What Is Stoicism?

Who founded Stoicism, and where does the name come from?

Stoicism was one of the leading philosophical systems of the Hellenistic period.^[1] It began in Athens around 300 BCE, when Zeno of Citium, a Greek philosopher from Cyprus, founded the Stoic school.^[1][4] The Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy dates Zeno to 334–262 BC.^[4]

A stoa was a common structure in Greek cities: open at the front, with a row of columns, it gave people an open but sheltered space.^[3] According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the Stoa Poikile, or "Painted Stoa", was built at the northern end of the Athenian Agora in the 460s BCE and took its nickname from the painted panels on its back wall.^[3] The same source says Zeno arrived in Athens around 313 BCE and often taught his followers there, and that the Stoics took their name from the place.^[3]

Zeno was followed as head of the school by Cleanthes of Assos and then by Chrysippus of Soli, who led it from around 230 until 206 BCE and is regarded as its foremost theorist and systematizer.^[1]

What are the three parts of Stoic philosophy?

From Zeno onwards, Stoic philosophy was divided into three parts: physics, logic and ethics.^[1]

• Logic included formal logic, along with questions that now belong to the philosophy of language, the theory of knowledge and the philosophy of mind.^[1]
• Physics was roughly a mix of natural science and metaphysics.^[2] The Stoics held that only bodies exist and described God as an eternal reason present throughout the cosmos.^[1]
• Ethics dealt with happiness and what is truly good.^[1]

The Stoics treated the three parts as one connected system and illustrated this with several comparisons.^[1] One likened philosophy to a fertile field, with logic as the surrounding wall, physics as the land or trees and ethics as the fruit.^[1]

What did the Stoics believe about virtue and nature?

Stoic ethics starts from the idea that happiness, meaning a well-lived and flourishing life, is the final goal of a rational person.^[1] In the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's translation, Zeno described that goal as "living in agreement", and his successor Cleanthes added "with nature".^[1] The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy renders Zeno's phrase as "live consistently".^[2] The same encyclopedia explains that by "nature" the early Stoics meant both the rational order of the cosmos and human nature, which they saw as that of a social animal able to use rational judgment.^[2] Virtue, in their account, is human reason in its perfected condition.^[1]

Two Stoic claims were especially disputed: that human happiness is fully in a person's own power, and that virtue is the only good.^[1] The Stoics counted virtues such as prudence, justice, courage and moderation as good, and their opposites as bad.^[1] Everything else, including life, health, wealth and reputation and their opposites, they called "indifferent", meaning neither good nor bad.^[1] The Stoics even held that a virtuous person is fully happy while being tortured on the rack.^[1]

Mainstream Stoics still held that some indifferents, such as health and wealth, are "preferred", so a virtuous person will normally pursue them, even though having them makes no difference to her happiness.^[1] Ancient critics called this doctrine incoherent, and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy acknowledges that it is hard to see how something can be indifferent to happiness yet still rational to pursue.^[1]

How did the Stoics view control and emotions?

In Stoic psychology, people are responsible for their acts of "assent" to impressions but not for the kinds of impressions they form: assent is "up to us" in a way that receiving an impression is not.^[1] The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy calls the "dichotomy of control" Epictetus's starting point, as stated at the very beginning of his Encheiridion, or Handbook.^[2][6] It gives two translations of that opening: "We are responsible for some things, while there are others for which we cannot be held responsible" and "Some things are up to us, other things are not up to us".^[2] In his teaching, a person's convictions, attitudes, intentions and actions are truly their own, while the body, possessions and reputation are "externals".^[6]

The Stoics defined a "passion" as an excessive impulse that disobeys reason, and they recognised four main types: distress, fear, appetite and delight.^[1] In the standard case, a passion involves mistaking something indifferent for something good or bad.^[1] The Stoics argued that the virtuous person feels no passions.^[1] That did not mean feeling nothing: they also described "good feelings", which are emotional responses to real goods such as virtue and virtuous friends.^[1]

Which Stoic writings survive today?

No complete work survives from Zeno, Cleanthes or Chrysippus, the first three heads of the school.^[1] The only complete Stoic works that survive come from the Roman Imperial period: those of Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, along with a few lesser-known authors.^[1]

Seneca, who wrote in Latin, was an adviser to the emperor Nero and was compelled to commit suicide in 65.^[5][2] Epictetus, a freed slave, was forced to leave Rome when the emperor Domitian expelled philosophers.^[6][1][2] The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy dates that expulsion to 89 in its entry on Epictetus but to 93 CE in its entry on Stoicism.^[6][1] According to their preface, his Discourses were written down by Arrian of Nicomedia.^[6] Marcus Aurelius wrote the Meditations to and for himself.^[7]

How is the word "stoic" different from the philosophy?

In everyday English, the Cambridge Dictionary defines the adjective "stoic" as "determined not to complain or show your feelings, especially when something bad happens to you".^[8] The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy describes the common word as meaning someone who goes through life with a "stiff upper lip".^[2] It notes a shared emphasis on endurance, but calls the everyday sense a "diminutive version" of the philosophical one and says the two should be kept distinct.^[2] The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy rejects the picture of the ideal Stoic as an "unfeeling robot".^[1]