Good morning comrades, we did it. Today is the final day of what seems like an unusually long month. Let’s end this month and touch on a topic that is at the centre of everything related to Stoicism. And according to a collective of their teachings, these elements help foster a Stoic thought process to promote clear and rational thinking, the importance of living a virtuous life, and the belief in a rational and orderly universe governed by divine reason.
Stoic philosophy can been divided into these three branches: Logic, Ethics, and Physics:
Stoic Logic: The Ancient Stoics believed in the importance of clear and rational thinking, and developed a system of logic that emphasised consistency and coherence in argumentation. They believed that through the use of logic, one could gain a better understanding of the world and make more informed decisions.
Stoic Ethics: The Ancient Stoics emphasised the importance of living a virtuous life, and believed that the path to a virtuous life was through living in accordance with nature, reason, and the divine order of the universe. They believed that the four cardinal virtues of wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance were the keys to attaining inner peace and moral excellence.
Stoic Physics: The Ancient Stoics believed in the concept of a single, rational, and orderly universe governed by divine reason. They believed that the universe was comprised of material substances, such as bodies, and incorporeal substances, such as the soul and divine reason. They also believed that all events were predetermined by fate, and that it was the duty of individuals to accept and live in accordance with their predetermined fate.
In the modern day, most us and perhaps rightly so focus on the ethical side of things - as the focus is more and more driven to live a good life, defined by the above virtues. Although if you have the time I’d try to become familiar with the concepts of Physics, and Logic, particularly where scholars and writers have made attempts to update these sections to coincide with modern science, and beliefs.
I’d recommend this video resource to further your knowledge:
New blog post
I’ve written a guest piece for one of my favourite publications, What Is Stoicism on an important topic dating back to the beginning of Stoic Philosophy in Ancient Athens. You can read it here:
Quote for the week ahead
Provided you are doing your proper work it should be indifferent to you whether you are cold or comfortably warm, whether drowsy or with sufficient sleep, whether your report is evil or good, whether you are in the act of death, or doing something else. For even that wherein we die is one of the acts of life, and so even at that moment to ‘make the best use of the present’ is enough.
— Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations 6.2