Stoics Read-Along

Self-Improvement, from the
Ancient to Modern

Stoicism is a genre of (mostly) masculine self-help seems to be making a comeback. In my first attempt at reading ‘the stoics’ a couple of years ago, they struck me as privileged white guys whining about how hard life is. Another “buck up and work hard and you’ll be as successful as I am” hagiography. Not very useful advice, given that our buddy Marcus Aurelius was the hereditary Emperor of Rome.

Then I heard Kara Swisher recount how many Silicon Valley leaders publicly push STEM¹ but privately teach their children philosophy, history, and art, and it made me want to take a second look. Tech billionaires will advise aspirants to study science and engineering to ensure a steady supply of drones,² while limiting their children’s (and their young brains) access to tech. Certainly not at the dinner table, and often not until they’re teenagers.

What is philosophy? What makes us human? What does it mean to live a good life? Is it just a never-ending series of rhetorical questions?

So I dug into Epictetus, born a slave and crippled by an abusive master. His “Handbook” (Enchiridion) was written down by his students, and focuses of the ethics of surviving at the bottom rather than as a governing elite. It is grounded in lived experience. He asks, in essence, “What kind of life is possible when life is unfair?” Which is a pretty deep question for a crippled former slave to be asking. An example of stoicism, if you will.

I also learned that Stoic philosophy was the initial basis of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). CBT is an effective form of talk therapy that initial borrowed the stoic concepts of

• emotions are not reality but are information
• noticing a thought before believing it or acting on it
• daily exercises and reflection to practice self-management
• focusing on what is controllable and letting go of what is not

CBT has added the insights that suppressing emotions can worsen distress, and that some emotions are adaptive responses to real threats.

How does one learn about the deeper concepts of stoicism in particular, and a life well lived in general? How do you pull yourself up by your bootstraps, philosophically speaking?

There are many ‘stoic’ reading lists out there, and most modern translations includes notes and context that make the text more understandable to a modern reader. But when I explained to my partner and sweetie what I was doing, she challenged me to go farther…³

What did modern writers have to say about what it means to live a good life in a good way? What about people of colour, women, gay, trans, and other minorities? They’re not crippled slaves passing down ancient wisdom through the ages, but I thought it was a fair question. What do modern writers and thinkers have to say about living a good life when the world is unfair?

So I did a little more digging, and came up with the following reading list, which I’d like to share with you now. I’ll be reading and writing my way through them over the next while. You’re welcome to read along:

Foundations of Reason

1. Epictetus – Enchridion
   Focus is on control versus acceptance, and reason over impulse
2. Marcus Aurelius – Meditations
   The habit of self-examination
3. Brené Brown – Daring Greatly
   Authenticity, belonging, and courage

Emotions as Knowledge

4. bell hooks – All About Love
   Ethics of care, emotional literacy
5. Audre Lorde – Sister Outsider
   Anger as moral clarity
6. Brené Brown – Daring Greatly
   Vulnerability as courage

Clarity under Injustice

7. James Baldwin – The Fire Next Time
   Integrity and empathy in resistance
8. Ta-Nehisi Coates – Between the World and Me
   Rational realism; generational perspective

Global and Feminist Ethics

9. Thích Nh?t H?nh – The Miracle of Mindfulness
   Awareness and gentle discipline
10. Martha Nussbaum – Upheavals of Thought
    Emotions as cognitive judgments
11. Sara Ahmed – The Cultural Politics of Emotion
    Social construction of “rationality”

And if you, dear reader, have any suggestions or additions for writers and thinkers who are not on the list, please drop a note in the comments?

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1. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) ↩︎
2. The Epstein class is investing heavily in artificial intelligence, artificial reality, and robotics. Replacing humans would drive down their largest cost. ↩︎
3. She is the best partner, supporting me in all things always, and pushing me to go farther often. ↩︎