Stoicism: Is it all about taking control?
During these pandemic times it appears that Stoic philosophy is increasingly evident. I have become curious about Stoicism seeking to find out what it is and where it came from. Trying to go beyond cliched impressions I have about Stoicism. First the historic origins, Stoicism is ancient history dating from the 3rd century BC. For its proponents it remains just as or even more relevant to the world we live in today. The Wikipedia page on Stoicism [ s a good place to start to get a feel for Stoicism, a philosophical movement that began in 3rd century BC.
Another place is the BBC World Service radio show The Forum and their episode Calm in the chaos: The story of the Stoics’ broadcast in 2018 .
Going back to 2017 The Verb on BBC radio three has an episode “What does it mean to live a Stoic life in 2017?’ This programme from 2017 notes what it sees as ‘the current resurgence in Stoic ideas’. A look at Google trends in the UK for the last five years shows interest in Stoicism spiking in 2017 but then peaking between March and May 2020.
For me with only a rudimentary knowledge of Stoicism its key messages are ‘pull yourself together’ and adheres to that old adage ‘you’ve made your bed, now lie in it”, a much more authoritative definition comes from Professor AC Grayling who in April 2020 writing on the Penguin books blog suggests stoicism as a way to help us through the pandemic. He says of stoicism
“The essence of the Stoic outlook is this: As regards what you cannot influence — earthquakes, tsunamis, ageing — you must face it with courage. As regards what you can influence — your fears, appetites, desires — you must seek self-mastery.“
On reading what Gray says about stoicism it suggests to me that Stoicism is about taking control but only of those things that you can control. The image that springs to mind is off a stoic as someone who hides their emotions. If Stoics are indeed hiding emotions, then for me a stoic who does that is simply bottling them up. Sooner or later the cap comes off and those emotions come gushing out. Or is this a cliche of Stoicism as a way of ‘keeping a stiff upper lip’.
As interest in Stoicism has grown in the last few years so too has a modern stoicism. For example in the book A New Stoicism: Revised Edition By Lawrence C. Becker (2017) says that:
Ways of living whether these are religious, based on ancient philosophies or mindfulness can give people a structure to see out the day. When the days are uncertain as they are now then we turn to these as tools to get through it all. That is is if you choose to pick it up the tools.
