Stoicism–The Importance of a Clear Mind

March 28, 2010 at 6:09 pm (Uncategorized)

This I intend to be my last “philosophical” essay, the final part of what I wanted to be a coherent whole (though, in the true sense of the word “philosophy”, all topics are philosophical) . We will be, after this, turning to social issues, but dealing with this last great current of thought is of greatest importance before we move on. And so we begin.

Do not let accidents disturb, or outward objects engross your thoughts, but keep your mind quiet and disengaged, that you may be at leisure to learn something good, and cease rambling from one thing to another. There is likewise another sort of roving to be avoided; for some people are busy and yet do nothing; they fatigue and wear themselves out, and yet aim at no goal, nor propose any general end of action or design.

It is the custom of people to go to unfrequented places and country places and the sea-shore and the mountains for retirement; and this you often earnestly desired. But, after all, this is but a vulgar fancy, for it is in your power to withdraw into yourself whenever you desire. Now one’s own mind is a place the most free from crowd and noise in the world, if a man’s thoughts are such as to ensure him perfect tranquillity (sic) within, and this tranquillity (sic) consists in the good ordering of the mind. Your way is, therefore, to make frequent use of this retirement, and refresh your virtue in it. And to this end, be always provided with a few short, uncontested notions, to keep your understanding true, and send you back content with the business to which you return. For instance: What is it that troubles you? It is the wickedness of the world. If this be your case, out with your antidote, and consider that rational beings were made for mutual advantage, that forbearance is one part of justice, and that people misbehave themselvs against their will. Consider likewise how many men have embroiled themselves, and spent their days in disputes, suspicion, and animosities; and now they are dead, and burnt to ashes. Be quiet, then, and disturb yourself no more….
(Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius)

Stoicism was a school of Greek philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium, who was a pupil of Crates of Thebes (mentioned earlier). Obviously, Stoicism and Cynicism have alot in common. Story has it that zeno came to Athens and went into a bookshop and started reading about Socrates and his teachings. He became so fond of then that he asked the librarian where he might find a teacher such as Socrates, at which time Crates passed by and the bookseller pointed him out to Zeno. From then on. He became a devoted student of philosophy (Note: not of theoretical philosophy, but of philosophic practice). And his 11 Points are as follows:

1) Man must live in accord with Nature (exterior nature as well as his own human nature) 2) The unity of all things 3) The world exists by way of interaction of opposites 4) That man is an integral part of the Cosmos and not somehow separate from it 5) Free Will 6) Simple living through moderation and frugality 7) One’s moral developement comes from seeking Virtue 8) Virtue is the only good, vice is the only evil, everything else is indifferent (explanation coming up) 9)The Cardinal Virtues are: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance 10) Happiness is achieved through anihilation of desire to posses, not wishing to control that which is beyond one’s power and having neither hopes nor fears regarding the future 11) The creation, destruction and recreation of the Universe–it has neither begining nor end.

These points were variously adopted by the many Stoics, each adapting them to his own understanding and to his respective context (Boethus of Sidon, for example, contrary to Stoic view, denied that the Universe was a living entity; etc). That is why we will be focusing on what is common to stoics, namely their ethics, for which point we will rely on one of the greatest and well-known of Stoic philosophers, namely Epictetus (3rd century . At the end of this article I will be posting a series of links, where I will also include one on his life and thought.

Moral Indifferents

Stoics held that everything aside from virtue and vice is indifferent regarding moral value. Examples: welth is neither “good” nor “bad”, poverty, life, death, pain, pleasure, work, spare time, social status etc. All of these do not posses an intrinsic positive or negative value; what matters, say the stoics, is what we do with these things–how we react to them. A reaction based on reason and a correct assessment of reality is good, while a reaction born of poor judgement, recklessness and delusion is not good. As Epictetus put it:

“Man is disturbed not by things, but by the views he takes of them.”

“If, therefore, any [ person] is unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone.”

So a) it is not things in themselves that make us unhappy, but the way we perceive then and b) we are the cause of our own unhappiness because we choose to be unhappy. This last statement may strike one as strange but I asure you it is not. We condemn ourselves daily to sorrow because we keep seeing things in black and white and do not notice their real nature. Example: Most people get sick in the stomach if someone starts talking about corpses at diner. Why? Surely to speak of a corpse is not the same as having to sense the smell of a corpse, is it? So why then do people react this way? It is a learned reaction, nothing more. We learn it through socialization; definition:

Socialization is a term used by sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists, politicians and educationalists to refer to the process of inheriting norms, customs and ideologies. It may provide the individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within their own society; a society itself is formed through a plurality of shared norms, customs, values, traditions, social roles, symbols and languages. Socialization is thus ‘the means by which social and cultural continuity are attained’. (Wikipedia)

Socialization is, in short, the process by which we, starting from when we are babies, begin to accumulate and imitate the habits and attitudes of those around us. Some of these are in acordance with Nature, while others are not. Returning to the example of the corpse, people would not have this strong physiological reaction if they had not been told that corpses are disgusting. Death, as stated above, is neither good nor bad (it is only natural) and so there is no real reason for people to feel their stomachs turned upside-down when they hear of it.

Detatchment

“Permit nothing to cleave to you that is not your own; nothing to grow to you that may give you agony when it is torn away.” (Epictetus)

Upon realizing that change is natural and life is filled with it, and by accepting that those changes, based on the point expressed above, do not posses positive or negative value, we may act with detatchment and thus maintain clarity of mind and peace of heart. When we are separated from our friends or have to move to a new house etc. are not “bad” things that we need to get all hyped up about. Epictetus was once told that someone wanted him dead, at which he replied:

“They may kill me but they cannot harm me.”

This again strikes people as odd. Isn’t death the greatest harm one man may inflict upon another? Not necessarily. By “harm” he meant disturbance of his clarity of judgemnt and the arising of negative emotions in his mind; he is, in other words, saying: “It is quite possible that I will be killed, but that’s no reason to be worried.”

Discipline of Desire

Of these [three areas of study], the principle, and most urgent, is that which has to do with the passions; for these are produced in no other way than by the disappointment of our desires, and the incurring of our aversions. It is this that introduces disturbances, tumults, misfortunes, and calamities; and causes sorrow, lamentation and envy; and renders us envious and jealous, and thus incapable of listening to reason.

This is a question of using one’s Will over one’s wants. Your Will is your power to control your thoughts and reactions, to coordinate them and make good use of them. Your wants are…what you want to have in any given moment (food, time to read a book, TV, a walk in the park, sex, whatever). But these are not always available. You may have to write 12 pages for the next statistics seminar and not have time to read, for example. the way towards remaining at peace is much simpler than you think: accept what you have to do and do it. Put aside the desire to go jogging and finish your work. You will notice that when you stop thinking “I want to go jogging” over and over again, your work is no longer frustrating AND it goes faster. You will even feel pleased when you are done and not say “Drat! I should have gone jogging instead of wasting my time here.” Back to Zeno: do not wish for things which are beyond your power i.e. which you can’t get. Stop dreaming about unicorns. Dreams are good, but only if they are realistic: dream of making yourself and others happy, for instance. That’s far more realistic than unicorns I say . Another aspect of disciplining desire is hope. Don’t hope too much; you will inevitably be disappointed if your hopes are, again, unrealistic. Furthermore, try not to hope for external things. Stoics recommend that we place our hope in our ability to deal with the situation we are in–i.e. that we can maintain our perceptions of reality in good shape so as to react well to our circumstances. Disciplining one’s desire is all the source of hope one needs, for after that, useless worries will vanish and one may focus on what can be done.

Discipline of Action

This is a point easier to understand. People usually measure the success of their actions only by results. Stoics do it differently. From their point of view, the result of one’s actions are not totally within one’s power, so they teach that failure doesn’t mean that you didn’t get the result you wanted, but it means you haven’t done your best. To put it in terms of success: if you did something and did it well, but did not get the desired results because of factors beyond your control, you have not failed. Example: you study for an exam and study well enough so as to get a good mark; one day before the exam you get sick and can’t go. From a Stoic point of view, you haven’t failed at all; the sickness was not your fault. The second part of this is to fulfill our roles properly: of father/mother, of son/daughter, of friend, of employee, of employer, teacher etc. All these roles Epictetus called “names” and said about them:

…each of these names, if rightly considered, always points to the acts appropriate to it.

That is to say, each role indicates the appropriate kind of actions which correspond to it.

Impressions

The discipline of impressions means, put simply, careful investigation and competent assessment of reality; impressions are how things seem to be. Therefore, one must learn to look beyond impressions.In short, do not make rash judgements.

In the first place, do not allow yourself to be carried away by [the] intensity [of your impression]: but say, ‘Impression, wait for me a little. Let me see what you are, and what you represent. Let me test you.’ Then, afterwards, do not allow it to draw you on by picturing what may come next, for if you do, it will lead you wherever it pleases. But rather, you should introduce some fair and noble impression to replace it, and banish this base and sordid one. (Epictetus)

And that covers Stoicism. I will be adding some useful links for further reading. Next topic: Drug use. Come again soon!

Socrates

http://fxylib.znufe.edu.cn/wgfljd/%B9%C5%B5%E4%D0%DE%B4%C7%D1%A7/pw/diogenes/dlsocrates.htm

Overview of Cynicism
http://www.iep.utm.edu/cynics/
Overview of Stoicism
http://www.iep.utm.edu/stoicism/

Antisthenes–pupil of Socrates, founder of Cynicism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisthenes

http://fxylib.znufe.edu.cn/wgfljd/%B9%C5%B5%E4%D0%DE%B4%C7%D1%A7/pw/diogenes/dlantisthenes.htm

Diogenes of Sinope

http://fxylib.znufe.edu.cn/wgfljd/%B9%C5%B5%E4%D0%DE%B4%C7%D1%A7/pw/diogenes/dldiogenes.htm

Crates of Thebes

http://fxylib.znufe.edu.cn/wgfljd/%B9%C5%B5%E4%D0%DE%B4%C7%D1%A7/pw/diogenes/dlcrates.htm

Hyparchia –wife of Crates; a well-known Cynic, like her husband