Introductory Paper

INTRODUCTION TO STOIC PHILOSOPHY

The Quest for Inner Peace

Introduction

If, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, you visit a bookstore with a large philosophy section hoping to find books of practical guidance that will help you bear life’s burdens and vicissitudes, you will in all likelihood be disappointed. Not wholly disappointed, to be sure. For some books on the edges of philosophy that touch or encroach upon other disciplines, such as theology or psychology, may give useful advice and offer practical solutions with regard to a wide range of topics. But what you will not find are books in the mainstream of philosophy, used in university philosophy departments around the world, with titles like The Meaning of Life, How to Live Well, or Philosophy: The Guide to Life.

Philosophy as a guide to life simply isn’t taught any more. Although the dominance of Christianity in our culture is in decline, its dominance has nevertheless been such that for centuries there was no need to ask questions like ‘How should I live?’ or ‘How do I find peace of mind amid the turmoil of daily life?’ If you live as a good Christian and follow the gospel, all will be well. At times of crisis, when things seem uncertain, puzzling, or too much to bear, all you needed to do was read the Bible and pray. Thus there was no role for philosophy in addressing these topics.

But two thousand years ago, and more, for the ancient Greeks and the ancient Romans, this was not the case. Booksellers in the ancient markets would have sold philosophy books of a wholly different character to the books in a modern bookstore. The superficial differences are obvious: the ancient books were all handwritten on papyrus scrolls (the techniques required for papermaking and for printing would not be developed for over a thousand years) – and just look at the titles! Our ancient bookseller has on his stall editions of How to Live Amongst Men (Diogenes), Of Marriage, Of Freedom (Cleanthes), Proofs that Pleasure is Not the Good (Chrysippus), The Way to Wisdom, Of Wealth (Metrodorus), Of Love, Of Human Life, Of Just Dealing (Epicurus), On Anger, On Leisure, Moral Letters (Seneca). Then, as now, philosophers addressed questions concerning the theory of knowledge, metaphysics, aesthetics, logic, etc., but as we can see from the titles just mentioned philosophers were also interested in questions directly concerned with how the individual should live.

Philosophy as a way of life

Speaking of the ancient schools of philosophy, the author Pierre Hadot observes:

All schools agree that man, before his philosophical conversion, is in a state of unhappy disquiet. Consumed by worries, torn by passions, he does not live a genuine life, nor is he truly himself. All schools also agree that man can be delivered from this state. (Hadot 1995, 102)

So, philosophy for the ancients was more than a matter of reading books to understand and appreciate the views of their authors (and to examine and challenge those views, just as philosophers continue to do today), but was also a matter of reorienting oneself towards life generally, and finding new and improved perspectives on one’s specific concerns, to arrive eventually at a point where our worries are defeated, or our fears abolished, and our passions tempered. The endeavour to do this, and to live abiding by the insights attained, for the ancients constituted living as a philosopher. The term ‘philosopher’ designated not so much the teacher or author, but the person aiming to live the philosophical life. One of philosophy’s most important figures, Socrates, said this during his trial in Athens:1

I did not care for the things that most people care about – making money, having a comfortable home, high military or civil rank, and all the other activities, political appointments, secret societies, party organizations, which go on in our city… I set myself to do you – each one of you, individually and in private – what I hold to be the greatest possible service. I tried to persuade each of you to concern himself less with what he has than with what he is, so as to render himself as excellent and rational as possible. (Plato, Apology 36b–c, quoted in Hadot 1995, 90)

What Socrates did for himself was to find out how to make himself ‘excellent and rational’ – which in part at least resulted in his not caring about the sorts of things that people usually regard as of supreme importance (wealth and status, especially) – and then he set about encouraging others to do the same. Socrates is famed for his assertion that ‘the unexamined life is not worth living’ (Apology 38a). In the most general of senses what Socrates wanted to examine is the system of values we adopt to justify what we find of importance.

And this is what we shall be doing on this course.

The promise of Stoic philosophy

Shall I tell you what philosophy holds out to humanity? Counsel. One person is facing death, another is vexed by poverty, while another is tormented by wealth – whether his own or someone else’s; one man is appalled by his misfortunes while another longs to get away from his own prosperity; one man is suffering at the hands of men, another at the hands of the gods… All mankind are stretching out their hands to you on every side. Lives that have been ruined, lives that are on the way to ruin are appealing for some help; it is to you that they look for hope and assistance. (Seneca, Moral Letters 48.7–8, trans. Campbell, p. 98)

The counsel that Seneca speaks of here, which aims to relieve people of their anxieties, and which in doing so will give to the philosopher’s student a sense of profound tranquillity, is frequently conceived of, by the Stoics as well as the other philosophical schools of the Graeco-Roman period, in terms of medical imagery. That is, the philosophically unenlightened person who experiences the sorts of anxieties that Seneca enumerates is thought of as suffering a sort of sickness for which the philosopher has treatments and remedies just as the physician has prescriptions and regimes for people suffering physical illnesses.

The medical analogy is at its weakest when we note that for philosophy to effect its healing powers, it is the student themselves who must incorporate their new philosophical insights into the moment by moment business of actually leading the sort of life that firstly, people actually do live, and secondly, as a life of a special sort that philosophers can attempt to live as an ideal. So, the philosopher-teacher can guide and can give advice, but it is the job of the student to actively put that teaching into practice. The job of the teacher is to show the student how this can be done. In ancient times the teacher readily accomplished this simply by living the philosophic life, which was viewed directly by the student on a daily basis simply as a result of the student’s attending their daily lessons and through personal contact at other times. Indeed, some schools accepted residential students who would actually have lived with their philosopher-teacher throughout the duration of their studies. Thus the students would have been able to see how their teacher managed their everyday affairs, how they coped with crises and lesser troubles, and how they faced the sorts of evils that in some shape or form eventually touch the lives of everyone. In short, the teacher was a model for their students.

Helping students in this way is of course impossible in a correspondence course. This is why Seneca’s Moral Letters has been chosen as one of the set texts. The letters that Seneca wrote to Lucilius are of such a character as to show to the reader how Seneca is himself striving to adopt the philosophic life; they are written by a teacher, certainly, but all the same, the reader has a very strong sense that they are written by a fellow traveller who deeply cares that his friend should be able to make moral progress. But Seneca is a stride or two in front of his companion, and from this position he can call back, as it were, and continuously point out the benefits of the philosophic life in the hope of encouraging Lucilius – and us, his readers in this current age – to maintain our efforts.

From his own advanced position, Seneca announces:

I see in myself, Lucilius, not just an improvement but a transformation. (Seneca, Moral Letters 6.1, trans. Campbell, p. 39)

And it is a transformation that the philosopher-teacher aims to bring about in all their students. Once this transformation is underway, the student begins to see things quite literally differently. The sorts of troubles that Seneca mentions in the quotation at the head of this section will, once the transformation is underway, affect the student less and less. What was of concern before will have little or no influence any more. And once the transformation is complete (which the Stoics admit is an ideal state that may in fact never be experienced by anyone – though we aim for it nevertheless) these anxieties will simply and literally not be experienced.

From this new position everything seems different, indeed, it is different, and it is right to say that finding a path to this new position constitutes a transformation. The Stoics maintained that one can only be truly human once this transformation has been accomplished, and that we each of us has a responsibility to ourselves and to others to do what we can to live as close as we can to the Stoic ideal.

Set books

On this course you will be asked to read selections from two ancient Stoic writers. These are:

Seneca: Letters from a Stoic [= ‘Moral Letters’], translated by Robin Campbell, Penguin Books.

Marcus Aurelius: Meditations, translated by Robin Hard, Wordsworth Editions.

It is essential that you acquire your own copies of these two books. They should be readily available from most booksellers, or from Internet bookstores. They are also available directly from the Stoic Foundation.

Having your own copies will enable you to annotate them with your own notes, underline passages that you want to find easily, and make basic indexes at the back. The more you annotate your own copies of these books, the more useful you will find them, and the better acquainted you will be with their authors.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c. 4 BC – AD 65) was tutor to the future Emperor Nero, and served as a senior minister in Nero’s administration. He was implicated in a plot to assassinate Nero, and was forced to commit suicide. Seneca wrote several philosophical treatises, as well as the Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (‘Moral letters to Lucilius’ = Letters from a Stoic). The Letters are clearly designed not just to inform his readers about Stoic philosophy, but to persuade them to adopt a Stoic outlook and lifestyle.

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born AD 121) was emperor from 161 to 180. Whereas there can be absolutely no doubt that Seneca wrote for publication, Marcus’ Meditations are notes written for his own private use. The book offers an intriguing insight into how Marcus strove to incorporate Stoic philosophy into a life which he felt was burdened by his responsibilities as emperor, but also shows that whatever our station in life, we can meet our obligations and face our difficulties with a calm commitment to seek the Stoic ideal.

Some questions answered

How long does the course take to complete?

This very much depends upon the individual. There are six course papers to complete in total, and each will direct you to some required reading, as well as giving you short writing assignments and exercises, some of which you will send to you tutor for assessment. Some students will wish to devote a lot of time to their studies, in which case they will be able to complete each of the six course papers in a week, and finish the entire course in six weeks. Other students will wish to work at a substantially more relaxed pace, and will complete each paper roughly every two to three weeks. Momentum is important, and once you have registered on the course you will be required to submit your papers at intervals no greater than one calendar month. If you need to take a break, or you have a holiday scheduled, seek advice from your tutor as early as possible.

Lapsed students will be welcome to recommence the course, though we may apply a modest surcharge (never greater than half the original course fee) to cover the provision of extra revisional work.

How much will I have to read?

Each course paper will contain at least a few instructions for the reading of fairly small extracts from the set books. Each paper will conclude with a set of exercises, some of which will require further reading from the set books, or will include printed extracts from other sources. Some students will wish to read more widely, and we will be pleased to offer advice and guidance, and where necessary we will obtain books on your behalf (prepayment is required).

Will I have to send in written exercises?

Yes. Each course paper will conclude with an Exercises section that will ask you to prepare some written work for submission to your tutor for assessment. Your work will be returned with written comments from your tutor. If at all possible we ask that you submit work typed by typewriter, or printed by computer, though neat handwriting is perfectly acceptable. You will also be asked to maintain your own Journal in which you will keep notes about the texts you read as well as write brief exercises as directed by the course papers.

The best way to develop a familiarity and understanding of any body of ideas is to explain the material to someone else. In short, writing focuses the mind.

It will not matter if you have not done this sort of thing before, or if you are worried that you might not do it very well.

Will I be required to adopt certain beliefs or practices?

No. Almost by definition, philosophical ideas are to be discussed and debated, and if people think that any ideas are good ones, these ideas are defended and argued for rather than just ‘believed’. This is the case with respect to ideas in Stoic philosophy. Your tutor will support you in your philosophical investigations (though will at all times seek to support Stoic ideas) no matter where they may lead you.

If, in doing this course, you adopt the Stoic outlook, this will happen because you have decided it is right, and not because anyone has coerced you.

Does Stoic philosophy offer a ‘spiritual path’ and must I believe in any sort of deity?

Many people would say that there is a spiritual path at the core of Stoicism. The fully confirmed Stoic, if they embrace the ideas of the ancient Stoic philosophers, will adopt a range of metaphysical and theological views concerning the nature of creation, providence and fate, the source of our rationality, and Deity.

In a more general sense, the notion of ‘spiritual path’, taken to mean ‘way of life’, ‘outlook upon life’, ‘personal growth’, ‘personal healing’, is in fact the very essence of Stoicism.

Some people accept the Stoic views on moral conduct, but reject the ‘wilder’ metaphysical and theological views. But you will not be required to adopt any particular beliefs.

If I decide not to continue the course, will my fees be refunded?

As soon as you complete the enclosed Application Form and submit your fees you will be sent the first two course papers. If within one month of receipt you decide not to continue the course, if you return the papers in good condition, we will refund your fees minus a £5 charge for postage and administration costs.

Who will tutor me?

Your tutor will be Dr Keith Seddon, a founding trustee of the Stoic Foundation. Dr Seddon was born in London in 1956, and has always been dedicated to philosophy as a tool for personal development and enlightenment. He holds a BA in Humanities (University of Hertfordshire) and a PhD in Philosophy (University of London). Since 1985 he has devoted a considerable proportion of his private study time to the philosophy of the ancients, including the philosophy of classical China and Greece, focusing on Taoism and Stoicism. Dr Seddon has worked as a lecturer and tutor in a variety of settings, and has worked as a correspondence tutor for several institutions. He is married to Rev Dr Jocelyn Almond. They have co-authored books on the Tarot, and on ancient Egyptian religious rites. Together they founded, and currently run, the Lyceum of Isis Myrionymous, which offers correspondence courses within the Fellowship of Isis.

If you have any further queries, please write to us about them.

Note

Socrates was indicted by his enemies in 399 BC on charges of impiety and of corrupting the youth. The Apology, one of Plato’s dialogues, is a reconstruction of Socrates’ defence. (See The Last Days of Socrates, trans. Hugh Tredennich and Harold Tarrant, Penguin Books, 1993.) The jury sided against Socrates, and he was sentenced to death by poisoning. He was given the opportunity to escape and go into exile, but he thought it was wrong to disobey the law, even if it was applied unjustly (see Plato’s dialogue Crito in The Last Days of Socrates). Socrates drank the poison and died.

Bibliography

Hadot, Pierre. 1995. Philosophy as a Way of Life. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Campbell, Robin. 1969. Seneca: Letters from a Stoic. London: Penguin.

Written by Dr. K. H. Seddon k.h.s@btinternet.com

The Stoic Foundation, BM Box 1129, London, WC1N 3XX, Great Britain

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