The 4 Values or Virtues of Stoicism
/The Stoics expressed 4 core values or virtues that they held to be above all else. They reasoned that adherence to these virtues would provide a practical guide for living a happy, harmonious and purposeful life that displayed good character. They rationalised that if we were to be of good character and lead a purposeful life, that is, to live in balance with nature, then the four cardinal virtues would provide the bedrock to both guide and judge our actions. Living in balance with nature, as you might surmise, was not an environmental undertaking but a higher level that reflected physics, community, logic/reason and our undoubted mortality.
The four ‘cardinal’ virtues are:
Temperance (balance in everything - we seek neither famine nor feast in all that we do - our behaviours, actions, emotions, thoughts. The most obvious ones are temperance/balance in our desires for possessions, status, food etc - recognising the need to contain our desires. It also applies to our views, life philosophies and emotional responses - requiring a temperate approach that neither promotes a particular view or belief too strongly nor too meekly. We need to have the courage to stand for what we believe but equally recognise there are always other perspectives).
Courage (the ability to expose oneself to risk - whether physical or mental hardship - with a view to building a stronger character within yourself or others. This could reflect the courage to stand for a principle or value, to stand up and protect the vulnerable, to expose your own vulnerabilities or simply expose your lack of knowledge on a particular subject - which may pose a risk that you are opened you up to criticism or ridicule).
Justice (to seek just/right outcomes in all that you do - to recognise the importance of seeking to find a moral outcome that is right, even if it hurts yourself or a loved one. In seeking out justice we again need to apply temperance along with wisdom to understand the complexities and what in the circumstances is right. If it harms you or a loved one - but is just - then you also need the courage to promote a just outcome)
Wisdom (to seek to apply reason and rationality to all that we do - to grow and understand as much as possible and apply that knowledge and practical wisdom in our application of justice, courage and temperance. One of the core elements of wisdom within Stoicism is the wisdom or reason to understand that life is impermanent, we are all mortal, change is constant and we have no control over almost everything we come across - more on this in a moment).
Simple questions immediately arise when considering the Stoics and Stoicism, such as:
so how, if at all, do each of these feed into a slower, less stressful, more purposeful or mindful life?
How did they apply these virtues in daily life?
Are the teachings of Stoics such as Marcus Aurelius, Seneca and Epictetus still valid or transferrable to the pressures and activities of our modern life compared to what each of them faced some 2,000 years ago?
These are the questions we will attempt to engage with across a number of posts about Stoicism, its principles and practices.
Briefly though, many believe that the values and virtues of the Stoics continue to be as relevant today as they were 2,000 years ago - if not more so. There is a resonance in many of the concepts and the dialogue (often seen in ancient quotes, letters, journal entries) which seems like the philosophy was almost written for the modern day challenges and social and emotional distractions we increasingly face. At the core of the Stoic philosophy - what makes it relevant and aligned with our challenges - is a common understanding and demonstration of the spirit of humanity, which remains unchanged. This can be seen in the quotes, letters and journals that were maintained, which evidence the same sort of deep mental turmoil, human doubts, distractions and suffering that we face today, just as they did 2,000 years ago. The other aspect that stands out is a view that we are a infinitesimally small part of the whole - society, the world, the universe and time. While we each have a place in our community/society, no matter how big or small they may appear, they are in fact all so very tiny in the context of the universe and time.
The exact nature or source of many of today’s challenges differ to those which they faced 2,000 years ago. They would never have imagined the advances the instanct communication/social media we engage with. The delivery device of the emotional challenges and suffering may have changed but the substance remains largely unchanged - comparison to others, working about what others may say or think, feelings of insecurity or inadequacy, narcissism and ego and its impacts. This connects us to the philosophers of 2,000 years ago. Modern society does throw up new challenges (or perhaps the same challenges parcelled differently):
the abundance and ease of access of consumer goods - increasing our desire for what we do not have rather than recognising the value of what we do have - but we need to recall that consumer goods are not new, they did exist 2,000 years ago, though perhaps not in such quantities and ease of access.
the challenges some find in identifying purpose and value in our work - we clock on and off in jobs that don’t create a personal sense of purpose or achievement generating negative emotional responses and comparisons to others. We can not discount the fact that many may have been challenged with the same ways of living that did not give a sense of purpose, other than providing for the health and safety of our families.
the increasing polarisation and intolerance in social debate, politics and social media commentary - the application of an us and them dynamic which fails to consider or value the perspective of alternative views, thereby generating intolerance as people increasingly seek to see their views ‘right’ and ‘good’, the world seen through their eyes and situational context, dismissing others as ill-informed or interfering. Polarising views are also not new, debate in the Roman Senate would often reflect polarised views and intolerance - but this had a narrow circle of influence and proximity of engagement - unlike today’s 24 hour news cycle and social media that spreads polarisation far and wide instantly.
the increasing presence of falsehoods and lies (‘fakenews’) spread for personal gain (in business and politics) ignorant of there impact and their undermining of reason, wisdom and temperance within the community. This is perhaps the most pertinent to our modern day circumstances. Lies have always existed but their reach and immediate impact have increased over recent times as communication ‘advances’.
The Stoics didn't simply apply the four virtues but adopted a number of inter-related concepts, practices and tests to direct their day to day activities and emotions such that they achieved a state of equilibrium/balance and good character. These included such practical concepts as:
the dichotomy of control (we have limited areas of control - we can only control our actions/reactions, our character and how we treat others - all other things are beyond our control and not worth worrying or stressing about. In our day to day activities we apply the control test to eliminate extremes of emotion).
negative visualisation (frequently touch on events that bring about negative emotions such as the death of our friends and family, we imagine them dining, that this is the last time we will see them alive - sounds terribly awful but I have found value in this)
amor fati (essentially the love of fate - we accept what fate offers in the moment. This sounds defeatist…but it isn’t. As with all in Stoicism, it isn’t promoting an attitude of just give in, fate will be what it is. Amor Fati is about emotionally accepting that this has happened, but it also enables the person to reframe the situation and look for what may be positive in the circumstance or what opportunity arises).
momento mori (recognises that life is finite, we are all mortal and will die - perhaps tomorrow - we can not control when or how - we should accept and love our fate, whatever that is and make valuable use of our time on earth).
preferred indifferents (these are things beyond our control such as good health, our reputation, our wealth - things we would prefer to be endowed with but which we ultimately cannot control. We can seek to influence these through our actions - for instance healthy eating and exercise - but we cannot control the outcome).
constancy of change - there is no stability in life, change is inevitable, every moment is gone in an instant and with it whatever you were doing or the opportunity cost of what you could have been doing. If you desire stability and reject change, you will ultimately suffer - change will come, you cannot control it and must accept it.
On first reflection these concepts can appear to be rather heavy and downright depressing. But once you consider the wisdom and reason in what the Stoics say - there is real commonsense to them. While they can be heavy to interact with (e.g. clear focus on your loved ones mortality) they resound in the underlying truth of these concepts. But we will touch on these more deeply in another blog post - including how thing such as negative visualisation have significantly helped me through exceptionally challenging times where mortality of family was brought home.
