by Justin Teoh
Philosophy is a hard subject by convention. Most young adults would shy away from theorizing intangible topics which are difficult to define in the first place. “What use is this?” they would ask, and without needing an answer they would naturally reach back to their own devices. Understandable. Perhaps amongst budding students and educators, heads would need some time and effort to beeline their way through this definition before expanding their intellectual horizons:
“The aim of philosophy, abstractly formulated, is to understand how things in the broadest possible sense of the term hang together in the broadest possible sense of the term.”
– Wilfrid Sellers, “Philosophy and the Scientific Image of Man”
Except, there is one field of philosophy not many know of that wholly serves practical usage: stoicism. Taking the entire subject into rigorous study is not to everyone’s liking, but you may be familiar with this specific branch of it already. You hear it in unsolicited advice or from edgy protagonists, and to you it might have come off as unwarranted. Rest assured, the doctrine promises good use: something that we new social justice players need in the field. Based on just one reading of Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations, there are takeaways to be found from its numerous examples.
For one, stoicism distills many modern self-help books. Excluding titles that are either based on findings that utilize empirical research methodology or offer a cross-cultural perspective, quote-unquote “self-help” has found its way into an industry that profits off of false guidance. They may be interesting to read, but certainly there should be something that could prove to be more substantial in content and application, and less in fleeting optimism and self-esteem. A market analysis conducted by Grand View Research states that the personal development industry was worth $38.28 billion in 2019 and is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of 5.1% up to 2027. If we humans still share some of the same problems as those from centuries ago, such as devising strategies, finding love, overcoming anxiety, and seeking virtue, then wouldn’t it be acceptable to refer to a body of knowledge that has clearly withstood the test of time instead from motivational gurus? The formal school of Stoicism had been established during the Greco-Roman ages, and its influence still carries on to modern thinkers, business leaders, and celebrities, thus setting itself up on a legitimate ground of credibility.
True justice to its application cannot be done without directly quoting parts of Meditations. An overarching takeaway would be that it is a call to action, to help each other as human beings:
“Men are born for the sake of each other, so either teach or tolerate.”
– Penguin Classics ed., Book 8.59
Another would be that the world as we know it is as it is, thus we should act accordingly to not stray from nature. In observance of that, we would still face difficulties along the way, but we can go stronger by facing it while remaining sane, having the literal cosmos in our hands:
“You can strip away many unnecessary troubles which lie wholly in our own judgement. And you will immediately make large room for yourself by grasping the whole universe in your thought, contemplating the eternity of time, and reflecting on the rapid change of each thing in every part – how brief the gap from birth to dissolution, how vast the gulf of time before your birth, and an equal infinity after your dissolution.’”
– Penguin Classics ed., Book 9.32
Such thought exercises are especially relevant to budding change-makers navigating the world around them. Modern activism would show that pushing for a systemic cause requires long-term effort. We have to understand our past histories and its warnings against impending forces to make informed changes within our communities. All this would be daunting to the young learner, especially if they have the drive but not the context to necessarily sustain it. In the eyes of the power-hungry the youth are far from their line of sight. Fear sets in before a big move for what could happen if they cross the line too far, and no action might be taken at all. But Stoicism has an approach to strengthen our mental resilience through times in which we put ourselves into: in time to come, every one of our problems will be made insignificant in the grand cosmic scale of things, but good virtue should persist for the benefit of humankind.
“Every hour of the day give rigorous attention, as a Roman and as a man, to the performance of the task in hand with precise analysis, with unaffected dignity, with human sympathy, with dispassionate justice – and to vacating your mind from all its other thoughts. And you will achieve this vacation if you perform each action as if it were the last of your life: freed, that is, from all lack of aim, from all passion-led deviation from the ordinance of reason, from pretence, from love of self, from dissatisfaction with what fate has dealt you. You see how few things a man needs to master for the settled flow of a god-fearing life. The gods themselves ask nothing more of one who keeps these observances.”
– Penguin Classics ed., Book 2.5
However, I say dose instead of embodying stoicism entirely because it will be unrealistic for many to follow all its stances. It prescribes a way of living that makes one content of their solitary presence, that you remove all attachments and would be ready to leave this world as Fate has assigned to you at any given time. Not everyone would like that, at least not now when there are many things to learn still. We should be aware that humans are social beings too; not everyone within our company knows or heeds to stoicism. Repressing our emotions could help us stay focused on the fight for social justice, but a capacity for empathy is required to “read the room,” to understand what gets people going and what doesn’t. That’s an important part of our responsibility to do what’s right. Shutting down a part of ourselves for a long time is not conducive to experiencing life.
It would be far-fetched to expect a concept to completely sit in through viewing a few excerpts. For all its useful bits of wisdom, maybe that’s the beauty in it; to at least briefly meditate on Meditations to our circumstances. The collection of 12 books were part of Marcus’s private notes, and some of these quotations would point at a familiar theme through a different perspective, but a perspective of stoicism nevertheless. There is a reason why educators emphasize looking at our past accomplishments critically while remaining grounded in the present to grow as a person. Who knows, maybe you’ll get different insight for each time the reminder presents itself to you. I think that a bit of philosophy in our lives would go a long way; if you could choose one branch only, let that branch be stoicism.
