The Purpose of Philosophy
Most people in the year 2020 live without a philosophy to guide their lives. Modern man without religion and without philosophy is lost in a chaotic world. He lacks any form of navigation. His ship is thrown about by the winds of fate with no hope for recourse.
“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. Yet his shadow still looms. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives; who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves?” -Friedrich Nietzsche
And it seems as if we are in the process of killing philosophy as well.
Philosophy is both the compass and the map for man. It is that which shows you where you are, where you want to go, and how to get there. Philosophy explains the human condition (where you are at), maps out what is valuable (where you want to go), and describes the disciplines required to obtain what is valuable (how to get there).
The purpose of a good philosophy is to have a framework which will be a buttress against the tragedies of life, and will give life meaning. I believe Viktor Frankl was right when he said “Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure, as Freud believed, or a quest for power as Alfred Adler taught, but a quest for meaning”. In the absence of religion, philosophy is that which gives a meaning to life.
What is Stoicism
Stoicism is an ancient Greek philosophy founded by Zeno around 304 BC. Zeno was a merchant who was shipwrecked on a trading voyage and stumbled onto the teachings of Crates, a Cynic philosopher. Zeno began giving talks on a porch. The name Stoicism is derived from “Stoa Poikile” which translates to “painted porch”.
The Stoics believed in four cardinal virtues: wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice.
Wisdom-good sense, good calculation, quick wit, discretion, and resourcefulness
Courage-endurance, confidence, high mindedness, cheerfulness, and industriousness
Temperance-discipline, seemliness, modesty, and self-control
Justice-piety, honesty, equity, and fair dealing
“What is the goal of virtue, after all, except a life that flows smoothly?” -Epictetus
The goal of the Stoics was to live a Good Life, no matter what hands they were dealt. The Stoics ranged from slaves (Epictetus) to the emperor of Rome (Marcus Aurelius). For the Stoics, Fortune did not matter. All that was required to live a good life was Virtue.
“If thou workest at that which is before thee, following right reason seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract thee, but keeping thy divine part pure, as if thou shouldst be bound to give it back immediately; if thou holdest to this, expecting nothing, fearing nothing, but satisfied with thy present activity according to nature, and with heroic truth in every word and sound which thou utterest, thou wilt live happy.” –Marcus Aurelius
Why Stoicism
Life is tragic. I probably don’t need to tell you. If you aren’t going through tough times right now, in the future you will. Everyone is just a phone call away from despair. Death of a loved one. Betrayed by a spouse. A cancer diagnosis. Insanity. Getting fired from a job. Even if you somehow avoid all of those things (you won’t) you will still have to face your own mortality someday.
In other words, there are going to be times in your life that you wont be happy—sorry to break it to you. During these rough times we need something to help us navigate. Stoicism is the best philosophy I know of to help you fortify yourself for life.
But beyond just fortifying yourself, Stoicism will help you live a better life in general; it will teach you to seize and enjoy the present moment.
“You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.”-Marcus Aurelius
A Few Stoic Practices
- Distinguish between what you can control and what is out of your control.
“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own” -Epictetus
There are things that you have control over and things that you do not have control over. For example you can’t control the economy, but you can control how hard you work. You can’t control how other people treat you, but you can control how you react to it. The key is to focus your time and energy on the things you can control—primarily yourself. Your thoughts, emotions, and actions are all under your control. At the same time you must let go of that which is uncontrollable.
“Cling tooth and nail to the following rule: Not to give in to adversity, never to trust prosperity, and always to take full note of fortune’s habit of behaving just as she pleases, treating her as if she were actually going to do everything it is in her power to do. Whatever you have been expecting for some time comes as less of a shock.”-Seneca
2. Spend time practicing misfortune.
“Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare, with course and rough dress, saying to yourself the while: ‘Is this the condition that I feared?” -Seneca
Most people use the majority of their mental energy worrying about how things could go wrong. They think it would be unbearable to lose all their money or to go a day without eating. The way the Stoics eliminated this fear, is by doing that which they feared voluntarily. Maybe you fear becoming homeless, so sleep on the ground and eat nothing but a bowl of rice for a few days. Maybe you fear going blind, so spend a day with your eyes closed. You will find out very rapidly that you can bear much more than you thought.
3. Memento Mori: Meditate on your mortality.
“Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life’s books each day…The one who puts he finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time.” -Seneca
Thinking about the fact that you will someday die may seem morbid. But it’s not. If you do it correctly. Thinking about your mortality is the best way to avoid wasting this precious gift called life. It’s almost a cliche now, the idea that cancer patients with a short time left here, begin to live life to the fullest. You don’t need a diagnosis. Your time is short as well, even if you are healthy.
“But putting things off is the biggest waste of life: it snatches away each day as it comes, and denies us the present by promising the future. The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today. You are arranging what lies in Fortune’s control, and abandoning what lies in yours. What are you looking at? To what goal are you straining? The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.” -Seneca
Stoic Writings
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
On The Shortness of Life by Seneca
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius
Letters From a Stoic by Seneca
“Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it” -Epictetus
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