Laron - Stoicism: The Practical Guide To A Virtuous Life & Unshakable Happiness

First of all, lets face it: there may be a few preconceptions about stoicism nowadays. Some people may know it was a Greek school of thought, but the rest is probably more blurry. You sometimes hear this notion used in contexts that associate it with indifference, apathy, or total lack of emotions. Is this true? What makes it different from something like autism or psychopathy then? They all seem to verge on diminished emotionality somehow.

Stoicism is first and foremost about self-mastery. Its by no means a disorder and it implies no harm or poverty of experience. Stoicism comes down to a life philosophy meant to improve ones attitude in front of any kind of difficult situations as well as ones relationship with oneself. Its fair to say stoicism values control over emotions and it doesnt necessarily imply an emotional deficit. You could say with a significant degree of generalization that stoicism is the art of intelligently dealing with your emotions for the sake of higher achievement and satisfaction.

Stoicism starts from the premise that self-control is at the root of victory over weakness or excessive subjectivity. This mentality places an internal locus on control above everything else and this is achieved mainly through endurance in hardship and sovereignty over emotions. If you want to understand the essence of stoicism at lightning speed and in an error-free manner, just think of the words of Marcus Aurelius: If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.

Stoicism was a school of thought in ancient Greece that won a considerable number of followers, but also stirred a degree of controversy. It was founded in Athens by Zeno in the 3 rd century BC. Its most important adepts were Marcus Aurelius, Cicero, Seneca, and Epictetus. This movement marked the Hellenistic period and attempted to propose a way of behavior in life that could free people from the risk of making judgment errors. Stoicism stands out because it is more than a philosophical direction. On a deeper level, it includes a code of ethics, an effective psychology, and even implicitly a few notions of masculinity. Thats why it is so interesting and practical: can you really apply Cartesian philosophy as a way of life? Can you say you lead a life according to the principles of Phenomenology without appearing wrapped in your own consciousness and maybe detached from the objective world? Stoicism is more than philosophy: it is a value to cultivate in yourself and it has considerable practical benefit if you incorporate it in your mentality and behavior.

Stoics believed that emotions can lead to excessive subjectivity and misjudgment. They supported an attitude of calm and dispassionate control, since they thought emotions (especially negative ones like envy, anger, or fear) could blur ones mind, interfere with mental capacities, and estrange one from the truth. At the core of stoicism lies an appreciation for inner strength and solidity as well as a love for truth. The ideal self that such a life philosophy holds as a standard of thought and behavior is the wise person, the sage. It is an ideal of perseverance and maturity; it implies having internal resources in front of hardship and relying on the self as a measure of everything. The inner self prevails over external factors that could influence the person in the stoic doctrine. This philosophy draws on a fascinating paradox: on the one hand, the internal emotional reality is treated with suspicion and questioned; on the other hand, external forces must also be resisted, since in stoic thought it is only your own self that you can rely on.

Stoicism aimed at reaching a form of intellectual, moral, and psychological perfection. The person who practiced this virtue could face practically anything in life, any kind of misfortune or difficulty. Stoicism implies endurance and learned invulnerability. One might say stoicism contradicts positive psychology, since it signals that people undergo hardship and must face that sternly. It even encourages a form of awareness of potential negative scenarios that at first sight could verge on pessimism. In his book A Guide to the Good Life , William B. Irvine mentions that stoicism implied a form of negative visualization that was meant to keep the mind alert in front of things that could go wrong. Stoics believed that excessive optimism is also a delusion, just like other emotions, and as such it can cause harm to people. Blinding yourself to what could go wrong or to negative aspects of a situation and forcing yourself to see only the bright side is not strength. Stoicism can help people reach a form of immunity to hardship by facing it head-on and overcoming it.