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- Between Cynicism and Convention
Welcome to The Stoa Letter, the newsletter on Stoic theory and practice.
🏛️ Theory
Stoicism is a radical philosophy. It states that anyone can achieve happiness – and that whether or not they do so is entirely up to them. It rejects stories people tell themselves about why they can’t be happy and society's narratives about what really matters.
This is all true – but in practice it is worth remembering the value Stoicism places on moderation too.
In the ancient world, Stoics sought to navigate between the influences of Cynicism and popular morality.
The Cynics, many of them at any rate, believed that the only thing that matters was virtue – and this virtue was expressed through autonomy. The cynic was someone who lived outside the city and rejected its ways of life
The normal morality of the time thought this was crazy. Depending on the time and place – what was good was some variation of pleasure, power, and glory. Cynics were failures. Success looked like Epicurean euphoria, political power, or historical greatness.
Stoicism moderates between these two paths.
Stoics urged us to live in the city, but not be owned by it. Virtue is necessary and sufficient for happiness – the Stoics agreed with the Cynics on this score, but unlike the Cynics they didn’t reject society and its morality.
For instance, even though they questioned the ultimate value of fame and glory they embraced many aspects of Greek and Roman culture. Marcus Aurelius played his role within the world that valued political prestige and honor. Seneca met other senators where they were at and excelled at popular rhetoric (and importantly, adopted many fashionable teachings from Epicurus, a philosophical “rival”).
This is why, perhaps, we find Stoics on different sides of political disputes throughout history. The philosophy didn’t have a dogmatic and doctrinaire line for every situation – but instead sees each decision as a matter of choosing between indifferents.
So – what’s the point? For so many issues, the Stoic answer aims for moderation. The knee jerk response to be against X or for Y is misplaced. Life isn’t that simple. The right action strikes the balance between all the factors at play – to the extent that they can be known.
At their core, Stoics are radical: excellent character is all that is needed for happiness. But this character must be moderate. Don’t reject society, but don’t be governed by it. Find the right amount. Nothing in excess.
🎯 Action
Bring to mind one way you can exhibit moderation and self control today. Do it.
🔗 Links
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