Stoicism: What Is It?

Defining the Greek philosophy which changed the ancient world.

Bust of Stoicism’s founder, Zeno of Citium, from the Farnese collection in Naples. Photo by Paolo Monti (1969)

Imagine you are stranded on an island. You are naked, without food or clothes. Misfortune has struck you, and you don’t know what to do. You are helpless and lost. To most people, death would be preferable to this miserable existence. But not to Zeno of Citium, the strong-minded founder of the Stoic School of Greek philosophy. 

Zeno of Citium

Zeno of Citium was the founder of Stoicism. A Phoenician merchant of Cyprus, he lost all of his wealth in an unfortunate shipwreck. Somehow, Zeno made it to Athens. There, he walked into a bookshop, and started reading some of its books. One of them was a book by Xenophon, written about the great philosopher Socrates. Zeno was fascinated by what he read. He asked the book keeper where he could find a philosopher. Just at that moment, a philosopher was walking by the store. Back in the day, philosophers freely roamed around the city of Athens. The man was none other than Crates, a philosopher of the Cynic School. Zeno became a student of Crates, and later studied under several other Athenian philosophers. 

The Stoic School

Eventually, Zeno established his own school, which was called Stoicism. Stoicism gets its name from the porches, called stoa, where these Greek philosophers lived and taught. Unlike the other schools of philosophy in Athens, the Stoics did not own their own brick-and-mortar place. Plato had his Academy, and Aristotle had his Lyceum, but the Stoics were everywhere. The Stoics wanted to actually interact with ordinary people, who walked along the stoa porches. The Stoics were interested in talking with people about how to live a good life. They were practical, not some out-of-touch nutty professors. Because of this, Stoicism grew very popular in the ancient world. It spread across the Greek Empire, and then to the Roman Empire. Stoic ideas influenced Rome’s most powerful political leaders, including Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Marcus’ private diary, called Meditations, is still read by millions of people today. Unusual for the ancient world, the Stoics were open to women. A famous example is Porcia, the wife of Brutus. Thousands of years after Zeno, Stoicism has continued to influence Western civilization. Much of this is due to Christianity. The Apostle Paul was influenced by Stoic ideas. So was Thomas Aquinas, the most important theologian of the Middle Ages. Within modern philosophy, thinkers such as Rene Descartes and Baruch Spinoza looked to Stoicism for their ethics. Even today, political leaders such as Nelson Mandela have found inspiration in the Stoic lessons of resilience, strength, and moral courage. 

What is Stoicism?

Stoicism is very hard to define, because different philosophers held different beliefs. But generally speaking, the Stoics believed that we ought to live naturally. To be clear, they did not mean this in a hippie kind of way. It simply means that a person should live in accordance with human nature. What is human nature, you might ask? Humans naturally have two powers: the ability to reason, and the capacity to socialize with others. The Stoics were not naive, and they knew that humans can be very unreasonable at times. But the Stoics recognized that humans were uniquely capable of rational thought. Thus, the Stoics argued, the good life consists of using intelligence to improve your connection with other people. This is what leads to human flourishing and development, both at individual level and society at large. 

Virtue

The Stoics had very clear ideas about how to live a good life. To them, a good life is the virtuous life. There are four cardinal virtues: prudence, courage, justice, and temperance. Prudence is the ability to know what is good for you. Courage is not just weight-lifting or physical strength; it means standing up for the right values. Justice means treating people fairly and humanely. Temperance is the virtue of moderation, avoiding extremes. 

Freedom

The Stoics teach us not to worry about things outside of our control. This principle is called the “dichotomy of control.” It requires us to differentiate between what is in our control, and what is outside of it. The principle was first taught by a slave-turned-philosopher named Epictetus. Born in Hierapolis in modern-day Turkey, Epictetus was sold off as a slave in the royal court of Rome’s Emperor Nero. Despite the suffering of his circumstances, the Stoic philosopher Epictetus remained resolute. Blessed with good intelligence, Epictetus managed to win his freedom after years of tutoring. Eventually, the philosopher earned his freedom, and began teaching his ideas in the streets of Rome. He faced many challenges, and was physically assaulted by those he talked to. But the Stoic thinker was never discouraged. He founded his own school, which was closed down by the persecutions of Emperor Domitian. This forced Epictetus to move to Nicopolis, in northwestern Greece. There, he re-founded his school, and eventually became one of the ancient world’s most popular philosophers. Although he was born a slave, Epictetus never allowed his tragic circumstances to take away his inner freedom. The wise and brave man taught his followers to stop worrying anxiously about the future. “I have to die. If it is now, when then I die now. If later, then now I will take my lunch, since the hour for lunch has arrived—and dying I will tend to later,” he wrote in his Discourses. For Epictetus, the good life means not worrying about things that are outside of our control. “Within our power are opinion, motivation, and desire,” he explained. “Not in our power are our body, our property, and reputation.” We should only care about stuff that we can actually change. Otherwise, stop complaining! The Stoics used the analogy of an archer. An archer can practice how to shoot his arrows, but he can’t stop the wind. Same thing with life. We can’t always control our outcomes in life, but it’s our effort that counts. 

Happiness

For the Stoics, the secret of happiness is to stop worrying about things outside your control. Accept fate. Don’t resist the inevitable. Go with the flow. In practice, this means accepting your role in life. Every person has a role to play. Some people are mothers or fathers. Other people are teachers or educators. But all people are members of the same human family, with the same basic rights and duties. The important thing is to live your life according to your role. “Reflect on the social roles you play,” Epictetus tells us in his Discourses. “If you are young, what does being young mean. If you are old, what does age imply. If you are a father, what does fatherhood entail? Each of our titles suggests the acts appropriate to it.” That is the secret to being happy all the time, regardless of your circumstances. Do your duty, and your life will always be meaningful and worthwhile. 

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