Stoicism seems to be all the rage these days. Though the contrarian in me wants to steer clear of what seems like just a philosophical fad of our time, most bits of Stoicism I've come across have resonated with me. And I've decided to do a deeper dive.
I've been soaking in all I can from online stoic resources--podcasts, blogs, youtube channels--and I'm about to read Letters From a Stoic by Seneca. I'm taking the time now to summarize Stoicism from a distance so that I can see how my understanding of it changes as I read the thoughts of the stoics themselves.
Stoicism, at a glance
I can summarize the basics into three main takeaways:
- It's a Life Code: the Stoics weren't just a bunch of guys sitting around and coming up with ideas about what would be a proper way to live. For them, it's about actually doing it.
“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be One.” -
Marcus Aurelius
Stoicism isn't a philosophical model for deducing nitty-gritty logic
problems or for judging actions, laws, and people in hindsight. It's
more of a code for how to live.
- It has a main goal: figure out what is in your control and don't let anything else
affect you. Stoics emphasize that the most notable things that are out of your control are those which the average person spends an extremely large amount of time thinking about: the future and the past.
- It revolves around 4 primary virtues: in the eyes of the stoic, these virtues should dictate how you make decisions in situations that are in your control.
- Wisdom: An understanding of what is a matter of moral importance and what is uncontrollable and thus meaningless. Wisdom is grown over time and used practically.
- Courage: The will and resilience to use your wisdom, especially when the crowd pressures you otherwise.
- Temperance: Having at most what is enough and not depriving yourself of less than what is essential. Refers to everything--comfort, pleasure, responsibility, friends, challenges, free time...
- Justice: Marcus Aurelius put it simply: "thought and action resulting in common good".
Learn more
Here are some resources I used.
Daily Stoic Podcast
Good in-depth blog post: 'Stoicism 101'
TED-Ed: Cool animated intro to Stoicism