Stoicism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

While they shared with their Epicurean rivals the goal of achieving ataraxia, or tranquillity, the Stoics’ vision of how to get there was not based on the pursuit of pleasure but rather that of arete, or virtue. However, this Stoic word does not quite mean moral virtue (as the legacy of medieval Christianity leaves us interpreting the word today) b

Although, as I have said, the primary concern of the Stoics was with ethics—with living virtuously and thereby having a good life—they were also interested in logic and physics. By studying logic, they hoped to perform well one of the functions for which we were designed; namely, to behave in a rational manner. And by studying physics, they hoped t

Attaining complete peace of mind is for Spinoza the true religious salvation, which makes us accept everything that happens to us as necessary rather than as something that we can change. The problem with such peace of mind, as Hegel points out, is that it is completely empty. The Stoic says that he is committed to “the true,” “the good,” and “the

le dogme fondamental du stoïcisme : il n'y a de bien que le bien moral, il n'y a de mal que le mal moral; ce qui n'est pas « moral », c'est-à-dire ce qui ne dépend pas de notre choix, de notre liberté, de notre jugement, est indifférent, et ne doit pas nous troubler.