Stoicism

This philosophy was devised in Athens by Zeno of Kition in the later fourth century b. c.e. Originally educated in Cynical theory, he devised his own ideas and discussed them with other students at the Stoa Poikile (Painted Portico), giving rise to the name Stoicism. Almost all information we have about Stoic philosophy derives from later, Roman authors. Most notable are Diogenes Laertius, especially his Life of the Stoics; Cicero in his work Academia; and the Roman Stoic philosophers Epictetus and Emperor Marcus Aurelius, whose Meditations is considered one of the finest treatises on Stoic philosophy.

The Stoics believed that all reality was physical and that this physicality could be grasped by the human mind. Thus, it was possible for people to understand reality. They saw the world as a vast mechanism run by Deity or Mind, where all aspects of reality were linked to all other aspects in a grand, unified cosmos. This unity meant that any and all actions in the world affected all others. Rather than producing chaos, though, this grand unity, guided by Deity, was already set upon its appropriate course, where everything was predestined and occurred according to fate. As all things were predetermined by the Deity running the cosmos, and as the Stoics understood Deity as essentially beneficent, then all things always occurred as they were supposed to for the ultimate good of the universe (to quote Voltaire's Dr. Pangloss, "It's the best of all possible worlds"). Thus, there was no reason to get upset about (inevitable) problems in life, and the Stoics preached the ideal of reason and selfcontrol over irrational, emotional reactions to day-to-day life. Such apatheia (lack of passion) is one of the most popular understandings of Stoic philosophy, best expressed in the Vulcans of Star Trek fame.

Influenced by Cynic beliefs, Zeno believed that an appropriate life was one led according to nature. But although the Cynics maintained that "according to nature" meant stripped of artificial civilization, Zeno believed that this meant according to humanity's rational nature. As reality was already predetermined, the "right" path was to follow one's predetermined calling. Living according to these dictates of Deity was virtue; to attempt resistance was vice. Because the Stoic universe was completely integrated, following the "natural" path inevitably meant that one was involved with all the affairs of the world. The Stoic was inevitably (at least ideally) political, and his/her outlook was cosmopolitan rather than limited to the polis or Greece. The Stoics saw themselves as citizens of the world.

In its earliest, purest form, Stoicism was rather extremist in its philosophical doctrines. Emotions were bad; reason was good. Vice was bad; virtue was good. Pretty much everything else fell into the category of "indifferent," meaning not worthy of thought or even necessarily of existence. Later, however, the Stoics lightened up a bit. Certain emotions were deemed acceptable, such as general cheerfulness (perhaps they realized that feeling happy about being a good Stoic suddenly put you back at square one). And though virtue remained the only true Good, certain other aspects of reality were considered at least to have value, such as health (Luce 1992, 137).

Stoic philosophy was the longest enduring of the Hellenistic philosophies, being adopted by many of the Roman intelligentsia. One of the greatest Stoic philosophers was the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, and Stoic philosophy pervades Vergil's Aeneid. The recognition of Deity as running the mechanisms of reality, and the focus on self-control, made the Christians less antagonistic to Stoicism than they were to some of the other Greek philosophies, allowing many of its ideologies to pervade Medieval and Renaissance ideologies.