Frequestly Asked Questions (and answers) about Stoic philosophy
Stoicism is a philosophy primarily concerned with finding the best way to live one’s life, in figuring out how to flourish as human beings. It is one of a family of such philosophies developed in the Hellenistic period of Mediterranean history. Stoicism’s rivals included Epicureanism, Skepticism, Peripateticism, and Cynicism, each of which was similar to Stoicism in some ways, and different in others.
The Stoics did think that benefiting from philosophy required dedication to philosophy, but they did not think that attaining or deserving the label “Stoic” was important. They did not think that it was necessary to be a Stoic to be a philosopher, and they did not think a philosopher’s views should be based on loyalty to a school. Rather, they thought that one’s views should be arrived at through reason. Many of the figures the Stoics presented as role models were not Stoics themselves (e.g., Socrates). Sometimes they even belonged to rival schools of philosophy (e.g., Diogenes of Sinope and Stilpo of Megara).
Stoic philosophy included views on a wide variety of philosophical questions, and many people agree with some positions held by the Stoics and not others. Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism, studied with philosophers from several different schools before beginning to teach, and many elements of Stoicism were adapted from schools of philosophy for which Stoicism would later become a rival. The Stoics had some views in common with each, but other views that differed, and were therefore considered distinct from each other.
After the founding of the school, views that were part of Stoicism have been adopted or adapted by a wide variety of philosophers and religious denominations outside of Stoicism. Just as Stoicism shared views with the schools of philosophy that influenced it yet was different enough to be a distinct from them, these philosophers were influenced by the Stoics without being Stoic themselves.
Among modern readers, many have encountered ideas from ancient philosophy for the first time in Stoicism. Most find they agree with or are inspired by some elements and not others, and are selective about what they put into practice in their lives. Sometimes they find that the Stoic views they agree with are ones the Stoics shared with one or another of its rivals (such as the Epicureans or Peripatetics), and go on to study these other schools in more depth. Even more people have been influenced indirectly by Stoicism, and have not even been aware of the influence. For example, Stoicism had a strong influence on the development of cognitive behavioral therapy, a common method of psychotherapy, but most patients (and even therapists) are unaware of the connection. So, many more people have been influenced or inspired by the Stoics than have been Stoic themselves.
The Stoics did not think that people should adopt philosophical positions based on authority, coercion, or personal loyalty to a given school or system; rather, philosophical positions should be adopted on the basis of rational argument. Diogenes Laertius reports an anecdote about Zeno, when he started attending lectures of by Stilpo (a philosopher from the Megarian school) after having studied with Crates of Thebes:
when Crates dragged him by the cloak away from Stilpo, he said, “O Crates, the proper way to take hold of philosophers is by the ears; so now do you convince me and drag me by them; but if you use force towards me, my body may be with you, but my mind with Stilpo.”
So, it is not at all necessary to become a Stoic in order to learn from the Stoics, and indeed the Stoics themselves would not have approved of adopting Stoic positions except through rational persuasion. In order to learn from the Stoics and their philosophy, however, it is necessary to learn about Stoicism and the Stoics. To learn from any philosophy, you must seriously consider, understand, and contemplate the elements of the system that are most unintuitive to you, or alien to your usual way of thinking. At the same time, in the Stoic view, the whole point of learning about Stoicism is to learn from it: if all you do is learn about it and not from it, the Stoics would have thought that you have gained nothing from your effort.
Stoicism is a philosophy of life, a practical guide to applying wisdom to your daily choices, focused on living life as a thriving rational being, characterized by excellence in judgement and the fulfilled happiness that is to the mind what robust healthy fitness is to the body. Stoics believe that, just as physical pain is caused by illness and injury to the body, human distress is caused (at least in part, and according to orthodox Stoicism, entirely) by mistaken judgements and incorrect beliefs, particularly about good and bad. To wholly correct these judgements and correct these beliefs is a difficult task, perhaps effectively impossible, but Stoic study, practice, and exercises aim at least to improve those of the Stoics who practice them.
The details of Stoic beliefs and practices have varied significantly over time and by individual, but there are some common, fundamental elements. In classical (ancient Greek and Roman) times, there were Early, Middle, and Late periods, each of which had distinctive features.
Common central themes of philosophy labeled “Stoic” include:
Although these are common characteristics, Stoic philosophy is not simply reducible to these elements: each of these require elaboration for understanding, and these interact with each other and also with characteristics not part of this list. This elaboration and interaction has a significant impact on the overall effect of adopting the philosophy. Differences in interpretation, familiarity with historical context and more obscure Stoic works, selective adaptation, and personal modification of historical Stoicism therefore lead to a substantial variety in the philosophies held by modern people who describe themselves as “Stoic,” or who are influenced by Stoicism.
There were a number of Stoic exercises aimed at improvement of character by training the Stoic not to judge externals either good or bad. These instructions are referred to but not well described by classical literature, and so we must rely on educated guesswork and reconstructions. What has survived has been influential in the development of modern psychotherapy techniques, particularly cognitive behavioral therapy.
Stoicism was a “school” of philosophy in Ancient Greece and Rome. Lessons in a school of philosophy covered a wide curriculum, including both intellectual and practical elements. The ultimate goal of such a school was improvement (or transformation) of one’s character. We have records of the names and authors of many of the books studied by Stoics, but the books themselves did not survive the Middle Ages, and the person-to-person tradition ended in 529 CE at the latest. What we do have is second hand accounts from rivals and compilers of encyclopedias, and notes and writings of several late lay Stoics. (Attributions to Epictetus are notes from his student Arrian, and were not written by Epictetus himself. Accounts of Musonius Rufus’s teachings are similarly second hand. Seneca and Marcus Aurelius were politicians rather than professional philosophers.)
Stoic education had three parts: Logic, Ethics, and Physics. From Diogenes Laertius’s Lives of Eminent Philosophers:
[40] Philosophy, they say, is like an animal, Logic corresponding to the bones and sinews, Ethics to the fleshy parts, Physics to the soul. Another simile they use is that of an egg : the shell is Logic, next comes the white, Ethics, and the yolk in the centre is Physics. Or, again, they liken Philosophy to a fertile field : Logic being the encircling fence, Ethics the crop, Physics the soil or the trees. Or, again, to a city strongly walled and governed by reason. No single part, some Stoics declare, is independent of any other part, but all blend together.
Because Stoic were teleological pantheist materialists, physics included theology. This education included not just knowledge, but also character building. (That is, not just learning about wisdom, but also how to train oneself to act wisely.)
Although it is clear that the other two branches were still taught in late Stoicism, the surviving texts (Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Seneca, and Musonius Rufus) are mostly on ethics. The explanation for this emphasis isn’t obvious; it may be that the late Roman Stoics placed less emphasis on physics and logic than the Greeks, or it may be that works on ethics were more likely to survive to modern times. There are parts in the surviving texts that indicate later Stoics viewed the physics and logic as being important to study only in so far as they support the development of ethics, but it is unclear if this was a feature of the school from the beginning, a feature common only to the late Roman Stoics, or a feature of the specific late Stoics whose writing has survived.