Stoicism Decoded: Your Ancient Wisdom Guide In Plain English

Tired of stumbling over Greek terms when exploring Stoic philosophy? This episode is your essential guide to understanding Stoicism's core concepts—without the academic confusion.Join Jon Brooks as he breaks down the key Stoic vocabulary that every practitioner needs to know, translating ancient Greek wisdom into practical, modern language. From arete (moral excellence) to apatheia (tranquility, not apathy), discover what these terms actually mean and how they apply to your daily life.

Transcript

Okay,

So we're going to be doing a deep dive into Stoicism,

But I'm going to be attempting to explain some of the core ideas of Stoicism here in a way that might be a bit new.

I don't like a lot of the translations that we are given,

So my attempt here is to give you a very quick primer on Stoicism using some of the phrases that I prefer in replacement of these more archaic terms,

To ideally help you understand Stoicism in a new way.

So if you're new to ancient philosophy,

Great,

But if you're revisiting the core teachings,

That's also fine.

Today we are going to use more of a modern lexicon to help you clarify some ideas or learn new ways of seeing certain things.

Remember that Stoicism is more than just staying calm.

It's meant to be a complete framework for living well under any circumstances.

Okay,

Let's start with the ultimate aim of Stoicism.

Quite simply,

One word,

Flourishing.

In Greek,

They call this eudaimonia.

It's often translated as happiness or well-being.

For Stoics,

Flourishing means living excellently despite your circumstances.

And the engine or driver of flourishing is excellence of character,

Arete.

This is a skill,

A form of knowledge,

At choosing and doing what's right.

The Stoics insist that only excellence as a human being is what's good,

And everything else,

Health,

Wealth,

Reputation,

Is just a condition or an external that matters for planning but not for determining our worth.

The Stoics like to call these external things indifference.

So everything that is not the engine of flourishing,

Which is excellence in our character,

Would be called an external condition.

And we can classify these external conditions as helpful conditions,

Where they can make excellent action easier,

Or we can call them external hard conditions because they make it harder.

And then we can just call them neutral conditions when they have no bearing in any way.

Understanding Stoicism requires us to understand how the mind works.

The Stoics break down mental events into three key stages.

First,

We experience a first take.

They call this fantasia.

This is a raw impression that flashes through our mind,

The first take.

Second,

We either give or withhold assent.

In other words,

We either agree with the first take that comes to us,

Or we disagree with it.

This first take then becomes a chosen take.

This is where our freedom lies.

Third,

That chosen take generates an action urge.

And this action urge propels us toward or away from something.

So first take,

Chosen take,

Action urge.

Guiding these stages is the executive mind.

This is the ruling faculty that integrates perceptions,

Judgments,

And actions.

By attending closely to the contents of our consciousness,

Our first takes,

With a steady watch,

We notice quickly our first takes,

And then we just decide whether to accept them or suspend our judgment.

And importantly,

The Stoics teach that our core agency is our power to choose our judgments and intentions.

Epictetus reminds us that our will,

Our volition,

Is unimpeded and constitutes the real self.

The Stoics use a dichotomy of control to direct effort.

Some things are within our full control,

Such as our judgments and choices,

And others are not directly within our full control.

We can only watch these.

Epictetus famously lists opinion and desire among what's in our control,

And then body,

Property,

Reputation among what's not.

By focusing on what we can control,

And then just observing what we can't control,

We save ourselves a lot of frustration.

Stoicism is often summarized through four trainable skills.

They call these the four cardinal virtues,

But we are going to think of these as the four trainable skills for excellence.

We have number one,

Reality literacy,

Number two,

Steadfast courage,

Number three,

Balanced self-regulation,

And number four,

Fair dealing.

These correspond to the classical virtues of wisdom,

Courage,

Temperance,

And justice.

Reality literacy,

Sometimes called practical wisdom or phronesis,

Means seeing clearly and choosing apt means.

It's practical,

Thinking without distortion and making decisions that align with facts and values.

So practical wisdom would just be knowing what's within our control and what's not within our control,

Knowing what's good for our character and what's bad for our character and what's indifferent for our character.

Steadfast courage is the strength to act rightly,

Even when it's risky or uncomfortable.

It's not about being super brave and standing out.

It could just mean following your values even when it's hard.

Balanced self-regulation is measured desire.

We ensure that pleasure and appetite serve reason rather than rule it.

The key is that it's balanced self-regulation.

It's not this hyper over-the-top type of self-regulation where we almost cause ourselves suffering by being too rigid.

It's about finding that middle way and allowing our reason to be in the driver's seat.

For fair dealing,

Sometimes called justice,

This fair dealing is about consistently respecting others and fulfilling our roles in social life.

When these character skills are exercised,

They produce a stable character that cannot be shaken by the whims of fortune.

Stoicism often gets caricatured as cold or emotionless,

And that's a misunderstanding.

Stoics draw a line between unhelpful surges,

Pathe,

And healthy emotions,

Eupatheiae.

Unhelpful surges,

Healthy emotions.

The unhelpful surges include distress,

Fear,

Craving,

Giddy elation.

And they result from false value judgments,

Believing that certain things that are external are good or bad.

And because they're based on mistaken beliefs,

The wise person seeks to eliminate them.

In their place,

The wise person cultivates equanimity and calm clarity that allows feelings to inform judgment without completely hijacking it.

The wise person experiences healthy emotions like joy over something that's truly good,

A caring commitment to other people's well-being,

Measured caution in the face of real risks.

And so emotional health in Stoicism isn't suppression,

It's using feeling in the service of right judgment.

And Stoicism is not only about thinking.

Some people say it's too rational.

It's about doing.

A fit action,

Catechon they called it,

But a fit action is what a reasonable person does given the facts,

Their role,

And what is right.

Fit actions include everyday duties like being a supportive friend,

Paying taxes,

Or caring for your health,

Provided they align with developing excellence for your character.

Stoics encourage us to play our part well,

Since we are embedded in families,

Communities,

And work.

We ask,

What fits my role here?

Living in agreement with reality.

They use nature,

But for me,

Nature brings up images of trees and animals and greenery.

But let's use reality.

Living in agreement with reality means echoing the order of the cosmos in our own behavior.

So when considering external conditions,

We apply rational choice to select what accords with reality,

And then we use intentional refusal to reject what conflicts with it.

So the ethical ideal is the moral beauty of character good acts,

And the ultimate aim is living in agreement with the flow of reality.

Stoic ethics rests on a grand view of the universe.

They see reality as an ordered whole,

And this order is structured by universal reason.

Some Stoics identify God with this rational principle,

But you don't have to.

The flow of events unfolds according to a causal web,

An unbroken chain of cause and effect.

Everything is infused with pneuma,

Which is a living breath or spirit that gives form and unity.

The notion of rational foresight,

Provident ordering of the world,

Reinforces the belief that the cosmos is intelligible and benevolent.

Within this ordered whole,

The Stoics encourage us to expand our care through circle growing.

We start with self-care,

Extend to family,

Then to our city,

And eventually the whole of humanity.

The doctrine of shared connection underscores that everything is interconnected,

And that no private good stands apart from the common good.

Because we are all part of one global community,

We treat every human on earth as a fellow citizen.

Stoicism is a practice,

First and foremost,

And some key exercises the Stoics were fond of are as follows.

Setback rehearsal,

Sometimes called premeditation of adversity.

In setback rehearsal,

We imagine obstacles that we might face so that we can prepare excellent responses.

Wide-angle view.

We visualize ourselves and our problems from a cosmic perspective so that we can put things in proportion.

We plan with flex.

We pursue goals with a proviso,

If nothing prevents it,

Acknowledging that outcomes depend on more than our will.

A daily review.

We reflect each evening on what we did well and where we can improve.

Friction practice,

Often called ascasis.

We voluntarily embrace small discomfort so that we can build resilience and detachment from external conditions.

Label,

Loosen,

Replace.

We notice troublesome thoughts,

We identify the false value judgment,

And then replace it with a truer one.

This is a lot like CBT.

Label,

Loosen,

Replace.

And ready-at-hand maxims.

We keep short reminders ready to guide our choices when life feels overwhelming.

These practices exercise the mind and cultivates excellence of character.

They help transform stoic ideas into actual habits and qualities of mind.

And a final piece of stoicism is refining our desires and aversions.

Stoicism recognizes intentional aim,

Which is a rational wish directed at what is truly good.

It distinguishes this from guided pursuit,

The desire for helpful conditions that must be moderated.

So intentional aim,

Guided pursuit.

And we can also cultivate mindful avoidance,

Turning away from what harms excellence of character.

The goal is coherent living,

Living consistently with reality and our own reason.

When our desires align with what is under our control,

And our aversions align with what truly harms character,

We gain freedom and peace.

So taken together,

Stoicism is a coherent way of life.

It aims at flourishing through excellence of character.

It teaches us how to handle impressions and choose our judgments.

It offers four forms of virtuous skill to train.

It clarifies how to feel without being ruled by feelings.

It grounds action in roles and reasons.

It situates ethics in a rational interconnected universe.

It provides practices to cultivate wisdom.

And it refines our desires so they match reality.

So using our new lexicon,

Stoicism becomes accessible.

We talk about flourishing,

Excellence of character,

External conditions,

First takes,

Chosen takes,

Core agency,

Steady watch of the mind,

Fit actions,

Global community and more.

These concepts fit together like pieces of a puzzle.

Stoicism reminds us that while we can't control everything,

We can always choose our judgment and our next action.

And that is enough to live well.

So yeah,

Thank you for listening.

If you enjoyed this exploration of stoicism,

A basic primer,

Told in a more modernized way,

Consider integrating one practice into your day and see how it transforms your responses.

I'll see you on the next episode.

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