Stoicism, is not a very well-known branch of philosophy for most
people - unless you're a student of philosophy of have at least a moderately
strong interest in it. However, most people would know the word
"stoic" in English language that means 'a person
who can endure pain or hardship without showing their feelings or complaining'. This meaning of the word 'stoic' comes from the stoicism
philosophy and not the other way around.
Stoicism's 'founder' was a man
names Zeno (hence it was also called Zenoism initially). He was a very rich
merchant who ship sank at sea. He survived and reached Athens. He saw a
bookshop where he read a lot about Socrates and was fascinated. So, he asked
the bookseller if he can meet any such philosophers in Athens. Just at that
time, Crates (who was Cynic philosopher) was passing by and the bookseller
pointed to him. Zeno became his disciple but, even though he liked many things
about it, Cynicism wasn't something that he was fully comfortable with.
Eventually he started his own teachings in philosophy. Since he didn't have
much money, he and his disciples used to meet at local stoa poikile (painted
porch) in the market. That's where the name Stoicism came from.
At a broad level, Socrates'
philosophy forms the basis of many schools of philosophy. Very broadly, three
main schools of thought started - Cynicism, Epicureanism and Stoicism. This, of
course, is debatable. After Zeno started it, many big thinkers took it forward
and improved on the philosophy - most important among them were Seneca and
Epictetus. Later, a very powerful Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius, was a big
proponent of this. He used to keep a journal "Meditations" that was
supposed to be burnt after his death but was saved and it provides a great
insight into practical implementation of stoicism.
Stoicism teaches development of
self-control and fortitude as a means to overcome destructive emotions.
Everyone thinks of happiness in a different way. The Greek work Eudaimonia can
be translated to happiness at a broad level. But what it means is Living in
accordance with nature, and stoic believe in this happiness rather than the
more superficial one. And how do we get there? Stoicism offers a path.
1. Alter your
judgement - Events
aren't inherently good or bad it's our perception that makes them so. This is
because most of the things are not in our control and very few are. People may
say nasty things to you, but what matters is how you react to them. If you
think or perceive or judge them as nasty, you will feel hurt and sad. However,
if you decide that it is something is not to be bothered with, those things
will not impact you at all. This is what is called living in conformity to
nature. Living in conformity with nature is called equanimity. The nature our
inborn nature and the natural world around us. We have only few things in our
control - one of them is our reaction or judgement of events. So, we need to
only be concerned about creating positivity or at least non-negativity in our
judgement because that's all that we can control. This is also related to
Dichotomy of control - There are things that are in our control (ourselves and
our judgements) and things that are not in our control (everything else,
everyone else). If we can control it, then we should do it well and virtuously.
If we can't control it, what's the point in bothering about it?
2. Live virtuously - Vices go against nature and
virtues go in accordance with nature. Stoicism subdivides virtues into -
wisdom, justices, courage and moderation; Vices are subdivided into
foolishness, injustice, cowardice and intemperance. Stoicism says that virtues
always lead to happiness and vices always lead to misery. But between them is a
large grey area of indifference like Life, death, reputation, ugliness, beauty,
wealth. They are considered lower in terms of priority compared to virtues and
vices. To live a happy life, stoics suggest that you live virtuously and avoid
all vices while being indifferent to everything else.
3. Lower your expectations - The problem with expectations is
that we set expectations of desirous outcome about things that are not in our
control, thus leading to disappointment that is not of our doing. e.g. we
expect people to behave in a certain way, but they don't necessarily act that
way and it hurts us. But is it the other person who is hurting us? or is it our
reaction to his actions? Epictetus says - 'The condition and characteristic
of a philosopher is that he expects all hurt and benefit from himself. The
marks of a proficient is that he censures no one, praises no one, blames no
one. accuses no one.' You are not entitled to the things that you wish
for but only the things that are given to you. Expecting more than the nature
offers you results in suffering and this suffering comes from the position you
take - i.e. your wish for things to happen differently and not from the events
themselves.
Epictetus' way of dealing with
this was negative visualization. Every morning, before starting the day, he
would say to himself - "Today I shall meet ungrateful, violent,
treacherous, envious, uncharitable men. All of the ignorance of real good and
ill... I can neither be harmed by any of them, for no man will involve me in
wrong, nor can I be angry with my kinsman or hate him; for we have come into
the world to work together....".
Stoicism is one of the few
philosophies that can be applied to daily life very easily and helps us in
managing disappointment and hurt. There could also be a counter argument that
when we are indifferent to a lot of things, won't that mean that we are also
being indifferent to things that bring us happiness? The answer to that
is that Stoicism’s definition of happiness is at a much deeper level and
more long-lasting whereas the ‘happiness’ in the previous sentence is temporary
and superfluous. Having said that, no single philosophy can be – rather should
be – taken as sacrosanct. No single philosophy can be fully right for you. We
need to live our lives with a specific mix of different philosophies that suits
us the best, while always concentrating on the deeper and more spiritual
happiness and contentment.
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