Intro to Philosophy and Stoicism

What is philosophy? Since contemporary Western philosophy is similar to ancient Greek philosophy, we can begin to answer this question by looking at the history of philosophy. Since the ancient Greeks, philosophers have been concerned with conceptual precision, which means that the words that we use should have clear definitions. Additionally, philosophers are focused on logical analysis and argumentation. Logic is the field of philosophy that is concerned with the structure and form of language. One can apply the rules of logic, which are similar to the rules of math, to an argument to discover whether an argument is good or not. You can find more info about logic here. Finally, philosophers often try to construct a comprehensive worldview, meaning that they create a theory that can be applied broadly across a particular subject, such as physics, ethics, or politics.

When we transition to Hellenistic and Roman philosophy, we see a focus on moving away from the frenzy and excitement of human life towards a tranquil, calm experience of the world. In the "modern" period, philosophy became further differentiated from theology and science. It was a time of increased specialization and a move away from questions about god and questions better answered by empirical sciences.

Stoicism is a kind of philosophy that originated in Greece around 300 BC. Stoicism can be most simply characterized as the theory that we should be in control of our emotions and avoid being influenced by factors that are external to us and outside of our control. The influence of Stoicism can still be seen in our culture today. For example, in psychotherapy, patients are sometimes encouraged to control the way that they judge the world in order to change the emotional response that they have to the world.

Epictetus is the Stoic philosopher that we read in this class. He became a philosopher after being freed from slavery during the Roman empire. Epictetus thought that there are some things that are in our control. For example, we can control our mental states, such as opinions, judgments, desires, aversions, emotions, and our character (virtues and vices). Everything else is outside of our control. Our possessions, jobs, reputations and our bodies (including our eventual death) are beyond our control. We can control our minds and only our minds. Although what happens to us is beyond our control, we can control how we respond to what happens to us.

Since the goal of Stoicism is to gain control over our minds and to stop trying to control everything else, the ideal state of mind is to be free from disturbances and excitements. One should be stable, calm and serene. According to Epictetus, the only thing that is good is our own character, or virtue. Other things might have value but they are not good in themselves. Only our virtue is good itself and is good under all circumstances. Passions, or disruptive emotions, are always irrational and they reflect on a false value judgment about the world. For example, when you are happy because you win the lottery, you are only happy because you falsely believe that winning money is a good thing. Because only our own virtue is good, it is not good to win the lottery and so it is silly to be happy about being a newly-made millionaire. Unlike the passions, good emotional states reflect rational judgments about what is good and bad. For example, being calm and serene in spite of a stressful environment is good because it is based on the judgment that life is still perfectly in order in spite of the apparent chaos.

One might object to Epictetus's Stoicism on the grounds that some disruptive emotions are part of a good life. For example, someone might think that the person who grieves after the loss of a loved one is a better person than the person who is indifferent towards the death of a loved one.