Physics
(la physique)
Desires and aversions
(le désir et l’aversion)
Man with the universe
Getting what one desires and avoiding what one does not desire
Critical remarks
Stoic philosophers, particularly Epictetus, have offered us a model of philosophical education that put an emphasis on both learning theories and putting them into practice. The goal of this education is to transform one’s life in order to as close as possible reach the level of the Sage, i.e. those who have gained full wisdom. All of the Stoic teachings have been formed in a solid and systematic foundation where every single part is remarkably connected with the other. It is then of little wonder that quite a few philosophers succeeding Stoicism throughout history have expressed their admiration as well as objection to this philosophical system.
In the context of the twenty first century, I can see the benefits that people may reap from doing philosophy in the Stoic way. The complexity and interconnectivity of today’s society has resulted in the massive number of goods, services and information. People are put in front of endless advertisements and offers, which are all not dependent on them. It is not unusual then to see some of them succumb to their own passions deriving from false judgements. Fear, regret, lust and obsession are among the states of mind permeating the atmosphere of today’s civilisation—herein lies the ever-increasing importance of self-control, which can be carried out, among others, in the Stoic way.
The only thing that may hamper me from adopting ideas of Stoicism entirely is its lack of altruism, the fact of caring about the needs and happiness of other people more than our own. Using the Stoic perspective, it seems that at the end of the day every action we do to others will be always intended for the sake of our own interest, i.e. for the conformability of our hēgemonikon to the Nature. Moreover, seeing the events in which people are suffering from injustice as something indifferent is simply unacceptable to me. I would argue that sympathy with others is equally natural to human beings and thus cannot be ignored for the sake of my apathy.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Arrien. 1862. Les Entretiens d’Epictète recueillis par Arrien, translated by V. Courdaveaux. Paris: Librairie Académique Didier et Cie.
Arrien. 1899. Manuel d’Epictète, translated by Jean-François Thurot. Available at http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Manuel_d%E2%80%99%C3%89pict%C3%A8te.
Epictetus. 1890. The Discourses, translated by George Long. Available at http://www.constitution.org/rom/epicdisc.htm.
Epictetus. 1983. The Handbook of Epictetus, translated by Nicholas White. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company.
Secondary Sources
Graver, Margaret, ‘Epictetus’, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2009 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2009/ entries/epictetus/.
Hadot, Pierre. 1987. Exercices Spirituels et Philosophie Antique. Paris: Études Augustiniennes.
----------. 1999. Philosophy as a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault, translated by Michael Chase. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
Seddon, Keith H. ‘Epictetus’. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Last updated on 11 July 2005.http://www.iep.utm.edu/epictetu/.
Sellars, John. 2010. Stoicism. Durham: Acumen Publishing Ltd.
Wibowo, A. Setyo. ‘Garis Besar Sistem Filsafat Stoisisme’. Lecture delivered at Driyarakara School of Philosophy on 5 March 2012.
----------. ‘Stoikisme: Keutamaan melalui Askesis’. Lecture delivered at Salihara on 12 May 2012.
- This section was compiled from Margaret Graver (2009) and Keith H. Seddon (2005).
- John Sellars (2010), p. 35.
- Ibid., p. 49.
- Pierre Hadot (1999), p. 191.
- Sellars, op. cit., p. 106.
- Ibid., p. 104.
- Hadot, op. cit., p. 192.
- I am inclined then to hold that philosophy in its truest sense according to the Stoics, especially Epictetus, is more a matter of practice, rather than a matter of discourse. To what extent this notion is true or false, I have yet to find out.
- Hadot, op. cit.
- Sellars, pp. 42–43.
- Ibid., p. 52.
- Hadot, op. cit., p. 193.
- Hadot (1987), p. 136.
- Cf. Hadot (1999), p. 193.
