...Stoicism Class: Intro to Moral Reasoning By: Erykah Harrison Due: 04.29.2011 The period after Alexander the Great also known as the Hellenistic period is when Stoicism surfaced and became the philosophical preference of many Greeks and non-Greeks. The beginnings of Stoicism lie with Zeno of Citium, a student of the Cynic philosophy Crates, who established his own philosophical school in 300 BCE. Since Zeno taught in a stoa in Athens, his philosophy became known as Stoicism. Diogenes Laertius incorporated the content of Zeno’s successors, Cleanthes and Chrysippus, to provide a brief outline of Stoic philosophy in the third century called Lives of Eminent Philosophers. According to Diogenes, Stoicism falls into three parts: reason, physics and ethics. Zeno was the first philosopher to make this tripartite division and other Stoic philosophers, including Chrysippus followed. These three philosophy divisions are interdependent and therefore cannot be study without touching on all three divisions. Stoicism’s three divisions are complicated in theory. According to Zeno, the goal of life is to “live in agreement with nature, which is to live according to virtue.” This essential injunction to live at one with nature, the ‘harmonious logos' according to Zeno, still persists today. When lives in harmony with nature, they gain peace of mind and the reward of virtue. Zeno believed that humans gravitate toward virtue in pursuit of self-preservation. Physics, or Nature...
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...Stoicism Stoicism is a philosophical teaching which has proven itself the most attainable and practicable ideology for the general citizen, baring ethics as its fruit. Stoics explain the world through physics, logic, and ethics. They draw attention to ethics and develop it as their primary importance of reason, while expanding on logic and physics as substance to strut their ethical resolves and principles. Originating from Greece, Stoicism evolved during the course of multiple periods, its inconsistencies being refined in the Roman hands and eventually popularized through Christianity with a slight, yet important modification (AOK 196, 224). Stoicism arose from Antisthenes’ Cynicism, using its foundation that the main personal pursuit was happiness was within the soul and that one had to use “rational control of all desires and appetites” (AOK 194). The Cynics, greatly influenced by Socrates’ lifestyle, had disdain for civilization for it weakened and corrupted the soul. They eventually turned away from everyone, becoming individualistic instead of brotherly. Their attention to happiness, or averting of unhappiness, was solely personal and showed their mistake of establishing their ideology on a “savage and uncultured nature,” instead of “a developed civilized nature” as the Stoic have (TSC 184) However, Cynicism had taught Diogenes who became the living icon of the cynical ideology “the less an individual needs to be happy, the less vulnerable he or she is,” becoming a...
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...Death and the Soul—Epicureanism and Stoicism Introduction What happens at death and the idea of the afterlife put human logic and science to a test. However, ancient philosophers, such as Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, and Epicurus, use the science of thought in order to understand complex ideas of the nonexistent. As David Lund, put it philosophy can suspend the facts of death in order to help search for life after death (Lund, 6). The ambiguity that science sees can be approach and open-minded thinkers. Life’s mysteries are evaluated by philosophers as results and the phenomenon of death on the physical plain is clear where science is not. The question as to whether or not life is simply a finite experience that disappears and fades to dust, or something more than this, falls into the disciplines of both philosophy and religion. In addition to death itself, the aspect of the soul is likewise a topic of considerable dispute and discussion within these two areas of study. The debate over whether or not human beings are purely physical in nature or something more is inherent within this ongoing discussion. Epicureanism and Stoicism will be explored to this end to better illustrate the varying theoretical and philosophical perspectives that are in place regarding both death and the element of the soul. In doing so, the acts of creativity that are relevant to this, for example, art, architecture, history, literature, music, and religion, will also be explored to better illustrate the...
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...Cicero: On Moral Ends Book I: Establishment of Epicureanism through Torquatus Epicureanism appeals to the masses for its notion that happiness and pleasure consists of performing right and moral actions for one’s own sake. Pleasure is the highest good, without need for justification because we perceive them as true through our senses, and pain is the highest evil. Epicurean Pleasure: Greatest pleasure is freedom from pain, Cicero says not true. * “The pleasure we deem greatest is that which is felt when all pain is removed. For when freed from pain, we take delight in that very liberation and release from all that is distressing.” (1.37) * “Every animal as soon as it is born seeks pleasure and rejoices in it, while shunning pain as the highest evil and avoiding it as much as possible. This is behavior that has not yet been corrupted, when nature’s judgment is pure and whole.” (1.30) * Kinetic pleasure: “the sort of pleasure which stirs our nature with its sweetness and produces agreeable sensations in us.” (1.37) * No one desires pain because it is pain, but there are times where “effort and pain are the means to some great pleasure,” (1.32) such as hard bodily exercise leading to an agreeable state thereafter. * Conversely, those who are blinded and corrupted by immediate pleasure and fail to see the pain to come or those who abandon their duties by avoiding effort and pain are to be criticized. (1.33) Physics: Physics explains nature, and by understanding...
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...\nvt'$ mvmj of thf "i'emW^ le$t ^mH, THE DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS. WITH THE ENCHEIRIDION AND FRAGMENTS. TRANSLATED, AND A WITH VIEW NOTES, OF HIS A LIFE OF EPICTETUS, PUILO80PUY. By GEOKGE long, M.A. NEW YORK: A. L. BURT, PUBLISHER, EPICTETUS. Very that he little was a is known* native of and of the life of in Epictetus. Phrygia, the in Maeander the a it is saia Hierapolis, a town tween be- the the to Mgeander branch of named of Paul it in the of Lyons. the Hierapolis of Colossi that time is mentioned epistle from people (Coloss. there of the was iv. a 13); which church date of fact his master has been concluded at Christian The Hierapolis birth of the apostie. The Epictetus life is that is unknown. he a was a only Rome, recorded and of broke the his was early slave in Epaphroditus, There is a profligate that the freedman master to on emperor his slave's dence evi- Nero, story leg by torturing of or him; but the that it is better trust to the Simplicins, who an commentator the weak how Encheiridion in he Manual, from but says Epictetus It is not in was body became that found and a lame early age. said modern slave; parents it has the this ...
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...PERSONAL ETHICS STATEMENT Over the past 2-3 weeks, I’ve presented you with a variety of ethical dilemmas, many of which had no easy answer (if they did, they wouldn’t be dilemmas!) This was not only to set you up for the research paper, but to help you clarify for yourself where you draw your ethical line in the sand, and articulate your ethical beliefs. Your personal ethics statement is your declaration of your beliefs. By creating this document, you will clarify for yourself the values and actions that you wish to live by. I will grade it on completion of all aspects, but won’t be grading your statement – I’m not quite THAT presumptuous! I highly suggest that you retain this statement and review it at landmark times in your life (graduation, college, etc.). You will likely find that your values have changed – it happens to everyone as they experience new things and expand their worldview. THE STATEMENT 1) Values: Choose 6-10 values that you hold highly – these should be those things that you attempt to live by. Present them in bullet points as follows (they do not have to be in order of importance): a. Family b. Honesty c. Self 2) Actions: For each value that you selected, identify the action you will take to support it. a. Ex: I will support my family by giving physical and emotional aid when needed and defending their decisions to others. b. Ex: I will answer questions honestly unless doing so will irreparably and needlessly harm a person or a relationship...
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...The Life Worth Living According to Stoic Philosopher Epictetus Kayla Cook Lead 723 Fresno Pacific University Instructor: Peter Wasemiller July 20, 2013 The Life Worth Living The Lessons of Epictetus Though a literal slave during his lifetime in Turkey (A.D. 55-A.D. 135), Epictetus provides a definition of freedom and happiness that is relative through the ages. Considered a “Liberator the Soul”, his prescription for liberty and happiness start with extracting ourselves from all external forces that enslave us. Epictetus believes that “inner subjugation to any other man or woman is a state of being completely without honor” (Morris, 2004 p.78). Epictetus also believes that once our stance in life is set, everything else will follow. Mental practices, productive listening skills, and practical application can foster and emphasize our stance in life. He states that Epictetus’s philosophy “has the capacity to redirect our thinking to great things in new and fulfilling ways (Morris, 2004 p.68). Our minds control our actions; therefore we must think and live differently. Epictetus proclaimed that one basic concept was truly at the core of autonomy and happiness. The concept was recognizing and truly accepting that some things are within our control and some are not. Slave or free man, captivity is imminent if we do not choose well and put what is learned into practice. If philosophy is defined as the love of wisdom, Epictetus believed that it was necessary...
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...taught that virtue is the highest good and is based on the knowledge that the wise live in harmony with the divine reason that governs nature, and are indifferent to the vicissitudes of fortune and to pleasure and pain. The doctrine of Stoicism was known to have not remained constant over time. The Stoic doctrine is made up of three parts that include logic, ethics, and physics. Stoicism is essentially a system of ethics that is guided by logic as theory of method, and rests upon physics as a foundation. Mortality for them is stern and involves a life in accordance with nature and controlled...
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...Stoicism “Ask not that events should happen as you will, but let your will be that events should happen as they do, and you shall have peace” (Saunders 135). This quote from the Manual of Epictetus exhibits many of the basic philosophical tenants of stoicism. For stoicism is not as concerned with what people say, but rather what they do. Further, it was their contention that emotions such as fear, envy, or passionate love, etc. were the products of false judgement, which a sage, or a person who has attained moral and intellectual perfection (Baltzly). Moreover, the stoics hold true that the sage is “...utterly immune to misfortune and that virtue is sufficient for happiness” (Baltzly). The stoic philosophy was and is still is very popular for many people. The stoics had a particular way of thinking that affected their thoughts on philosophy and life, physical theory, logic, and ethics. It is here where we will explore these concepts, and how they were manifested by stoic philosophers. Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic Philosophy which was founded by Zeno of Citium in the early third century, BCE. The basis for the stoicism curiosity derives from the relationship between determinism and human freedom. Determinism, essentially meaning a cause and effect relationship, or basically, that events are bound by causes and determined by prior events. This kind of philosophy was seen as a way of life, and a way to live positively with nature, as opposed to a non-implantable...
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...classical pagan philosophy was crucial for the development of medieval philosophy, it is likewise crucial that until the twelfth and thirteenth centuries almost all the original Greek texts were lost to the Latin West, so that they exerted their influence only indirectly. They were “lost” not in the sense that the texts were simply unavailable but in the sense that very few people could read them, since they were written in the wrong language (Spade, Paul Vincent et. al, 2012). It was St. Augustine who combined Stoicism, Neo-Platonism, and Judaism into a powerful Christian worldview that would dominate Western life and thought until the 13th century. The authoritative, theological works of Augustine are often taken as marking the beginning of the Middle Ages. Augustine concentrated almost exclusively on human spirituality. About the physical world, we need only know that God created it. (Hergenhahn, 2009). A philosophy of the middle ages which can be applied to Hans is Stoicism. Zeno of Cilium believed that the world was ruled by a divine plan and that everything in nature, including humans, was there for a reason. The Stoics believed that to live in accordance with nature was the ultimate virtue. The most important derivative of this “divine plan” theory was the belief that whatever happens, happens for a reason; there are no accidents; and all must simply be accepted as part of the plan. The good life involved accepting one’s fate with indifference, even if suffering was involved...
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..."conversion" to a "stoic" ethics, perhaps more explicitly to the Stoic stage of Hegel's dialectic. Beauvoir calls the practice of stoic indifference in reaction to life's disappointments a condemnation of "that whole part of ourselves which we had engaged in the effort" to accomplish something. In such a reluctance to make oneself vulnerable, "one manages only to save an abstract notion of freedom . . . emptied of all content and all truth" (1948, 29). The phrase "emptied of all content and all truth" echoes Beauvoir's claim that, for Hegel, particularity is always vacated in favor of universality, ambiguity in favor of conclusiveness. [End Page 125] Recall that stoicism is the form of consciousness that resolves Hegel's master/slave confrontation in the section "Self-Consciousness" of the Phenomenology of Spirit. For Hegel, stoicism results from the internalization of the conflict between master and slave, the reconciliation of these two opposing modes of consciousness in the inwardly oriented person of reflection who is master of his or her own desire and who can rise above suffering and despair. An existentialist ethics, by contrast, retains a sense of particularity that refuses to be absorbed into a higher moment: "This conversion is sharply distinguished from the Stoic conversion in that it does not claim to oppose to the sensible universe a formal freedom which is without content. To exist genuinely is not to deny this spontaneous movement of my transcendence but only to refuse...
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...August 15, 2013 PHILOSOPHY 2 For centuries philosophers have been examining the significance of life. Throughout the content of this paper I will specifically look at the following philosophies, stoicism, existentialism, hedonism, and Buddhism. These philosophies if adopted may contribute to ones’ own answer when determining the significance of their own life. The thinkers have established clear characteristics to each of these philosophies. I will discuss some of these attributes and share my view on what philosophy I identify most with and why. I am planning to additionally share what I do not like about the other beliefs. The philosophy that most resembles my thinking is stoicism. I believe in God our only one true creator. According to a true stoic our destiny or fate is predetermined by the divine. The daily happenings in our lives are inevitable and as a stoic we have the choice on how to respond. Our reasoned choice helps stoics, like me, make sense of the world including both good and tragic events. Although I agree with this thinking I must admit it is still challenging for me at times to understand why God has created a world...
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...Hum I: Philos. Thought (HUM-101-OL010) Written Assignment 2 18 May 2013 The Evolution of the Hero Heroes are part of every culture’s mythology and the most famous and diverse is that of ancient Greece. In order for us to assess the development of the Heroic ideal in ancient Greek culture, we must be able to identify where the Hero’s identity comes from. The Heroic identity has been useful for thousands of years, serving as a perfect representation of a super-human, a human that is capable of dealing with problems that require unique skills and knowledge beyond that of a normal person. But where does it come from? The answer is simple. A Hero’s identity has its roots in the culture it lives in. That is to say, the Hero’s identity is a direct reflection and embodiment of the values and ideals of its society. The Hero is society’s way of reproducing its values and beliefs for the next generation. As a result, the characteristics that make up a Hero are as varied and different as the cultures that created them. When examining the evolution of Heroic ideals, one must be aware of the always changing cultural conditions and the necessity of the Hero’s criterion to fit an ever evolving society. If you look at Homer’s The Illiad, his portrayal of a Hero is someone who is famous, has great strength, kills many people and governs strongly. The Homeric Hero must obey all of society’s customs and religious rituals, and if threatened, was required...
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...Paul presents a claim that is compatible with Stoicism, does not entail that he does so from a compatible mindset, nor that he does so for similar reasoning. To be sure, St. Paul is not arguing holistically against the expression of impassioned emotions, but in fact expresses as a theologian emotional behavior contradictory to the Stoic theory of emotions. In delivering his condemnation of arrogance, St. Paul is not doing so out of a universal rejection of impassioned emotions as one would expect from a Stoic argument, but rather out of a dedication to the preservation of community (Esler). Given the aforementioned necessity of the social sphere to Christianity, St. Paul views arrogance as encouraging competition or disdain amongst individuals, driving communal division. By describing arrogance...
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...This approach is interesting in the fact that it doesn’t involve his environment, and I would say that Aurelius is stating that to grow up a mature adult you don’t need a good house, just a good family and community. His grandfather gave him morals, mother piety and beneficence, great-grandfather taught liberality, and his father's reputation modesty. His teachers gave him many things such as not to gossip, discipline, benevolence, stop finding fault, envy, duplicity, hypocrisy, stop indifference, truth, justice, self-government, and mildness of temper. The biggest lessons from his teachers that he holds dear to him is to love philosophy and stoicism. From there on he goes into specific detail upon his father's contributions in his life and growth in the early years. “To the Gods I am indebted for having good grandfathers, good parents, a good sister, good teachers, good associates, good kinsman and friends, nearly everything good.” from Meditations, book one. In the end he thanks the Gods for all that he was given in his former life and he promises to make use of it as best as he can. In this book I can and can’t agree with all of the things that he finds valuable to learn about and thank others for. Now most of his family's morals and the teachers’ lessons gave him qualities that are good to have, but for how much he learned I don’t...
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