One Big Mistake to Avoid When Studying Stoicism
Stoicism is the most popular school of philosophy among the general population today. In fact, it is so popular that for a lot of people, philosophy equals Stoicism, and vice versa. For those people, their "pursuit of knowledge" both started and ended with Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus. This is mainly due to the fact that different popular figures in the modern self-development movement present Stoicism as providing the ultimate recipe for how to live your life. And although I don’t agree with the idea that Stoicism is the only school of philosophy worth considering or the only philosophy you need, I am not surprised by its popularity. In fact, I believe it’s well deserved.
Stoicism is practical. Stoics treated philosophy as a way of life or the art of living. On the other hand, philosophy in modern times is an almost entirely theoretical discourse that has no weight in real life. So it is no wonder why so many people all over the world, myself included, often turn to writings of the ancient Stoics for advice on how to live this life.
However, there is one danger I’ve noticed while looking back on my (so far) 7-year-long study of Stoicism, as well as while paying attention to people around me and my audience members who are interested in this ancient school of thought.
Since Stoicism is philosophy in the sense of philosophy as the art of living, it places great importance on "cultivating the self." The problem arises when misinterpretations of this philosophy lead people to focus too much on the "self," or at least a specific idea of the self.
In his 23rd letter, Seneca writes of the joy one can find within oneself. Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus also wrote about withdrawing into one’s self. This idea is one of Stoicism’s most popular ideas today, especially among those who are studying Stoicism "second hand" through different forms of self-development content. It is often understood as if these Stoic sages were telling you that, since everything you need is within you, the only thing you should focus on is yourself.
To explain why this is a misinterpretation of what the Stoics tried to teach us, I will go back to Seneca’s 23rd letter. It is not the case that one simply finds joy in one’s self. Rather, as Seneca says, one finds it, depending on the translation, "in the best portion of oneself" or "that which is the best part of you." And this best part is what the Stoics considered "the true good," something that is within all of us. Joy comes from "a good conscience, from honorable purposes, from right actions." Joy comes from what Seneca called "perfect reason," something that the Stoics believed was part of everyone and everything. Therefore, "the best part" of oneself is something that transcends oneself.
What the Stoics tried to teach us, I believe, is to go beyond yourself. To think and act having in mind that you have something in common with everyone, or even every single thing, in this world. To me, that sounds a lot different from focusing only on yourself.
As Viktor Frankl who, although not a Stoic, would’ve definitely earned respect of the ancient Stoics by what he survived, said:
"It is only as a side effect of self-transcendence that self-actualization is possible."
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