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