On the fifth day, did Simon contain his excitement?

This evening I unexpectedly hit a milestone on a personal project I've been putting a lot of effort into for some time now. And I got energetically happy. Couldn't help it. Felt great.

Then I remembered that good Stoics contain their emotions. And that annoyed me, because feeling joyful is nice, so why would Stoics not want that?

The thing about Stoics is they achieve happiness by being virtuous in the moment. Every moment. There's no space to dwell on past virtuousness. Gotta be virtuous again. The time to be happy about my achievement was when I was doing the virtuous things that would eventually lead me there. The virtue was in the doing, not the outcome. When I felt joy this evening, what I wasn't doing, at that moment, was anything virtuous. I was basking, which is inherently self centred, and not virtuous. A good Stoic finds no happiness there.

Simon

Eating Stoically on Day Four

A great deal of Stoicism seems to be about consciously avoiding things that you might enjoy. With this in mind, it can be helpful to think of ways to make such things seem less appealing:

"When meat and other dainties are before you, you reflect: This is dead fish, or fowl, or pig; or: This Falernian is some of the juice from a bunch of grapes; my purple robe is sheep's wool stained with a little gore from a shellfish; copulation is friction of the members and an ejaculatory discharge. Reflections of this kind go to the bottom of things, penetrating into them and exposing their real nature." (Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations, Book VI, 13, emphasis added)

Now, I'm talking about Stoics and food but I also can't help but think that either the translator was having fun here or dear Marcus was busy with self talk when he wrote this passage: "Think unsexy thoughts. Think unsexy thoughts..."

This morning I had a smoothie for breakfast. The inherent appeal of this was effectively diminished by its greenness, viscosity and tartness. The greenness was pureed silverbeet. It was a stoic smoothie.A small bowl of chickpeas made a morning snack and plain chicken with quinoa and olives was lunch.While I did go out for dinner it was to a cheap and grimy Chinese restaurant with notoriously indifferent service. I didn't mind. I'm focused on the higher goal of some sort of inner mastery.

While I haven't eschewed meat and flavour entirely, I have drunk only water and eaten mainly with nutrition and energy in mind. The important concept seems to be the value you place on the triviality of sensation, taste in this case. I'm not sure what there is to eat tomorrow but I will attend to it frugally. For now I must focus on what's most important: the present and the virtuous opportunities it affords.

Geoff

Day Three - on the matter of gossip

A good Stoic does not engage in gossip, nor any kind of negative talk behind someone's back. Such talk is unproductive, dishonest, and certainly not virtuous. The pleasure derived from secretly revelling in another person's inadequacies should be anathema to a good Stoic, who achieves contentment and happiness only through actions of purely virtuous intent.

I wasn't a very good Stoic today.

Yesterday I did a reasonably good job of curtailing my involvement in negative conversation. I passively and noncommittally observed a number of opportunities to follow another's lead in gossiping. On a couple of occasions I slipped and started to contribute, but quite quickly caught myself.

Today I had a generally busier and more intellectually challenging day and my mind was quite focussed. I think this focus had a side effect of lowering my Stoic guard, and on reflection I am aware of a number of occasions where I automatically participated in moments of conversation that were not very virtuous.

There is a euphoria that comes with sharing an unflattering story with a fellow conspirator. But it is fleeting and only self-serving within that brief moment. It does nothing to help anyone grow or improve their character or their contribution.

I wasn't a very good Stoic today, but I'll try to be a better one tomorrow.

Simon

Two Days of Stoic Reflection

When we started looking at Stoicism I thought of crotchety old men eating hard bread and sleeping on the floor. I thought austerity and hardship were the cornerstones of this philosophy. The idea seemed to be that suffering was virtue. Hardly very appealing. What is there to look forward to in life? In trying to follow the rules we have set down, I have found, as Simon has, that attempting to live up to Stoic ideals prompts reflection. Through this, the answer to the question "what is virtue" seems a little clearer than before.

My first two days consisted mainly of intense exercise, household chores, work and study. Having said this, there were many times when I realised, or it was pointed out to me (thanks Simon), that though the task on which I was focused could arguably be a virtuous and worthwhile pursuit, it was, perhaps, not the highest on a list of appropriate pursuits.

I have found myself suddenly aware of all the little luxuries that make life more pleasant: chocolate in my coffee to take away its bitterness; the snooze button on the alarm clock to stay the new day and its demands; or starting with the lesser of two unpleasant necessities. These choices fail to meet Stoic ideals on two levels. Firstly, the need for these luxuries is an acknowledgement that the lessened hardship was too much to bear. Secondly, they seem an acknowledgement of my sense of self-importance, that I should give over what little time I have on this Earth not to acts of virtue and utility but in search of my own comfort and relief.

I found myself very aware in these moments not only of what I was doing (which was what I wanted to do) but of what I should have been doing or needed to be doing. The ambiguity of what was and what was not virtuous, which I had felt before this week began, is gone. There is a mastery of the self that appears to be required of the Stoic. You are not to feel too keenly the pains and difficulties of life nor take too much joy in its pleasures. The payoff seems to be that along with your understanding of your own insignificance, you understand the insignificance of all others. And so, if you do only what you know to be right and virtuous (which you can only know within yourself), then no one can bring you down and you need no one else to raise you up.

Geoff

Stoic Week: Day One

Well it has been quite a challenging day.

I started this morning with some reflection on the day ahead, and this morphed into writing a long to-do list of virtuous activities. Mainly things I've been procrastinating on, some new, some very old. I worked through a few of them today, and I do feel better for it, although the road wasn't always smooth.

It's interesting how it can take a deliberate behavioural change (like being a Stoic for a week) to shine a fresh light on your standard behaviours. The number of times today I automatically reached out to open a news website, or Facebook, or Reddit - literally all day long. It took a lot of self control to resist.

There were two clear moments of considerable frustration today - one of my own making and one of someone else's. I really struggled to let those moments go and not get worked up inside. I guess one of the things about Stoicism is constant reflection and awareness - being a perfect Stoic doesn't happen overnight. I'm doing ok for day one.

Simon

Stoicism - A Week of Austerity and Virtue

February 23 - March 1

Having dipped our toes into our reading list over the past weeks, what we’ve determined foremost is that properly understanding Stoic philosophy is a very difficult thing. It is dependent upon understanding and interpreting some subjective, and at times contradictory, concepts. This at least will be our claim whenever we misinterpret anything this year.

Before we set out our rules for a week of living stoically, we’re going to attempt to summarise our key takeaways about Stoicism in a series of dot points. Hopefully without Seneca rolling in his grave too many times, though as a Stoic he’d argue that the feelings and opinions of dead men are of little relevance to us anyway:

Stoics believe that:

• happiness is “living in agreement with nature”
• leading a virtuous life is the only way to lead a truly happy life
• virtues include moderation, courage, justice, and wisdom
• living virtuously involves avoiding procrastination, pretentious over-refinement, talkativeness, officiousness, uttering complaints, striking poses, craving solitude (or crowds), or being subject to your emotions
• virtuous behaviour is rational, as opposed to emotional, behaviour
• the pursuit of other things in accordance with our nature (money, health, friendships) is rational insofar as it does not clash with our virtuous intent
• emotions are the product of our judgments about what is good and bad in life
• if we make better, more rational, more virtuous decisions, we have no need for excessive emotions, either positive and negative
• making decisions with virtuous intent is enough for happiness; it is not necessary for happiness that outcomes beyond our control align with our intent
• death is coming and we must make use of the present before our time is gone
• a man should be self-sufficient, neither relying on the praise or recognition of others nor smarting from their disapproval

One of the central tenets of Stoicism is the maintenance of a kind of mindfulness, a virtuous self-control and self-awareness, which ensures you make proper use of the time you have and that you live a good life. With that in mind, Geoff’s quote of the month:

“Letting go all else, cling to the following few truths. Remember that man lives only in the present, in this fleeting instant: all the rest of his life is either past and gone, or not yet revealed. This mortal life is a little thing, lived in a little corner of the earth; and little, too, is the longest fame to come - dependent as it is on a succession of fast-perishing little men who have no knowledge even of their own selves, much less of one long dead and gone.” (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book III, 10).

Geoff and Simon’s rules for living stoically:

• Try throughout the day to be mindful of each moment and each choice we make, and make rational, virtuous decisions that are not governed by emotion.
• make productive use of our time in the pursuit of things that we know to be use and benefit to ourselves and others:
• don’t procrastinate on things we know we should be doing; if it can be done now, do it;
• eat only simple and nutritious foods;
• wear only plain or utilitarian clothing.
• reflect each morning on the expected decisions ahead of us, and on how we can apply rational and virtuous thinking to them;
• reflect each evening on our choices and behaviours during the day, on where we may have failed to act with virtue, and on how we can improve in the future.
• Avoid behaviours and habits that are not virtuous, nor in agreement with our fundamental nature. This includes but is by no means limited to:
• the consumption of entertainment for entertainment’s sake, including television, movies, video games (including Words with Friends!), reading and gambling (no horse races sorry Paddy!);
• the consumption of alcohol;
• engaging in gossip;
• complaining about pain, perceived insults or the choices or actions of others.
• Avoid excessive emotion. Instead, apply rationality to circumstances beyond our control and accept things as they are.

That's about as many rules as we can stomach. Reports from the field will be dutifully appearing. This is Stoic week after all.

February: Stoicism

Reading list:

Of a Happy Life (De Vita Beata) by Seneca, translated by Aubrey Stewart

Of Peace of Mind by Seneca, translated by Aubrey Stewart

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, translated by Meric Casaubon

Stoicism; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy