The Aspects Of Stoicism, An Ancient Greek Practice Of Philosophy
Stoicism is an ancient Greek practice of philosophy. This philosophy was founded in the 3rd century BC and gave answers to the unknown reasons for circumstances that happened in life. A major aspect of Stoicism is to be in control of one’s self. Stoics embrace unfortunate life circumstances knowing that they were meant to occur rather than asserting logic and negative energy back onto oneself. This meant that when one practiced the art of Stoicism, their virtue was destined to be happiness. An example of the Stoicism perspective can be seen in a quote from Marcus Aurelius where he says, “Choose not to be harmed and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed and you haven’t been.” -Marcus Aurelius By this way of life, there is no true definition of good or bad everything is simply just moving forward.
Another major aspect of Stoicism is the act of judgement. Stoics believed the actual feeling from an event, for example, comes from the judgement about that particular event rather than the event itself. This was understood by William Connolly and he explains this concept by saying, “The only thing over which we have control, therefore, is the faculty of judgment. Since anything else, including all external affairs and acts of others, are not within our power, we should adopt toward them the attitude of indifference” ( William R. Connolly).
Suppose a CCHS student took a science test and received a poor test grade. From a modern day viewpoint, many would assume the student would be unhappy and disappointed in themselves because of this low score. Some may even be so disappointed that they then classify themselves to be “bad” at science or “not smart enough”. A Stoic philosopher would tell this student to embrace the test score. Stoics stood by the theory that whatever happened in life was supposed to happen in that exact way.
Therefore, the student was supposed to get that test score in order for some unknown reason because it was simply a part of their life that was supposed to happen. The philosopher would also tell the student not to have a predetermined hope but an accepted outcome by saying, "Do not seek to have events happen as you want them to, but instead want them to happen as they do happen, and your life will go well".
According to Stoics, this student must have a negative judgement on getting a poor test score rather than the feeling originating from the score itself. William Connolly says,“What upsets people is not things themselves but their judgments about the things” ( William R. Connolly). The practice of Stoicism could majorly change the life perspective a student of CCHS has on their feeling towards life and their outlooks. Is it more beneficial to feel these highs and lows based on judgement or to embrace this fact and only feel something in-between? Which view point in more of an illusion?
