Pinciples

Question 1

What is the goal of life?

Answer 1

Happiness (Eudaimonia) through living in accord with nature/virtue (both human nature and the nature of the universe)

Question 2

What are the 3 Stoic disciplines?

Answer 2

1. The Discipline of Desire and Aversion
2. The Discipline of Action
3. The Discipline of Assent

Question 3

What is virtuous for a human?

Answer 3

1. To live according to human nature as a rational and social creature.
2. To live according to universal nature by accepting everything that happens insofar as it is beyond our control to change it

Question 4

What is the Discipline of Desire and Aversion?

Answer 4

To have desire for and attain the good (virtue) and to have aversion for the bad (vice) - through action insofar as things are under our control, and otherwise through amor fati (willing/loving acceptance)

And to view indifferent things with indifference (you can always choose to have no opinion)

(Linked to the virtues of Courage and Self-Discipline)

Question 5

What is the Discipline of Action?

Answer 5

To act for the common good (in relationships and for all mankind), always with the reserve clause, “fate permitting”.

Linked to the virtue of Justice

Question 6

What is the Discipline of Assent?

Answer 6

To spot impressions for what they are and evaluate them in terms of good/bad/indifferent before giving assent to them if true.

Linked to the virtue of Wisdom

Question 7

What is Aretê?

Answer 7

Excelling in terms of one’s natural function or essential character, in a manner that’s both healthy and praiseworthy.

Question 8

Stoic definition of Good

Answer 8

Acting according to virtue/aretê; inherently beneficial and honorable

Good things include “wisdom, temperance, justice, courage, and all that is virtue or participates in virtue” (Zeno)

Question 9

Stoic definition of Bad

Answer 9

Acting against virtue/aretê; enslavement by attachment to external things

Bad things include “follow, intemperance, injustice, cowardice, and all that is a vice or participates in vice” (Zeno)

Question 10

Stoic definition of Indifferent

Answer 10

Indifferent things include everything not Good or Bad, but most notably: “life and death, reputation and ill-repute, pleasure and pain, wealth and poverty, health and sickness” (Zeno)

Question 11

What are the 4 cardinal Stoic virtues?

Answer 11

Wisdom (or prudence) (opposes folly or thoughtlessness)
Justice (or integrity, fairness, benevolence) (opposes wrongdoing or injustice)
Courage (or fortitude) (opposes cowardice)
Self-discipline (or temperance) (opposes intemperance or excess)

Question 12

Define the virtue of Wisdom

Answer 12

Includes excellent deliberation, good calculation, quick-wittedness, good sense, a healthy sense of purpose, and resourcefulness

Question 13

Define the virtue of Justice

Answer 13

Includes piety to the gods (or natural forces of the universe), good-hearted news or benevolence, public service, and fair dealing

Question 14

Define the virtue of Courage

Answer 14

Includes endurance, confidence, great-heartedness, brave-heartedness, and love of work

Question 15

How did Zeno describe happiness/flourishing/well-being (eudaimonia)?

Answer 15

A smoothly flowing or serene life, a life of freedom from being thwarted or obstructed in what we seek to achieve. This is achieved by living in harmonious agreement with Nature, and in accord with virtue.

Question 16

What are the 4 “bad” passions?

Answer 16

Pain (mental suffering - physical is indifferent)
Fear (includes shame)
Craving (includes anger and hatred)
Pleasure (mental exultation/indulgence - physical is indifferent)

(Originates with Zeno)

Question 17

What are the 3 good or healthy passions?

Answer 17

• Joy (delight, appreciation) for virtue (but as a potential side-effect, not as a goal)
• Rational willing (wishing) for virtue
• Rational caution (discretion) about vice

(All relating to both oneself and others and fate permitting)

Question 18

Explain the mantra “Endure and Renounce”

Answer 18

• Endure what we irrationally fear or find aversive, with courage and perseverance
• Renounce (or abstain from) what we irrationally crave, through discretion and self-discipline

(From Epictetus)

Question 19

Describe the concept of Hic et Nunc

Answer 19

Literal meaning: Here and Now
The past and the future are indifferent because they’re not under our control
The only thing under our control is the present moment (planning is acceptable, but not excessively and not rumination)

Question 20

Describe the Stoic view of friendship

Answer 20

Next to achieving wisdom and goodness ourselves, having wise and good friends is the most precious thing in the whole world - a special case of an external good.

Seneca: Even the Sage wants to have friends, neighbors, and housemates, although he is nevertheless contented and self-sufficient without them.

Question 21

How should we treat others?

Answer 21

Deal with them fairly
Act with benevolence toward them
Wish for them to flourish in accord with virtue (fate permitting)
Distribute external things among them fairly

Question 22

What is Stoic Beauty?

Answer 22

For a thing to have excellence (aretê) most appropriate to its own nature (what makes a horse beautiful is different than what makes a necklace beautiful)

Question 23

How to think about it when you disagree with or are upset by others’ words or actions?

Answer 23

It seemed so to them; It seems right to them

Question 24

How should a Stoic love?

Answer 24

Love freely and without clinging to things beyond our control (like reciprocation, constancy, continued presence or good health)

Question 25

What is Praemeditatio Malorum

Answer 25

Imagining future catastrophes as if they are happening right now. Particularly that such external events can never really be bad but are indifferent with regard to one’s essential nature as a rational being.