Stoicism

Stoicism is an ancient Greek school of philosophy founded by the Athenian philosopher Zeno of Citium around 300 BCE. Stoic philosophy taught that the quality of virtue, or goodness, was gained through knowledge, and Stoics constructed their philosophy around three tenets: ethics, logic, and physics. Stoicism's influences included the teachings of Socrates and the Cynics, a group of philosophers who also held virtue in high esteem. Stoicism was very popular during the Roman Empire, though its favor usually depended on who was in power. Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius considered himself a Stoic and used the philosophy to inform his leadership. Stoicism's impact lasted well beyond the Roman Empire, influencing the teachings of Christianity and other philosophical figures throughout history, such as Thomas More, René Descartes, and Baruch Spinoza.

Background

The term Stoicism derives from the Stoa Poikile, translated as "painted porch," an open market the early Stoic philosophers gathered at to discuss philosophy. Many scholars divide the history of Stoicism into three phases. The earliest phase of Stoicism is often referred to as early or old Stoa, which consisted of the earliest Stoic philosophers existing between the late fourth and early third century BCE. These philosophers included Cleanthes of Assos, Chrysippus of Soli, and Zeno of Citium, who is considered the founder of Stoicism. The next phase was the middle Stoa, occurring between the second and third centuries BCE. Middle Stoa philosophers included Panaetius of Rhodes and Posidonius of Apamea. The final phase was the late Stoa, which took place during the Roman imperial period. This period lasted between the first and second centuries CE. The most prominent Stoic philosophers of this phase included Seneca the Younger, Gaius Musonius Rufus, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius.

Although historians have identified the original founders of Stoic philosophy, no complete texts by these founders exist. Fragments of the works of Zeno of Citium and other early Stoics survived to modern times, but most of what researchers know about Stoicism comes from the works of later Stoics, such as Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus. These individuals took up Stoicism more than three hundred years after Zeno of Citium founded the school of thought. Marcus Aurelius compiled a series of notes about his ideas on Stoicism in his Meditations, a text that profoundly influenced several future philosophers and writers. Late Stoa writings focused on the ethical nature of Stoicism and provided little insight into the theoretical foundations of its moral philosophy. Other understandings of Stoicism come from critics of the philosophy, such as Alexander of Aphrodisias and Plutarch of Chaeronea.

Scholars can also glean a better understanding of the foundations of Stoicism through study of its predecessors. As a Hellenistic philosophy, Stoicism was part of a philosophical tradition in which new schools of thought emerged from old ones. Hellenistic tradition also demanded that new philosophies and their predecessors and contemporaries remain in constant open dialogue with one another. The attitudes of some of the earliest Greek philosophers—such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle—influenced Stoic thought. Stoicism was also shaped by the teachings of Cynicism, Skepticism, and Epicureanism, which all dealt with the philosophy of goodness and eudaimonia, a Greek term that represented the idea of a life worth living. In the Greco-Roman world, eudaimonia was achieved through superior moral virtue. To Stoics, happiness was achieved through moral and intellectual perfection and an elimination of passions, such as fear and envy.

Overview

Stoicism's early and middle phases are considered the Greek phase. During the Greek phase, Stoicism focused on three primary tenets: ethics, physics, and logic. The Stoic theories of physics and logic were given less emphasis by the late Stoa with the arrival of the Roman Empire. Late Stoic philosophers focused on the ethics of Stoicism, and many writings of this period discussed a more practical treatment of ethics. Despite varying approaches, Stoicism remained dedicated to virtue and freedom from passions.

Stoic ethics taught that humans were capable of ridding themselves of passions, which, in ancient times, referred to negative emotions such as greed or anger, through the use of reason. Modern usage of the term stoic is often equated with a lack of emotion, but Stoics never sought to eliminate emotion. Stoics sought to channel emotion and transform it into clearheaded reason. Stoic ethics viewed reason as divinely organized and good as existing within the soul. For Stoics, goodness was internal by nature. The only characteristics considered good by Stoics were wisdom, justice, courage, moderation, and their associated qualities. These four qualities became the four main virtues of Stoicism. Possessing these virtues was the key to happiness. Unhappiness emerged from ignorance of reason. Stoics encouraged individuals to pause and examine their own thoughts and behaviors to avoid acting impulsively. In Stoic thought, external goods (wealth, attractiveness, good health, etc.) had ethically neutral value but were preferred over poverty and poor health.

The other two fields, logic and physics, were designed to support the Stoics' ideas of ethics. For Stoics, logic referred to the study of how to apply reason to the world, while physics referred to the study of the world in which reason is applied. The Stoics approached logic in a propositional way. Propositional logic studied the veracity or falseness of statements or propositions. It also examined how modifications to these propositions changed their logical properties. Stoic logic stressed the certainty of knowledge, obtained through reason and discussion, and emphasized the usefulness of the senses. Stoics held that the senses are affected by pulsations, which pass into the mind and make impressions. The mind is then able to determine the truth of an impression through reason.

According to Stoic physics, the universe was material and composed of a substance capable of reason. This substance was called God or Nature and was split into active and passive substances. Passive substance referred to matter, considered motionless until propelled into motion by active substance. The active substance was a material described as a primordial fire. Human and animal souls originated from this primordial fire and were, therefore, subject to its force. Stoics believed all things were material, including emotions, which had physical manifestations such as blushing and smiling. They also reasoned that the body and the soul must be made of the same substance because they acted together to produce thoughts and movements. Broadly speaking, the Stoics believed in a unified, interconnected universe infused with a divine reality. Although they believed everything was predetermined, humans had a limited amount of free will.

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