I see in myself, Lucilius, not just an improvement but a transformation.
(Seneca, Moral Letters 6.1)
Philosophy is more than a matter of reading books to understand and appreciate the views of their authors (and to examine and challenge those views, just as philosophers have always done), it is also an exercise in changing the way we look at life, and finding new and improved perspectives on our specific concerns, to arrive eventually at a point where our worries are defeated, or our fears abolished, and our passions tempered.[1] This process of discovery, and the attempt to live by the insights we gain, is what the ancients called living as a philosopher. The term ‘philosopher’ was not reserved so much for the teacher or author, but the person aiming to live the philosophical life. One of philosophy’s most important figures, Socrates, said this during his trial in Athens:
I did not care for the things that most people care about – making money, having a comfortable home, high military or civil rank, and all the other activities, political appointments, secret societies, party organizations, which go on in our city… I set myself to do you – each one of you, individually and in private – what I hold to be the greatest possible service. I tried to persuade each of you to concern himself less with what he has than with what he is, so as to render himself as excellent and rational as possible.
(Plato, Apology 36b–c)
What Socrates did for himself was to find out how to make himself ‘excellent and rational’ – which in part at least resulted in his not caring about the sorts of things that people usually regard as of supreme importance (wealth and status, especially) – and then he set about encouraging others to do the same. Socrates is famed for his assertion that ‘the unexamined life is not worth living’ (Apology 38a). In the most general of senses, what Socrates wanted to examine is the system of values we adopt to justify what we find of importance. And this is what we shall be doing in these discussions.
The promise of Stoic philosophy is to give to the student a sense of profound tranquility. In ancient times it was the job of the philosopher-teacher to show the student how this can be done. The teacher would do this simply by living the philosophic life, which the student could witness on a daily basis simply as they attended their daily lessons and through personal contact at other times. Indeed, some schools accepted residential students who would actually have lived with their philosopher-teacher throughout the duration of their studies. Thus the students would have been able to see how their teacher managed their everyday affairs, how they coped with crises and lesser troubles, and how they faced the sorts of evils that in some shape or form eventually touch the lives of everyone. In short, the teacher was a model for their students. Now the reality of studying Stoic philosophy today is that there are no philosophical residential schools, and we would be hard pressed to find a teacher of the caliber seen in those ancient times. Nevertheless the philosopher-teacher can still guide and can give advice, and as students we can actively put that teaching into practice. Though relatively scarce, there are enough remaining writings from teachers and students of Stoic philosophy, as well as a wealth of additional material. These will be our teachers for the next 6 months or so.
Each of these lessons will have an introduction, which will focus on a specific Stoic practice or principle. Lessons build on each other, so skipping around is probably not a good idea. Lessons will also refer to outside sources, usually from the writings of Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius, with occasional references to other teachers, ancient and modern. Finally each lesson will conclude with one or more exercises, requiring reflection and application the principles discussed during the lesson. Let's start applying some of these ideas right away by asking ourselves what we are expecting out of this course.
In order to complete this course, you are going to require a few basic supplies.
Each lesson is broken down into short explanatory passages, followed by reading, writing and discussion assignments. Take your time going through these, and review the lesson several times over the study period.
For a real taste of the lessons, lets start by examining the sections as part of your completion of this introductory lesson (which should take you about 1 week).
Read
Seneca Letter 48. 7-8 starting at "Would you really know what philosophy offers to humanity?" Seneca is warning his friend, Lucilius, to stay away from logic games, which were what was passing for popular philosophy in his day (we could substitute pop-psychology today). He then goes on to tell him what philosophy is really for, and what Lucilius should be doing with it.
Write
Read section 7 again. In your journal, make a list of the things that are troubling you, things that you would like to be free of. Keep this list for the end of the course, so you can see how much progress you have made to free yourself from these worries and concerns. Try to keep regular track of your list for the next week or so, adjusting your list as you encounter new situations.
Discuss
Read section 8 again. If Stoic philosophy delivers what it promises, there are many among your friends and family who might benefit from such teaching. Additionally, it is well known that the best way to learn and practice something, is to try to teach the principles to another. For this exercise, find a friend or family member (who is not already studying these lessons) who is willing to discuss these things with you. Keep track of your progress, challenges and questions in your journal.
Once you have completed the Read/Write/Discuss sections, and you have acquired all of the materials recommended, you are ready to proceed to Lesson 1, What is Good?
If you have any questions or comments regarding this lessons, please email them to thestoiclife.org@gmail.com, or use the comment section below.
1 These lessons are adapted, with his gracious permission, from Keith Seddon's book 'Stoic Serenity: A Practical Course on Finding Inner Peace.' This book comes highly recommended, and although it is not necessary to own a copy for these lessons, we hope that students will find enough value in the lessons that they will be encouraged to buy their own copy, and support one of the few voices for the practice of Stoicism today.