Apathy as a Primary Element in Stoicism


by Andrew - Date: 2007-09-14 - Word Count: 319 Share This!

Apathy was a principle element in a Stoic philosophy. For this reason all Stoics were regarded as 'citizens of the world'. Zeno once said that whatever he was, he lived in accordance to reason and was at home in the centre of his own, realizing everything that happens and showing no emotion. Stoics also thought that chaste people ought to have nothing in common with vicious people, and following them means to do bad things. This feature of course set them aloof from the ordinary people, as the Stoic thought themselves superior intellectually and therefore looked down on the others, regarding them as unwise. Once Epictetus said that depending on the kind of objects giving you pleasure, even if they are very useful or give you ultimate pleasure remember to remind yourself of what general essence they are, starting from the most unimportant things. If, for instant, you like a certain ceramic cup, do not forget to remind yourself all the time that it is just a ceramic cup in general. Then, when it breaks, you will not care. If you happen to kiss your baby, or your wife, remind yourself that you are only kissing things that are alive, and thus you will not care if they die. Epictetus also recommended keeping away from the ones you loved, so if something bad happened to them, you would be deprived of feeling unhappiness. So, as we can see the Stoic philosophy was extremely demanding mostly because of its rugged ideals and inflexible concepts. They strongly believed that if a person manages to reduce all emotion he would enjoy serenity and peace. Elimination of all unnecessary movements of the soul made the Stoic culture invulnerable and enabled them to compare themselves to God, who had no equal, of course. Apathy is, perhaps, the principle thing the stoics became prominent for, but is also may be the reason they fell down.


Related Tags: zeno, apathy, stoicism, epictetus

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