Blog Post One: The Philosopher King to the Rationalist, and Your Life

In today’s day and age, is it possible to lead a productive life guided by the principles of Stoicism? “Faith in a rationally ordered universe and our intimate relation to the Logos are central aspects of Stoicism. If the universe is divinely ordered, then there is a plan. Things happen to us for a reason—a divinely ordained reason.” (Section 7-7). The idea of Stoicism is, in its simplest form, the idea that while we may not be able to control what happens, we do have some type of influence in the path our life takes. As Epictetus so eloquently said, “Henceforth, my mind is the material I have to work on, as the carpenter has his timber and the shoemaker his leather: my business is to deal with my impressions aright. My wretched body is nothing to me, its parts are nothing to me.” (Section 7-8). What I took him to mean here is that we can only control and have influence over the subjective world around us, not the objective.

With this basic explanation, one could reason that living a life according to the philosophy of Stoicism would be fairly easy for most. The textbook gives some really great examples on how Stoicism relates to our everyday lives. Another example of how Stoicism applies to everyday life can be found in the following scenario:

A patient is hospitalized with a serious infection during the time frame of his family reunion. The patient has no choice in whether or not he came down with the infection. The fact of the matter is he got it. He does however have influence on how he perceives his hospital stay and how he treats the people around him. This patient, in line with the Stoicism philosophy, believes that there is a reason behind him coming down with this infection, even though he may not understand what that reasoning is. He would also choose to have a positive outlook on his hospital stay in order to make his stay as pleasant as possible and reduce feelings of anxiety, stress or frustration over his situation.

 In this example it is easy to see how the Stoic approach can be applied to everyday life. The patient realizes he has no control over his situation, believing that he was meant to be in the hospital rather than at his family reunion. After relinquishing control, the patient realizes he has the power to make his situation a pleasant one or an unhappy one by simply controlling his outlook and feelings about the situation. By choosing to have a positive outlook about getting better, the patient was able to reduce the stress, anxiety and fear that are commonly associated with hospital stays, thereby making his experience pleasurable.

In the end, I feel it is possible to approach life with the mindset of a Stoic. This approach at life would help us to live happier lives without as much stress and resentment over things that are out of our control. In the words of Epictetus, “Remember that thou art an actor in a play, of such a kind as the author may choose: if short, a short one; if long, a long one: if he wishes you to act the part of a poor man, see that you act the part naturally: if the part of a lame man, of a magistrate, of a private person (do the same). For this is your duty, to act well the part that was given to you; but to select the part belongs to another.” (Section 7-7).

Word Count: 595