Meditations 2.1

The Discipline of Assent (or Stoic Mindfulness)

The discipline of assent is the virtue of living in accordance with our nature as rational beings, which means living in accord with reason and truth in our thoughts and speech. Assent is in reference to which thoughts or impression we agree with. It consists of monitoring our inner voice and confronting our value judgments. For instance, when we hear of a death, our inner voice may say “That is tragic”. If we give assent to this impression, then we judge the event as tragic even though it was in accordance with nature. Instead we should catch the impression and ask “Was this death truly tragic, or is it nature running its course? All things must come to an end eventually. Is that truly a tragedy?” and so on.

GoalTo assent only to impressions that you know to be true and to withhold assent from those you know to be false or uncertain. Stay mindful of your judgments to avoid being deceived and to maintain a clear, objective view of events.

“It is not the things themselves that disturb men, but their judgments about these things. For example, death is nothing dreadful, or else Socrates too would have thought so, but the judgment that death is dreadful, this is the dreadful thing. When, therefore, we are hindered, or disturbed, or grieved, let us never blame anyone but ourselves, that means, our own judgments.”Epictetus · Enchiridion 5

Part 4

Stoic Practices

“Practice even where you despair of success. Want of practice makes the left hand helpless in all else, but in handling the bridle it is more efficient than the right: that comes of practice.”Marcus Aurelius · Meditations 12.06

To make it easier I will group them into passive and active practices. Passive ones are like mantras you can quickly go over in your head. Active ones require more mental and, sometimes, physical presence.

Passive

Premeditatio Malorum / Negative Visualization

Think about what could (realistically) go wrong.
This is Murphy’s Law: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”
So think about what you can do and then do it, except if you don’t care but then you also mustn’t complain.
Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
Is essentially just antecedent reappraisal, which is very effective and responsible for the placebo effect.

“for it is the unexpected that puts the heaviest load upon us. Strangeness adds to the weight of calamities, and every mortal feels the greater pain as a result of that which also brings surprise.”Seneca · Moral Letters to Lucilius 91.3

The Inner Citadel

Know that there is always a place of peace and solitude within yourself you can retreat into whenever you want to.
Stoics treat themselves often to this sensation to gain a sense of awareness and to stay calm in situations that might be overwhelming otherwise.

“Men look for retreats for themselves, the country, the sea-shore, the hills; and you yourself, too, are peculiarly accustomed to feel the same want. Yet all this is very unlike a philosopher, when you may at any hour you please retreat into yourself. For nowhere does a man retreat into more quiet or more privacy than into his own mind, especially one who has within such things that he has only to look into, and become at once in perfect ease; and by ease I mean nothing else but good behavior. Continually, therefore, grant yourself this retreat and repair yourself. But let them be brief and fundamental truths, which will suffice at once by their presence to wash away all sorrow, and to send you back without repugnance to the life to which you return.”Marcus Aurelius · Meditations 4.03

Active

View from Above

See life from a 3^rd person perspective.
Think about how small your problems are compared with the world.

“to see them from above: the thousands of animal herds, the rituals, the voyages on calm or stormy seas, the different ways we come into the world, share it with one another, and leave it. Consider the lives led once by others, long ago, the lives to be led by others after you, the lives led even now, in foreign lands. How many people don’t even know your name: How many will soon have forgotten it. How many offer you praise now – and tomorrow, perhaps contempt”Marcus Aurelius · Meditations 9.30

Contemplation of the Sage

Imagine and emulate the ideal person.
This can be a real (like Socrates, Epictetus, etc.) or an imaginative one.
For an imaginative find what you value the most and look for who excelled there.

“Even if you are not yet a Socrates, still you ought to live as one who wishes to be a Socrates.”Epictetus · Enchiridion 51

Voluntary Discomfort

Go through discomfort for a greater appreciation and refining of character.
Ranges from not eating a snack for better health to enduring laughter for wanting to be philosopher, in order to achieve virtue and tranquility.

“If you would not have a man flinch when the crisis comes, train him before it comes.”Seneca · Moral Letters to Lucilius 18

Journaling / Nightly reflection

Reflect on the day and analyze how you lived up to the Stoic ideal.
Remember to do so virtuously, treat yourself as friend you want to help.

Good Questions for the beginning would be:

What did I do well today?
What did I do not so well today?
What could be improved, and how?
What am I grateful for?

For people that want more, other useful questions are:

Which virtues did I use when?
Are there any situations where I could’ve been more virtuous? If so: how?
How does what I did today bring me closer to my ideal?
Is there a quote that resonated with me today? If so: Why?

“I pass the whole day in review before myself, and repeat all that I have said and done: I conceal nothing from myself, and omit nothing: for why should I be afraid of any of my shortcomings, when it is in my power to say, ‘I pardon you this time: see that you never do that anymore? In that dispute you spoke too contentiously: do not for the future argue with ignorant people: those who have never been taught are unwilling to learn. You reprimanded that man with more freedom than you ought, and consequently you have offended him instead of amending his ways: in dealing with other cases of the kind, you should look carefully, not only to the truth of what you say, but also whether the person to whom you speak can bear to be told the truth.’ A good man delights in receiving advice: all the worst men are the most impatient of guidance.”Seneca · Of Anger 3.36

Closing Section

Closing

“The first and most necessary division in philosophy is that which has to do with the application of the principles, as, for example, Do not lie. The second deals with the demonstrations, as, for example. How comes it that we ought not to lie? The third confirms and discriminates between these processes, as, for example, How does it come that this is a proof? For what is a proof, what is logical consequence, what contradiction, what truth, what falsehood? Therefore, the third division is necessary because of the second, and the second because of the first; while the most necessary of all, and the one in which we ought to rest, is the first. But we do the opposite; for we spend our time in the third division, and all our zeal is devoted to it, while we utterly neglect the first. Wherefore, we lie, indeed, but are ready with the arguments which prove that one ought not to lie.”Epictetus · Enchiridion 52

Thank you for reading! To end it I’ll tell you what you can read next, in case you’re interested. The bold text is a summary of what the following resource, marked in Italic, is:

If you want a short, concise read, I recommend Epictetus’ Enchiridion. In case you are more of a spiritual or religious person then Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations is likely more appealing to you. If you want to know about Stoicisms’ modern relevance then reading the last article linked below is for you. When you want something that represents more of a Wikipedia article then the Stanford Encyclopedia is more your style. For people that are interested in History or the Greek Stoics Diogenes Laertius’ Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book 7 is more suitable.

That’s it with the theory. The rest (i.e. applying it) is up to you.

“Discourse no more of what a good man should be; but be one.”Marcus Aurelius · Meditations 10.16

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