Stoic Philosophy

The cultures of Rome and Greece celebrated philosophical and religious thinking in various forms. The Greek and Roman religions were polytheistic and included Gods that created natural phenomena. Both religions had a God of Gods who possessed ultimate power and ruled over various capricious Gods. They both included Gods of the hunt, metalworking, war, nature, the ocean and many other human activities and forces of nature. Many Greco-Roman aristocrats searched for meaning outside of religion with philosophy. Thinkers such as Aristotle and Cicero believed strongly in balance and modesty. The Stoics stressed discipline and bravery while Socrates encouraged thinking independently.

Born of different stations, languages and creeds, Epictetus and Seneca are Roman philosophers who externally appear to be very different. Epictetus was born to a slave mother, sold as a slave himself and spent the majority of his youth as a slave in Rome. Seneca was born into money; he became tutor to a boy named Nero who later acquired position of Emperor of Rome in 54 A.D. Though these two men seem to be from very different worlds, they have a shared purpose in studying philosophy. The purpose of their writings was to teach people how to live well. Though they had a shared purpose, they suggested its achievement through different means. Epictetus professed an ‘expect the worst so you wont be disappointed when it happens’

By extension, stoicism did have a profound effect on Rome, because governing peoples and people who had power were often practicing Stoics. In fact, stoicism encouraged participation in government affairs, often putting Stoics in positions influence laws and systems within Rome. Individuals such as Cato the Younger and Cicero (both Stoics) were largely involved in government affairs. Cato was elected as tribune of the plebeians in 63 BCE, where he served as an assistant to Cicero, a consul at the time. During his term as consul, a patrician by the name of Catiline was attempting to overthrow the government by taking advantage of certain unrest in Rome.

The single most important philosophy in Rome was Stoicism, which originated in Hellenistic Greece. The contents of the philosophy were easily persuaded to the Roman worldview, especially to repeat what the Romans considered their crowning achievement. The centrepiece of Stoic philosophy was the concept of the logos. The universe is ordered by God and this order is the logos, which means ?meaning of the universe?. Rome at its beginning was basically agricultural and martial culture. As a result, the earliest Romans stressed effortlessness, strength, and toughness, which are all requirements of both the agricultural and martial lifestyles.

After the death of Aristotle, philosophy that targeted greater complex depths was outrun by philosophy that focused on mere everyday lives. With the rise and fall of Skepticism, Cynicism, and Epicureanism there was an influence that survived years impacting life and that was Stoicism. Zeno of Citium who believed that the world had an ultimate plan and everything--including nature, animals, and humans, were there for a reason (Hergenhahn & Henley, 2014, p. 66). The reason Stoicism was easily used is because it was well-suited with the way Romans highlighted their law and order giving the extensive coverage displayed by many philosophers, including Marcus Aurelius.

Happiness is all around the world, it is a very genuine and important thing, and everyone wants to be happy. Being happy is what makes life worth living, and it makes life a lot better in every way possible. What makes people happy though? Are bodily and external goods necessary to happiness? I would say no because by which they can make you happy, they are not necessary for human happiness. It’s not what things you buy, the pain, the suffering, or enjoyment your body might get. Human happiness comes from somewhere else within the human. Comparing and contrasting Aristotle’s and the Stoics’ view of human happiness will help give a better clear and logical understanding on what really happiness is and why I believe that bodily

In Roman religion, it was crucial “to serve the gods and ensure goodwill” (The Roman Republic). The English word “Religion” comes from the Latin word “Religio” (Overview of Religion). Latin was the ancient language of Rome, but for the Roman’s the translation meant something very different from what we understand it as today. To the Romans, “Religio” translated to “ the fear of gods” (Overview of Religion). Romans invested much of their time serving the gods, performing rituals and sacrifices in honor of them. On the contrary, Greek religion did not prefer to execute rituals as much as the Romans. Greeks were more lenient when honoring the gods. They did not have a theological dogma: belief or principle. There was no specific way in which the religion was executed. The Greeks many gods had different purposes and works they performed. They relied more on the verbal spread of the religion rather than having a written form. Although different, both religions had forms of praising and honoring their gods. Greek and Roman religion have many differences and similarities that impacted each group of people.

The Stoic contribution to Christian theology was primarily with the concept of logos, or word, which is used in the Gospel of John to refer to the Word of God (John 1:1-3.) Plato contributed the idea of an incorporeal mind or soul which is separate from the body. Philo of Alexandria later used this concept to explain the two different creation accounts in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, explaining that one relates to the world

He had been highly educated in both Greece and Rome. He was also a great intellectual and orator of his time which would have put him in contact with the people who already knew of Stoicism. He studied under the Stoic philosopher Diodotus (d. 59 BCE). They maintained such a close friendship that Diodotus lived in Cicero’s house until his death when he left everything he owned to Cicero. While Cicero considered himself not a complete disciple of Stoicism (he followed some teaching of Epicurus and Plato) he practiced Stoicism’s ideals, especially it’s ethics, throughout his life. Professor and historian Edward Clayton writes that “Cicero puts forth Stoic doctrines not dogmatically, as absolutely and always true, but as the best set of beliefs so far developed. We ought to adhere to them because our lives, both individually and collectively, will be better if we do. It is essentially Stoic ethical teachings that Cicero urges the Roman elite to adopt.” Cicero urges the elite to adopt these ethics through his orations and his philosophical writings. He, himself, studied the texts of the earlier stoic philosopher Panaetius, and this influenced his most famous work: De Officiis, or On Duty. On De Divinationes, another of Cicero’s Stoicism -influenced works, the historian A E Douglas writes that: “Cicero wrote at its beginning and again at its end… that he was deliberately seeking relief through philosophy from the political troubles of the time and an outlet

His idea was that no one should settle for an unexamined life because it holds no actual substance or reliability. Plato also stressed the importance of not exclusively relying on the senses to identify what is real. Our senses can fail us and can be easily fooled and are, therefore, not a reliable source alone. We must also use our mental abilities and experiences. Failing to mix perceiver with perceived will keep our heads buried in the comfort of the sand and keep us in the darkness of the cave. Aristotle was also a philosopher that relied on reason and knowledge to identify what is real. Although, unlike Plato, he believed that forms do not help in identifying what is real but he, like Plato, had the presumption that using only sense is a hindrance. Aristotle also has a theory of potentiality to explain what is true and real. This idea holds that objects are the potential bearers of qualities that become actual in it. In contrast to Plato, Aristotle believed becoming was of more importance than being. Aristotle's ideas about potentiality have been adopted by religious organizations to argue against many controversial acts involving human stem cells and embryos. The Philosophy of stoicism is also centralized in knowledge. It goes as far as to say that there is nothing beyond knowledge and that it is the highest authority. The way reason presents the world to us is all the reality that there is. Nature is reality and because of this things happen for a reason and we should not desire to change them. Therefore, we should remain stoic and unaffected in times of hardship. I believe there is a flaw in their philosophy though. Even though the Stoics attempted to remove themselves from emotion they could not truly accomplish it. Reason, which they believe is the highest power, is

A philosophical attitude toward life should play a major part in our lives. It is crucial for us as humans to learn and accept lessons learned through the experience of life. If you do not “examine your life” then what do you learn and what do you gain? Socrates’ in “The Trial and Death of Socrates” he details this in many ways. We can pull all the evidence and ideas we need from this text written by Plato. In the 3 parts Euthyphro, Apology and Crito many conclusions are made and there is much to learn from this text. Some of the most important parts allude to this idea of living life with a philosophical attitude. The book begins with the search for the definition of piety. In the apology Socrates’ details his side of the argument showing everyone the power of his own ideas and that is proved by his execution and finally in the Crito his commitment to his way of life is the last point that Socrates’ made. This text is chalked full of life lessons but the most important is the one that urges people to live their lives while never stopping to learn and think.

Stoics wanted to prove an otherworldly use of the physical and mental world they were in. also, another addition to their main argument was that the best interest is in virtue and that the final purpose for people is to get happiness.

Stoicism is a school of thought that became prominent in the hellenistic era in roughly 300 BCE. Stoics such as Zeno of Citium taught the idea of negative emotions result in errors of our judgement. He believed a person of moral and internal perfection will not suffer such emotions. Stoics feared the mix of determinism and human choice, and the idea that it should be ethical to maintain free will. Stoicism is based largely on physical doing rather than internal doing. Stoicism dominated Roman culture for centuries when Christianity started to arise, many of the leaders in the church in the hellenistic era were former stoics.

Classic Greek Philosophy is largely based on the ideologies of Socrates and those who supported and added on to his ideas, such as Plato and Aristotle. Rather than believing that the world was created by one or many gods, Socrates and other Greeks relied on observable evidence, scientific reasoning, and realistic thoughts to explain the natural processes of the world.

The ideology of Stoicism was brought upon by Greek philosopher, Epictetus. Epictetus was born a slave during the 2nd century A.D. Many people loved and studied under Epictetus, and still value his lessons today. Though he was a great teacher, Epictetus never published any writings of his own. It was not until later that a