“All is opinion” - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations Stoicism is laconic. Sometimes, to a fault. This brevity can be interpreted as dismissiveness, and when used as an ex-post justification or taken as a philosophical contention in an argument, this interpretation is valid. Simply citing that “Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things”(Epictetus) seems like a justification of almost anything. It shifts blame from the cause of an event to the reactions that people have because of it, allowing smarmy internet argumenteurs to defend their abrasive philosophies. Similarly, to those unpracticed in Stoicism, their short aphorisms do nothing to help with the grief or consternation they might feel over things that they do not control.
Stoicism is not a Philosophy
Stoicism is not a Philosophy
Stoicism is not a Philosophy
“All is opinion” - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations Stoicism is laconic. Sometimes, to a fault. This brevity can be interpreted as dismissiveness, and when used as an ex-post justification or taken as a philosophical contention in an argument, this interpretation is valid. Simply citing that “Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things”(Epictetus) seems like a justification of almost anything. It shifts blame from the cause of an event to the reactions that people have because of it, allowing smarmy internet argumenteurs to defend their abrasive philosophies. Similarly, to those unpracticed in Stoicism, their short aphorisms do nothing to help with the grief or consternation they might feel over things that they do not control.