The doctrine is not quite as counterintuitive or unpalatable as it first sounds, however, since many of the items that we might otherwise ordinarily value fall under the further Stoic category of ‘preferred indifferents’. In Stoic vocabulary, all these things are ‘externals’, and never a source of true value. This includes not only wealth and pleasure, but also health, professional success, and personal relationships, including with our children and other family members. This fundamental principle has the seemingly alarming consequence that everything apart from virtue is not a good. In becoming a Stoic one proceeds by treading the path of the Prokopton: one who has accepted this core Stoic maxim but who has yet to attain mastery of herself through realigning her thoughts, desires, and impulses with virtue. This is expressed in the dictum that ‘Virtue is the only good’. Perhaps the most important principle of Stoic ethics is the claim that only the quality of our character and its expression through our actions is truly of value to us. In an increasingly complex and confusing world, where much time is spent worrying about matters we can do very little about, the Stoic notion that we should only concern ourselves with what we have the power to change offers a possible antidote to the endemic anxiety of modern times. One core imperative of Stoic ethical theory is to make a clear distinction between those things which are under our control and ‘up to us’, and those which are not. Stoicism began as an innovative school of Classical Greek and Roman philosophy, offering an unconventional and revisionary take on the received ideas of the culture of its time, many of which are still prevalent today.
Written in a lively and engaging style, How to be a Stoic (2018) focuses on Stoic ethics and its application to life in the modern world.
SUBSCRIBE NOW Books How To Be A Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci Don Berry finds modern-day applications for life advice from antiquity.
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