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- Subjectivity and Stoicism
Welcome to The Stoa Letter, the newsletter on Stoic theory and practice.
🏛️ Theory
If you could see everything objectively, your life would be equanimous.
With understanding, comes peace. As the philosopher Spinoza once urged: “Do not wax indignant, understand.”
This is a powerful promise. It’s important to understand what it is not saying.
I was recently asked whether objective judgment means removing the idea of good or bad entirely. But, if this is so, I was asked, what’s the point of anything? If objectivity removes the idea of the good, doesn’t it remove the goal?
This is a good question, the kind that gets at the root of what the Stoics believe. To see objectively for the Stoics is to see things as they are. And crucially, for the Stoics, this means recognizing Nature as it is – and recognizing that the good and beautiful truly exist. This can get into thorny philosophical territory, but it may be best to cut through that and look at examples from the Stoics.
The Stoics praise heroic deeds of Socrates, Cato, and Porcia Cato. To fail to see the goodness of these people’s character would be to fail to be objective in the right way. There are good people (not perfect people, but many approach virtue). Not only that, the Stoics marvel at the natural beauty of the world. The world is beautiful and is a home for us to live in. To miss that would be to succumb to illusion.
It’s true that many of our thoughts about good and evil are figments of our imagination. They are not objective.
This is why Epictetus counsels his students to stop making value judgements about things that are outside of their control:
As soon as you go out in the morning, and whatever it is you see or
hear, carry out this test. You respond, as if we were having an
argument by questions and answers:
- What did you see?
- A handsome man, or a good-looking woman.
Then apply the rule, [and ask yourself] :
- Does their beauty depend upon their will, or not?
- It does not depend upon their will.
- Then reject it.
So many of our value judgments are added by us. They have no reality apart from our thoughts. Another example from Epictetus:
He was sent to jail.
What happened? He was sent to jail. But "He is unhappy" is added
by oneself [i. e., subjectively].
However, Epictetus is not a nihilist. There are things that are truly good. Things worth dying for. When you’re seeking objective judgment, don’t forget that.
🎯 Action
Too the extent that you can, see the world objectively today – especially the good and beautiful.
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đź”— Resources
📖 The translations of Epictetus above come from Pierre Hadot’s The Inner Citadel. It’s one of the best modern books written on Stoicism. It can be difficult to read, but it’s worth it.
❓️ What questions do you have about Stoicism? Add a reply to this email and I’ll reply or answer it in a follow up post.
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