Stoicism Part III - Sources
If you are new to Stoicism, and want to drill down further, one of the best resources is https://dailystoic.com/new-start-here/.
Here are some of my personal recommendations:
1. The Art of Living: The Classic Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness by Sharon Lebell
Some people mistake this as a translation of The Enchiridon, the lecture notes of Epictetus, sometimes called The Manual. It’s more of a paraphrase, taken with generous license, but very readable, a good primer in Stoic philosophy.
2. Ryan Holiday is one of the more prolific exponents of contemporary Stoicism. His more important works are:
· The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials Into Triumphs (2014)
· The Daily Stoic: 366 meditations on wisdom, perseverance, and the art of living (2016)
· Lives of the Stoics: The Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius (with Stephen Hanselman, 2016)
· Courage is Calling: Fortune Favors the Brave (2021)
· Discipline is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control (2022) [1]
3. How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius by Donald Robertson
I greatly enjoyed this book. Don Robertson is a Stoic philosopher and a cognitive behavioral therapist. He tells the amazing story of Marcus Aurelius, a philosophical prodigy who did not want to be Emperor of Rome but who was adopted so that he could rise to that position. [2]
Sometimes, I think about what a drag it must be to be royalty. Born into this role where your whole life is scripted for you, one official event after another, who you can marry, who you can’t. I can certainly understand Prince Harry’s friendly rebellion.
That’s the way it was for MA, but worse. While he was Emperor, he had his own COVID crisis, except they called it “the Plague,” Lucius, his bad-boy brother caused a lot of trouble, and Marcus had to spend many years on the front lines of a war with invading foreigners. This was no cushy Mar-a-Lago existence.
Robertson tells his story and, along the way, teaches lessons in Stoic philosophy and how it relates to cognitive behavioral therapy: an interesting and entertaining read.
4. A Guide to the Good Life {the ancient art of stoic joy} by William B. Irvine
This was one of the first books I read on Stoicism. It’s a good primer, based upon the author’s discovery of Stoicism as a professor of philosophy at Wright State University in Ohio. Here are some excerpts:
Most people “have never paused to consider their grand goal in living. It is perhaps understandable that they haven’t. Our culture doesn’t encourage people to think about such things; indeed, it provides them with an endless stream of distractions so they won’t ever have to. But a grand goal in living is the first component of a philosophy of life. This means that if you lack a grand goal in living, you lack a coherent philosophy of life.” [3]
[I expected that Stoics would be] “emotionally repressed individuals. I discovered, though, that the goal of the Stoics was not to banish emotion from their life but to banish negative emotions.” [4]
“I also encountered, much to my surprise, individuals who valued joy; indeed, according to Seneca, what Stoics seek to discover ‘is how the mind may always pursue a steady and favorable course, may be well-disposed towards itself, and may view its conditions with joy.’” [5]
“I discovered nearly unanimous agreement among thoughtful people that we are unlikely to have a good and meaningful life unless we can overcome our insatiability. There was also agreement that one wonderful way to tame our tendency to always want more is to persuade ourselves to want the things we already have.” [6]
The Stoics believed that adversity served an important function in life. According to Epictetus, “it is difficulties that show what men are. Consequently, when a difficulty befalls, remember that God, like a physical trainer, has matched you with a rugged young man.” Why do this? “To toughen and strengthen you, so you can become ‘an Olympic victor.’” [7]
Seneca taught that God “does not make a spoiled pet of a good man; he tests him, hardens him, and fits him for his own service.”
“Why, then, do the Stoics want us to contemplate our own death? Because doing so can dramatically enhance our enjoyment of life.” [8]
“By consciously thinking about the loss of what we have, we can regain our appreciation of it, and with this regained appreciation we can revitalize our capacity for joy.” [9]
Professor Irvine closes with a “Stoic Reading Program.” [10]
5. Meditations: The Annotated Edition by Marcus Aurelius (Translated. Introduced and Edited by Robin Waterfield)
The most famous journal ever written: Marcus’ daily thoughts from the front lines of the wars between Rome and invading Germanic peoples.
6. Think Like a Stoic: Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World, by Professor Massimo Pigliucci from The City University of New York.
If you prefer watching to reading, this is a 25-lecture series offered by The Great Courses. Pigliucci is another luminary in this area, having published several books. He has an Italian accent that you will either find charming or irritating, but he knows his stuff and covers the topic well. If you are familiar with The Great Courses, but it has been a while, they have improved them quite a bit. The setting is not a fake background with a fake window and one camera on a guy at a lectern. They still aren’t Netflix, but they have upgraded their look and, for nerds like me, can be quite addictive.
7. Courage Under Fire: Testing Epictetus’ Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior by James Bond Stockdale.
Does anyone remember James Stockdale? Aside from being a philosophy student, a fighter pilot, a war hero and a POW for eight years (four in solitary confinement) in the Viet Nam War, he ran as Ross Perot’s candidate for Vice President in 1996. His medals and awards fill pages. This book is about how he used Stoicism to get through his ordeal as a POW. This is Stoicism in action, not as an academic course of study. It’s a short book but an amazing story.
As long as I am on this topic, does anyone remember Ross Perot – the man who coined the phrase “great sucking sound” during the debates over the adoption of NAFTA?
8. A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe
If you are not interested in learning from ancient texts, books by current professors, videos, or actual stories of heroic Stoics in our own time, try A Man in Full. This is a novel by one of the great writers of contemporary fiction of my generation (anyone remember The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test from 1968?). Wolfe incorporates Stoic philosophy into a plot involving the good old boys from Georgia, a real estate developer in a downward spiral, a spoiled athlete, and a hapless blue-collar worker who discovers Epictetus, and weaves it all into a rollicking tale while teaching many of the lessons of Stoicism. It appears daunting at 742 pages, but I hated for it to end. If your eyes are as worn out as mine, give it a listen on Audible.
the art of living is more like wrestling than dancing
Marcus Aurelius
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[1] Hot off the presses! Publish date: September 27, 2022.
[2] In 138, the Emperor, Hadrian, adopted Antoninus Pius on the condition that Antoninus would, in turn, adopt Marcus, putting him in the line of succession. After Hadrian died, Antoninus ruled for 23 years. To complicate the situation, Antoninus also adopted Lucius Versus. When Antoninus died, the senate offered the emperorship to Marcus, but he refused it unless Lucius was named as co-emperor. This Solomon-like move is one reason Marcus is still known for his wisdom, and Lucius, who turned out to be a party boy, is known for nothing at all.
[3] Page 1. My personal philosophy of life is: when in doubt, ask the Magic 8 ball. I have three. If they all agree, I know what to expect; if they don’t, I go with the majority or take another vote. Works great!
[4] Page 7.
[5] Id.
[6] Pages 8, 9.
[7] Page 54.
[8] Page 71.
[9] Page 74.
[10] Page 281.