The Stoic View of Life

The stoic view on life is an intriguing one. They strongly believe that we cannot control nearly all parts of our lives. Our inter attitude is up to the individual human. We control how we feel and should not let anyone control our lives. On page 213 Soccio says, “Given the Stoic position that our lives are fated but that our wills remain free, our first task must be to distinguish what we can control from what we cannot control. Because Stoic literature is sometimes imprecise and inconsistent, it is important to be sensitive to the distinction between control and influence.” Even if one would hit our car or burglarize our house, the attitude about the situation is up to the individual and nobody can change that.

The stoics classified their ideas into three major categories: cosmic determinism, fatalism-fate, and inner freedom. Cosmic determinism has to do with natural causes, cause and effect. Cosmic determinism also- to an even higher degree- deals with religion. Stoics believe that there is a “Logos” mind behind the universe, a “knows all” type of phenomenon. This Logos can be compared to the Christian God. Soccio says that, “Under the guidance of the Logos, the universe remains rational and ordered. Seneca said, “Events do not just happen, but arrive by appointment.” Everything that occurs is connected to everything else. Everything that exists is connected to the Logos. Our individual minds are “emanations” or “sparks” from the Logos, which is sometime characterized as “fire.” (The stoics borrowed this idea from Heraclitus.) Our finite human reason is, thus, a small reflection of divine reason.” pg 209 They also believe that everything happen by fate (God’s plan). This belief helps to control emotions because they can say they had no control when something bad happens. Finally, they believe in free will: choosing what you want to do.

There were many famous stoics including: Zeno, Cleathes, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and Epictetus who was a freed slave. Soccio clearly puts it on page 206 as, “Ironically however, one of the most important Stoic philosophers was a former slave named Epictetus (50-130). Perhaps because a slave’s life is not his own, Epictetus acquired special insight into the major issue of Stoicism: controlling what we can and accepting what is beyond our control.” Epictetus even had his leg broken and continued to have a positive attitude (a true Stoic!). He even wrote a handbook during his time on Earth.

The Stoics offer more ideas on relationships, the cost of everything, courage, and suffering. Stoics state that we suffer from the fact that we take our live and our relationships to personal. They claim that we need to put the degree of feeling we receive from relationships with everything else, and we need to maintain that positive attitude. One reason we may feel discouraged by events is because we tend to focus on the object of our desire and tend to look past the cost. Yet everything has a cost. The courage a stoic feels increases with experience in life. The ability to look on the bright side inches higher and higher as time goes by.