Domesticated Stoicism
Hey friends,
I recommend you listen to these brief words of encouragement from my friend Jim Rutt before reading on …
What a loveable man! We had a great talk with Jim at The Stoa this morning. The full session can be heard on The Jim Rutt Show. Robin Hanson was also on The Stoa today sharing his thoughts on deliberate infection (video). Michael Tremblay visited this afternoon to discuss a training framework for Stoicism (video coming soon).
Tomorrow’s (Tuesday) sessions with Yancey Strickler and Guy Sengstock got rescheduled for next week (see website) and the session with Stephen Jenkinson (Orphan Wisdom) on Wednesday will now be a one-on-one conversation for The Stoa podcast only. I have renamed my previous podcast (Intellectual Explorers Podcast) to The Stoa, and I will start uploading recorded sessions at The Stoa on there. You can follow the podcast on Anchor and most podcasting platforms.
Upcoming events for the week (so far):
Amor Fati w/ A.J. Bond. April 1st @ 7:00 PM ET. Learn more. RSVP here.
Philosophy: The Practice for Death and Dying w/ Adam Robbert. April 2nd @ 6 PM ET. Learn more. RSVP here.
Existential Dance Party w/ Collin Morris. April 2nd @ 7:30 PM ET. Learn more. RSVP here.
Alongsidedness w/ Richard Bartlett. April 3rd @ 12:00 PM ET. Learn more. RSVP here.
The COVID Trolley w/ Patrick Ryan. April 3rd @ 6:30 PM ET. Learn more. RSVP here.
Situational Assessment w/ Jordan Hall. April 4th @ 11:00 AM ET. Learn more. RSVP here.
Metagame Mastermind Prototyping w/ Daniel J Kazand. April 4 @ 6:00 PM ET. Learn more. RSVP here.
Communitas Invitation w/ Andrew Taggart. April 5th @ 7:00 PM ET. Learn more. RSVP here.
***
March 30, 2020
Davood shared a thought with me last night that is returning to me now. He was talking about how quite a few academics are not consistent in what they preach. For example, academics who specialize in Stoicism may speak convincingly about Stoicism and even practice it in one domain, but it does not transfer well to other areas of their lives.
A term emerged from this discussion: domesticated Stoicism. Ostensibly, your Stoicism—or any philosophy as a way of life for that matter—can get domesticated in such a way that it can only survive in certain environments, e.g. schools and other institutions.
But true philosophy cannot be domesticated. There is an eternal wildness about it. If you attempt to domesticate it, it becomes something else: a job, a dogma, a pretense. That is why I like Stoicism. It’s demanding. It forces you to be on at all times. You have to approach it like an athlete training for the Olympics. This quote from Epictetus comes to mind:
Difficulty shows what men are. Therefore when a difficulty falls upon you, remember that God, like a trainer of wrestlers, has matched you with a rough young man. Why? So that you may become an Olympic conqueror, but it is not accomplished without sweat.
I confess that I have not always taken my Stoicism as seriously as it requires, but I sense that this meta-crisis is asking me to do so.
***
Gift Economy / The Stoa currently operates through a gift economy. We are offering the Stoa as a gift, for people to freely use during these troubled times. If you are inspired to provide a gift to The Stoa, email thestoa at protonmail dot com. Your gift can take the form of money, support, services or ideas. If you wish to gift money, you can do so here or here for ongoing gifts.