William B. Irvine: A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy
My first philosophy book outside the realm of political theory. Ever. Which makes me wonder whether this is a sign of a lack of education and previous interest or of an emerging mid-life crisis?
Irving sets out to make the work of ancient stoic philosophers accessible to readers who are looking for a practical philosophy of life. He focuses especially on the work of four Roman stoics, Seneca, Musonius Rufus, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. Rather than merely reviewing their works, however, he breaks stoic philosophy down into various stoic techniques and advice on how to achieve tranquility in life:
"It is impossible that happiness, and yearning for what is not present, should ever be united" (Epictetus).
"If we want our life to go well ... we should, rather than wanting events to conform to our desires, make our desires conform to events" (Epictetus paraphrased by Irvine)
"I must have as my goal "the service and harmony of all ... I am bound to do good to my fellow-creatures and bear with them." (Marcus Aurelius, who btw had a very, very skeptical view of humankind in general)
"What upsets people is not things themselves but their judgement about these things." (Epictetus)
"Anger is brief insanity... No plague has cost the human race more" (Seneca)
"We are bad men living among bad men, and only one thing can calm us- we must agree to go easy on one another." (Seneca)
My first philosophy book outside the realm of political theory. Ever. Which makes me wonder whether this is a sign of a lack of education and previous interest or of an emerging mid-life crisis?
Irving sets out to make the work of ancient stoic philosophers accessible to readers who are looking for a practical philosophy of life. He focuses especially on the work of four Roman stoics, Seneca, Musonius Rufus, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. Rather than merely reviewing their works, however, he breaks stoic philosophy down into various stoic techniques and advice on how to achieve tranquility in life:
- Negative visualization: The major technique of stoicism. This technique is about contemplating something bad happening, the loss of something valued. Negative visualization is to be done without emotions, with the purpose of better appreciating the things one has in life and being better prepared to deal with losses.
- Control: Breaking down things according to whether we have complete, partial or no control at all over them. A stoic internalizes his/ her goals and focuses on things over which he/ she has at least partial control.
- Fatalism: As it is impossible to alter the past or what is happening right now, a stoic should focus on embracing the moment (and influencing the future...).
- Self-Denial: Accept voluntary acts of discomfort and forego opportunities for pleasure.
- Meditation: Meditate regularly on the events of the day, and compare one's behavior to stoic principles.
- Duty: A stoic sees his primary duty as being rational, and focuses on living among others and interacting with them in a mutually advantageous manner.
- Social relations: Do not let other people poison your tranquility. A stoic does not waste time on thinking about what others may be doing or scheming, but also reflects on his/ her own shortcomings when feeling annoyed by others. Annoying incidents should be put in a cosmic context.
- Insults: The best way to react to an insult is to remove the sting it causes, and then to react with (self-depreciating) humor or simply ignore it.
- Grief: One of the ways a stoic can use to get over grief is to apply retrospective negative visualization, i.e. imagining one had never had the person one lost in one's life.
- Anger: Interestingly, stoicism (at least in Irvine's interpretation) embraces feigning anger in order to deter other people from acting in an unfriendly manner again. At the same time, stoicism admonishes us that allowing oneself to get angry means allowing to have one's tranquility shattered.
- Personal fame: Stoics shouldn't be seeking other people's opinion, but rather the things they have control over.
Overall, a nice little introduction to stoicism with some useful day-to-day advice. The book seems a bit too long though, and tends to get repetitive in the later chapters. I also had the impression that the authors kind of over-states his case in defense of stoicism against, among other, modern psychotherapy. The stoic techniques and advice Irvine lays out are convincing enough on their own; his chapter on the defense of stoicism doesn't really add to the book. Still, a recommendable reading. Not only for people approaching a mid-life crisis.
"It is impossible that happiness, and yearning for what is not present, should ever be united" (Epictetus).
"If we want our life to go well ... we should, rather than wanting events to conform to our desires, make our desires conform to events" (Epictetus paraphrased by Irvine)
"I must have as my goal "the service and harmony of all ... I am bound to do good to my fellow-creatures and bear with them." (Marcus Aurelius, who btw had a very, very skeptical view of humankind in general)
"What upsets people is not things themselves but their judgement about these things." (Epictetus)
"Anger is brief insanity... No plague has cost the human race more" (Seneca)
"We are bad men living among bad men, and only one thing can calm us- we must agree to go easy on one another." (Seneca)
"To have whatsoever he wishes is in no man's power, it is in his power not to wish for what he has not, but cheerfully to employ what comes to him" (Seneca)
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