Stoicism For Dummies

Tom Morris is author of Philosophy For Dummies and 30 other books. He was a philosophy professor at The University of Notre Dame and now heads The Morris Institute for Human Values. Gregory Bassham is author of The Philosophy Book, an illustrated history of philosophy, and 10 other books. Gregory was a professor of philosophy at King’s College.

• Introduction 1About This Book 1Foolish Assumptions 2Icons Used in This Book 3Beyond the Book 3Where to Go from Here 4Part 1: Ancient Stoicism 5Chapter 1: Stoicism: A Philosophy for Our Time 7A Way of Thought for Our Time 8Hot philosophy in America 9The Stoic formula 9What Does “Philosophy” Even Mean? 10What Wisdom Is and Is Not 11Two sides of philosophy 12Philosophy and life 14Using Wisdom with the Stoics 17Happiness and freedom 18When to go to philosophy 20Chapter 2: Socrates and the Beginnings of Western Philosophy 21Heraclitus the (Cranky and) Obscure 22Socrates: The Barefoot Gadfly and General Pain-in-the-Patootie of Ancient Athens 24Care for the soul 25Virtue is sufficient for happiness 26No harm can come to a good person 26Virtue is knowledge 27No one does wrong willingly 27Diogenes of Sinope: Socrates on Steroids 27Virtue is the only true good 28Virtue is sufficient for happiness 28“Follow nature” 29Be a citizen of the world 29Chapter 3: The First Stoics 31The Basic Teachings of Zeno and His Stoic Followers 32Materialists through and through 32Belief in Logos 33Strict determinists 35Belief in an afterlife 35Live rationally 36The good, the evil, and the indifferent 36Only virtue leads to happiness 37Why Stoicism Had Its Moment in Ancient Greece and Rome 39Chapter 4: Stoicism Comes to Rome 41Seneca and Epictetus 42Seneca: Wealthy but Frugal 42Philosophy as a therapy for the emotions 43Coping with life’s hard knocks 44Controlling anger 45Epictetus: Slave Turned Philosopher 47True freedom 48The dichotomy of control 49Radical acceptance 50Chapter 5: Marcus Aurelius: Philosopher-Emperor 53A Stoic Philosopher Comes to the Throne 53Early influences 54Conversion to Stoicism 55Reign as emperor 55Personal tragedies and death 56Two Themes in Marcus’s Philosophy 58Impermanence: Reality is flux 58Pessimism 59The Demise of Ancient Stoicism 63The demise of “the old gods” of paganism 63The rise of competing philosophies 63Failure to appeal to the masses 63Attacks by rival philosophical schools 64Down but not out 64Part 2: the Stoic Worldview 65Chapter 6: The Stoic View of Reality 67Everything Is Made of Matter 68God and Nature 69Stoic pantheism 69The Earth’s place in the universe 70Stoic arguments for God 70Stoic belief in periodic conflagrations 72The Place of Humanity in the Cosmos 73An anthropocentric view 73Belief in a (temporary) afterlife 74Finding truth in outdated notions 76Chapter 7: Providence, Fate, and Free Will 77“Everything Is Fated” 78Fatalism gone rogue 79Free will and responsibility 81Is God to Blame for Evil? 85Seneca’s response 85Natural evils and animal pain 86Are sin and evil caused by God? 87Stoic Fate and Passivity 88Divine Providence 89Part 3: Stoic Ethics 93Chapter 8: Virtue as the Goal of Life 95Virtus and Arete 96Virtus 96Arete 97Virtue at the Center 98May the Force be with you 98Vice: The opposite of virtue 99Can you progress toward virtue? 99Happiness and Virtue 101The surface complexity of happiness 103The Stoic simplification of it all 105Virtue and happiness coincide 105Only virtue is good, and only vice is bad 106The Good, Bad, and Indifferent 107What’s different about the Stoic indifferent 109Inner and outer things 113A good person can’t be harmed 114Use and value 115Chapter 9: Things We Can Control 119The Dichotomy of Control 120Your wants and your power 121Exploring the Concept of Control 124Value judgments, desires, and goals 125More options about control 126The inner citadel or fortress 128Another spectrum 130The Problem of External Goals 131Relationships, reason, and common good 131A modern Stoic’s strategy 133Trying Our Best 137An Alternate Strategy 138Our emotional relationship to goals 139The proper path of action 140Chapter 10: Desire and the Happy Life 143Getting Clear about Desire 144Commitments 144Thought, desire, and action 145Managing desires 147Whatever should be will be 147Desiring only what is true 148The problem of evil 149Desire and Happiness 150The Desire Satisfaction View of Happiness 151Finding the real flaws here 154An Opportunity for Hope 156The gap is good 157Can you rid yourself of desires? 158The many facets of happiness 160Desire for that which is 160Happiness comes from within 162Chapter 11: Pleasure and Pain 163The Epicurean Pull of Pleasure 163Epicurus on pleasure 164Stoic objections to Epicureanism 166Pleasure and Pain with the Stoics 167Epictetus has his say 168Marcus Aurelius weighs in 170Seneca joins the fray 175Using Sensations and Situations 178Chapter 12: Natural Law 183What Is Natural Law? 184Cicero on natural law 185Basic elements of natural law 186Natural Law in Roman Law 189Modern Stoicism and Natural Law 190Natural law: Pros and cons 191Chapter 13: Building Strong Communities 197Philosophers as Social Advisors 197The Two Roots of Community 199Reason and relationality 199The self and society 200Plato and Aristotle Behind It All 202Our need to belong 203Aristotle on the power of partnership 203Platonic perspectives 205Community and political virtues 206Circles of Community and Care 207The rings of our lives 207Making the most of our circles 209The Four Foundations 210The demands of love 211Citizens of the world 213Part 4: Passions and Emotions 217Chapter 14: Stoic Apathy: Why You Should Care 219Two Ideas of Apathy 220Two big problems 220An ancient idea and a modern translation 220Definitions and Images in Film 221Digging Deeper into Stoic Apathy 222The Discipline We Need 224The Nature of Emotions 225Apathy and Ataraxia 227Stoic serenity 228The extremes of Epictetus 229Finding Sensible Peace 232Concluding Thoughts on Apathy 234Chapter 15: Love and Friendship 235Two Big Ideas for Friendship and Love 235The Stoic idea of agreement 236The idea of appropriation 237True Friendship 238Aristotle on friendship 238Stoic friends 240The Interpenetrating Unity of Souls 245Is the self a walled fortress? 245Distributed cognition 246A unique virtue 247Virtue or vulnerability? 248Stoics in Love and on It 249Sex and Love with the Stoics 251Chapter 16: The Fear of Death 257Matters of Life and Death 257Philosophy as Preparation for Death 258The Socratic acceptance of mortality 259The Stoics’ concerns 259Two Epicurean Efforts to Calm Us Down 261The Symmetry Argument 261The Impossibility of Harm Argument 262Epictetus Against Fearing Death 264The Judgment Argument 266The Avoidance Argument 268The Ignorance Argument 271The Acceptance Argument 271Marcus Aurelius Weighs in on Death 274The Sameness Argument 275The Natural and Liberating Argument 276The Normal Change Argument 279Seneca’s Quantity or Quality Argument 281Part 5: Stoic Virtues 285Chapter 17: The Master Virtues 287The Nature of Virtue 287Arete, or excellence 288Good habits 288The Stoic View of Virtue 289From the Cynics 289From Socrates 290Stoic paradoxes relating to virtue 290The Four Cardinal Virtues 291Courage 292Self-control 294Justice 296Wisdom 297Evaluating the four cardinal virtues 298Chapter 18: Finding Resilience and Inner Peace 299Resilience: The Art of Bouncing Back 300Live in the present moment 300Adopt the view from above 301Look at the situation objectively 302Cut people some slack 303Take a walk on the wild side 304Keep Stoic basics ready to hand 304The Stoic Quest for Inner Peace 306Anticipate possible adversities 306Practice morning and evening meditations 307Start journaling 308Act with a reserve clause 308Practice voluntary discomfort 309Contemplate impermanence 310Adopt good role models 312Focus on what you can control 312Curb your desires for externals 313Practice Amor Fati 314Part 6: Stoicism Today 317Chapter 19: The Stoic Next Door: The Popular Revival of Stoicism Today 319The Rise of Modern Stoicism 320The therapists 321The sixties 322Existentialism 323Virtue ethics 323A renewal of scholarly work 324Cultural attention 324Leading Figures in Modern Stoicism 327William B Irvine 327Donald Robertson 331Massimo Pigliucci 333Ryan Holiday 335Chapter 20: Modern Stoicism 339What Is Modern Stoicism? 339Key Differences: Ancient and Modern 341Theoretical ambitions 342Intellectual foundations 342Attitude toward religion 343Plausibility 343Central focus 345Intended audience 346Argumentative and rhetorical styles 346Modern Stoicism: Down and Upsides 349Modern Stoicism: The cons 349Modern Stoicism: The pros 353Part 7: the Part of Tens 357Chapter 21: Ten Books Every (Budding) Stoic Should Read 359The Inner Citadel: The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius 360A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy 360The Stoic Art of Living: Inner Resilience and Outer Results 361How To Be a Stoic 361How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius 362The Stoics (2nd edition) 362The Obstacle Is the Way 363The Daily Stoic 363Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide 363Breakfast with Seneca: A Stoic Guide to the Art of Living 364Chapter 22: Ten Great Stoic Blogs and Podcasts 365Daily Stoic Blog 365Stoicism Today Blog 366Figs in Winter Blog 366Stoicism: Philosophy as a Way of Life 366Traditional Stoicism Blog 367Daily Stoic Podcast 367The Walled Garden Podcast 367Stoic Meditations Podcast 368Stoicism: Philosophy As a Way of Life Podcast 368Stoic Coffee Break Podcast 368Index 369