Embracing Fate: Why an Ancient Philosophy is Resonating with Millions Today
The paradox of the modern world is that while we have never had more access to travel, food, and medicine, we also have never been more depressed and anxious. Since the 1990s, rates of depression globally have risen a staggering 49.86%, a rise that is particularly concentrated in adolescents and young adults. In order to cope with increased feelings of depression, people have turned to a variety of solutions. Many medicate. Attempting to numb the pain and sadness associated with clinical depression, 13.2% of Americans report having taken antidepressant medication at some time in the last 30 days. Others, particularly young men in the west, turn to toxic “manosphere” internet personalities and bloggers like Andrew Tate, a British-American former kickboxer turned self-help guru who is famous for his polarizing stances on various socio-political issues. While these people are investigating modern solutions to their depression and anxiety, others look to the wisdom of the past, specifically to an ancient philosophy founded more than 2,300 years ago on the painted porches of the Greek agora: Stoicism.
A Bust of the Roman Emperor and Stoic Philosopher, Marcus Aurelius
What is Stoicism and why are so many finding meaning in its teachings? The answer to that is complicated, and given the lively debates between Stoic thinkers, it also seems to depend on who you ask. To refer to something as “Stoic” in the modern world more often than not means something like “the ability to endure pain or hardship without complaint.” While this understanding does capture elements of Stoic philosophy, it also falls short of capturing the reason why so many find deep meaning in its teachings. This view of the philosophy can often alienate people who may be interested in the core message because they erroneously believe that to be a Stoic means to give up emotions and live the life of a monk; this could not be further from the truth. Stoicism, in its essence, is about control; what one can control and what one cannot. Epictetus, a Roman slave turned Stoic philosopher, opens his Enchiridion by saying “Of things, some are in our power and others not. In our power are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and in one word, whatever are our own actions. Not in our power are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions.” This, to many, is the central dogma that underlies much of Stoic philosophy. Something may go wrong at work, you may be dealing with interpersonal or relationship drama, or you could be dealing with a serious existential dilemma. The Stoics argue that all of that is out of your control; all that you can control is your response to those events.
Death is an orienting principle for the Stoics. Death is something that many people struggle with and is a source of much of the anxiety and depression that so afflicts modern society. A Chapman University survey found that 58.5% of people report being “afraid or very afraid” of death. Another study from the Cleveland Clinic found that between 3 and 10 percent of people have thanatophobia (from the Greek word θάνατος meaning death), or a fear of one’s own death that is so intense that it affects one’s daily life. To the Stoics, however, death is merely another fact of life over which nobody has any control. Marcus Aurelius, a Roman Emperor and perhaps the most prolific of the Stoic philosophers, famously said that “Death smiles at us all; all a man can do is smile back.” Marcus Aurelius goes a step further than even that and argues that death should be something that we reflect on constantly because it sobers us, drives us, and forces us to focus on what really matters. “You could leave life right now,” he says, “Let that determine what you do and say and think.”
This outlook is one way in which the practice of Stoicism can help us to be calmer and treat others with more kindness. When viewed through the lens of our own inevitable mortality, arguments over most daily occurrences seem like a waste of a valuable and non-renewable resource. When remembering our mortality, a concept commonly expressed by Stoics in the Latin phrase “memento mori” or “remember that you must die” in English, we also are more likely to consider what wasting our time means. Seneca, a Roman Senator and Stoic philosopher, says that dying is not something that happens in the future; you are dying now, he argues. Every moment that passes is one which can never be retrieved, and the only moment one can be certain will come to pass is the current one. Assuming one’s continued existence into the future ad infinitum is either an act of naivety or of high arrogance from the Stoic perspective. What we do with our time, too, is of paramount importance to the Stoic. “It’s not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it,” Seneca says. Seneca also laments that while we treat those things that might harm us as though we are mortal, we treat our desires as though we are immortal. As the productivity YouTuber Ali Abdaal says, we assign our future selves superpowers, and we assume tacitly that the same factors that slow our progress in the present will no longer hinder us in the future. These assumptions and tendencies, all too common today, are shown for the shallow excuses that they really are under the sobering light of Stoic philosophy.
To illustrate the practical benefits of Stoicism in modern times, let me share my personal journey toward implementing this philosophy. In the summer of 2022, I was fat, depressed, and directionless. At 250 pounds with no sleep schedule, exercise, or concrete direction in life, mild depression set in. Going through a rough break-up with my then-girlfriend of 5 years was the icing on the self-pity cake I was eating 24/7. The rabbit hole to Stoicism was opened for me by a wonderful professor who taught an ethics course at my university. While not a Stoic himself, my professor introduced me to the work of Immanuel Kant, a philosopher loved by the Stoics who, inter alia, wrote that true freedom is the suppression of animalistic desire and that by living hedonistically (as I certainly was at this time), one is a slave to one’s animal desires. I began reading, and then implementing, the 4 Stoic virtues (justice, courage, wisdom, and temperance) as praxis into my life as best as I could manage. My initial attempts at living a virtuous life were meek, but when viewed relative to my starting point they looked massive. Of all of the Stoic virtues, temperance was the most difficult to improve upon, but I got better at it over time. I began eating a diet of 1,500 calories per day, a goal I began in October of 2022, and as of the time of writing it is one which I have not missed once. I began walking, then running, then going to the gym. Today, little more than 5 months after starting my temperance journey, I weigh 190 pounds and continue to lose around 1–3 pounds per week. While this has certainly done wonders for my health, it is important to note that not everyone will react to my specific methods of implementing temperance, and it is important that everyone do what works best for them. With only 30 pounds left until I hit my goal weight, my outlook on my physical health looks better than ever. To paraphrase Marcus Aurelius, if I do what I need to do today, I will not need to worry about the future. I look and feel better than I have in a long time with 60 pounds of weight lifted from my frame: thank you Stoicism.
Today, there are few philosopher kings like Marcus Aurelius and senators like Lucius Seneca practicing Stoic philosophy, but the school has made somewhat of a comeback in recent years thanks to the work of academic scholars and practical thinkers alike. Books published on how Stoicism can impact us today like A Guide to the Good Life by William B. Irvine and The Little Book of Stoicism by Jonas Salzgeber have sold very well and were equally well received by their readers. Ryan Holiday, an American Stoic thinker and writer, has written more than 10 books on Stoicism and runs an email list dedicated to sending one brief bit of Stoic wisdom to its subscribers every day; the list has more than 300,000 subscribers in all. Holiday’s reach in particular has had an outsized impact on regular people who are not looking to join a philosophical school per se, but who want to improve their daily lives. This is why Holiday has enjoyed more than 3 million book sales; he introduces modern westerners to what is perhaps the most powerful practical philosophy the west has ever produced in a way that is easily digestible. For more information on how Stoic practices can improve your life, any of the sources above can certainly help you in your journey toward self-mastery. Whatever you read, though, make sure to actually live the central dogma of the Stoic school; surrender your erroneous notion that you can control anything other than your own actions. Live in the moment and let your impending demise orient you and sober you up enough to enjoy the present moment, for that is all we are guaranteed.
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive — to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” — Marcus Aurelius
