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Wellness Wednesday for January 4, 2023

The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:

  • Requests for advice and / or encouragement. On basically any topic and for any scale of problem.

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I've been getting back into Stoicism, and reading the unabridged letters of Seneca and listening to some modern podcasts and audiobooks.

As I've been reading through, I've been thinking a lot about the different approaches to the world. I think it would be misguided to say that Stoicism has an apolitical dimension, but I do think to the extent that Stoicism advocates replacing mental perturbations/passions with good feelings, it can veer into a kind of apolitical existence where one just accepts the world as it is and makes no effort to change it.

I don't think this is actually what a Stoic sage is supposed to do of course. The four Stoic virtues of Wisdom, Courage, Justice and Temperance imply to me that a Stoic sage actually is trying to change the world. Acting to make it more just, more wise, more courageous, and more temperate - at least as far as one's actions and sphere of influence are concerned. But in order to do so effectively, the Stoic sage is doing what they judge to be necessary without regards for the actual outcomes of their actions.

I think the best illustrations of this are the letter of Seneca concerning slaves, Letter 47. It is fascinating to see someone at a time when slavery was an accepted norm, advocating for treating your slaves as people. He doesn't veer into full abolitionism, and yet he recognizes that it is unvirtuous and inhumane to treat our fellow people as less then because of the accidents of circumstance. He encourages us to befriend slaves, to talk with them and learn their character, and to realize that you're no better than them (especially if you are a slave to vice.)

This all makes much sense. Stoicism as it comes down to us is a philosophy for emperors and slaves alike. We can be either Marcus Aurelius or Epictetus.

It makes me wonder how the Stoics would weigh in on the modern culture wars.

I have seen people characterize modern social justice advocates as engaging in a sort of anti-cognitive behavioral therapy (or anti-Stoicism), where our passions are elevated to the status of absolute truth, and we uncritically accept that something that feels bad is bad. I have also seen people claim that there's a sort of status quo bias in a lot of people, where they accept that because the world is better off than it was in the past, there's nothing more that needs to be done.

I think the middle road of Stoicism would have to say that, obviously the people of our world are unwise, cowardly, unjust and intemperate in a number of ways, and this lack of virtue leads to much social disfunction. People are addicted to social media, think that slacktivism is the height of social justice, and haven't cultivated characters which are capable of achieving real change in the world without bending or breaking under the stress and strain.

A Stoic should never doom scroll. A Stoic should prudently seek to understand the world as it really is, do what needs to be done to correct any injustices in society and not worry about the outcomes of their actions. A utopia is a preferred indifferent to a Stoic - but acting justly and virtuously, and helping your fellow citizens and neighbors do the same is still important.

I've also been reading a lot about Stoicism. There is much in the philosophy that appeals to me, though I don't think I'm ready to say I have fully embraced it.

To me, the essence of Stoicism is accepting things that are outside your control (which is most things in life, really) and not allowing them to perturb you. So yes, for starters, a Stoic would never doom scroll, and would also ask why you are arguing with people online? Does any of this actually improve your life? Are you actually going to change anything by yelling at wokes or calling people bigots?

I am not entirely convinced that virtue ethics represent the greatest good in life, but I certainly feel like everyone (including me) could use a little more Stoicism in their personal deportment.