PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE AND LIFESTYLE

“STOICISM”

Final Submission

Submitted by: Shrujan Sinha

(PRN NO- 18010223107)

PROGRAMME- BA LLB

DIVISON: E

Batch: 2018-23

OF

Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA

Symbiosis International (Deemed University), PUNE

IN

February, 2019

Under the guidance of

Dr. GARIMA YADAV

 CERTIFICATE

The Project entitled “STOICISM” submitted to the Symbiosis Law

School, NOIDA for PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE AND LIFESTYLE as part of
internal assessment is based on my original work carried out
under the guidance of Prof. (Dr.) C.J Rawandale and Dr. Garima
Yadav from December to January. The research work has not been
submitted elsewhere for award of any degree.

The material borrowed from other sources and incorporated in the

thesis has been duly acknowledged.

I understand that I myself could be held responsible and

accountable for plagiarism, if any, detected later on.

Signature of the candidate: -

Date: -
 Acknowledgment

I am ineffably indebted to Prof. (Dr.) C.J Rawandale and Dr.

Garima Yadav for their conscientious guidance and
encouragement to accomplish this assignment. I would like to
extend my sincere and heartfelt obligation towards them for
without their active guidance, cooperation and help; I would
not have made headway in the project.

I would also like to extend my gratitude towards the library

staff and the library in-charge Mr. Shriram Sharma who
helped me with the searching of relevant books and material
related to my topic.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1) INTRODUCTION

2) MAIN ISSUES

3) LITERATURE REVIEW

4) MAIN VIEWS

5) CONCLUSION

6) BIBLIOGRAPHY
 INTRODUCTION

Stoicism is a school of philosophy that was founded in Ancient Greece

during Hellenistic times. This was a time when Greek culture and thought
were spreading all across the Mediterranean and the near East. To the
Stoics, unhappiness is the result of poor judgement and misguided
opinion. When human beings cannot control something that they think
they can control, they will “find fault with gods and men”

. However, if we bend our will and opinion (Those things are, after all,
under our control.) to be in accordance with nature instead of in
opposition to it, we will be free of pain and misfortune. In short, Stoicism
teaches us to always agree with nature in order to live a virtuous life.
Thus, the Stoics tended to stay away from artificiality in speech, thought,
and behaviour. This is where their reputation for calmness and restraint
originates. According to Marcus Aurelius "If you are distressed by any
external thing, it is not this thing which disturbs you, but your own
judgment about it. And it is in your power to wipe out that judgment
now”. Stoicism rejected artificiality and emphasized actions over words,
and thus it was readily accessible to all people regardless of their social
standing. As a result of this, it acquired a huge following in the Roman
Empire, and it remains influential to this day.

The beauty of Stoicism is that it prepares us for life’s adversities, and

trains us to remain calm and stable both inside and out no matter what
happens. The Stoics were also keenly aware of how short life is, and how
important it is to remain rational and determined and pursue your goals.
The Stoics understood that most of our unhappiness is self-inflicted, and
stems from our tendency to listen to our feelings rather than our reason.
In an era when a man’s wealth was measured by the amount of land,
slaves, money, or power he owned, the Stoics believed that the most
powerful man was the one who had mastery of himself.
Stoicism has been practiced everyone from entrepreneurs to presidents to
kings. Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and George Washington all drew
inspiration from it. It teaches patience, humility, and reason—virtues we
could all stand to develop, especially in today’s hectic, stressful world.

MAIN ISSUE

The main issue upon which my research paper is going to focus are:-

1) What are the basics of Stoicism?

2) What does it really mean to be Stoic?
3) Why should everyone know about Stoicism?

LITERATURE REVIEW

STOICISM THE EDUCATION OF MAN BY ROBERT

R. SHERMAN: In this article the author tried to connect the concept
of stoicism with a general idea of every person. He tries to explain the
concept of stoicism with certain examples. He further states that er. Each
person must make his own effort to learn. It should be clear that the
philosophy seeks the education of man. The Stoics instruct in what is
truth, how it can be known, and how it should be followed. Turning to the
theory of knowledge, the Stoics tried to explain what can be known and
how knowledge can carry the assurance of truth. Error comes from a
faulty judgment rather than the senses. For example, a stick thrust in the
water appears to be bent, or an oasis seems to exist in the desert. If one
acts directly on those perceptions, rather than considering also how the
medium of water and the heat and contours of the desert affect the
perceptions.
He concludes by stating that “A common belief is that the Stoic is anti –
social. The Stoics generally taught that where virtue can be preserved
within society, it is man's duty to raise a family and to take part in
matters of state. In a virtuous society, the social duties are many.”

A PERFECT PIECE OF STOICISM BY ROBERT D.

RICHARDSON JR. – In this article, author took a plot characterizing
Emerson, Alcott and Channing to show how the concept of stoicism works
in general. He tries to infer that Stoicism as a philosophy is about how to
be in control of your life. When it comes to surviving the modern world,
gaining autonomy over one’s own mind is essential. We focus on making
every detail of our lives perfect and neglect our minds. And guess what — 
nothing you do can prevent shit from happening. Things go wrong, on a
small scale or a big scale.

He calls this portrait as a perfect piece because it shows the beauty of

stoicism which that it prepares us for life’s adversities, and trains us to
remain calm and stable both inside and out no matter what happens. The
Stoics were also keenly aware of how short life is, and how important it is
to remain rational and determined and pursue your goals. He also quoted
Epictetus where he said that “No great thing is created suddenly, any
more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig,
I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit,
then ripen.”

 
 MAIN VIEWS
Till now we know that what it actually is but why is is important to us is
still not clear. Now we will get the solution to this question.

Stoicism is a way of life and can only be fully understood by "living" its
teachings. The most helpful stoic teachings to me are the 4 virtues i.e.

1) Wisdom
2) Courage
3) Justice
4) Temperance

In my opinion the concept of stoicism is very important for an individual’s

life this is also interpreted by our very own Harivanshrai Bacchhan who
wrote that “mann ka hoh toh acha, Na hoh to aur acha” which means that
if what we want happens it is good, if not then it is even better. The
former means that things are going according to plan and the latter
means that there is a greater plan in effect that is a surprise.

Stoicism in my opinion means equanimity, to treat the outer surroundings

as the same. Lord Krishna put it as “A man must grow like a lotus, inside
the mud and filth but unaffected by it”. A Stoic is objective, unselfish and
calm. They exhibit wisdom, courage, justice and temperance. They are
not harsh to others, and do not use force when avoidable. They act for
the good of the whole and in accordance with nature and reason. They
are cheerful in all circumstances and enduring of labor. They are
benevolent and do not seek power or fame for their own sake.  Basically,
the best friend, the best co-worker, the best boss you could possibly
have. They’ll never put themselves ahead of you. They’ll get done what
they need to get done and they’ll do it well. They’ll treat everyone around
them with respect. They’ll make sure things go smoothly. A Stoic is
amazing for the people around them. A benevolent leader when in that
role, a hard worker, a source of calm and objective counsel.
Stoicism is the philosophy of the ancient soldier who was often thrown
into harsh circumstances. The Stoic must know how to live with little food,
little water, and no luxuries, for long periods of time. The Stoic must
know how tolerate pain that most other people would flee. The Stoic must
build muscles to withstand any force, as far as possible.

The basics upon which the concept of Stoicism is based are some of the
definition given by these philosophers such as:-

1. “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to
the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the
power to revoke at any moment.” – Marcus Aurelius.

2. “Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate

life.” – Seneca.

3. “If a person doesn’t know to which port they sail, no wind is

favorable.” – Seneca.

4. “No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of

grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you
that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then
ripen.” – Epictetus.

5. “True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious

dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either
hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is
sufficient. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and
within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it
may be, without wishing for what he has not.” – Seneca

6. “Were I a nightingale, I would act the part of a nightingale; were I a

swan, the part of a swan.” – Epictetus.

Let’s take an example where we can get a brief explanation about the
topic. There are many who go kicking and screaming to the grave with a
fistful of regret; wishing, hoping and praying for “just a little more time”.
But sorry for it but we had time with them and if we didn’t spent it wisely
nobody cares for it. Now it is between them and the nature and you can’t
do anything about it. Nature doesn’t care if you're blue blood or working
poor. She makes zero exception and she is not open to bribery.
Philosophers call this as stoic view of the death.

Stoicism, by definition, means having an indifference to both pleasure and

pain. Positives of practicing stoicism can be developing a quiet yet
observant nature. So, we can identify many advantages of stoicism which
can come out of following the concept of stoicism in our life:-

1) In the workplace, having a stoic nature would allow for soaking up

unexpected developments, and to respond accordingly.
2) In certain conditions, people may even perceive a stoic person to be
generous, having lesser number of opinions than the majority,
making them easy to deal with on a regular basis.
3) Indifference to pleasure and pain can make people view you as a
strong person, having the capacity to deal with these emotions in a
rational manner.
4) t is often hard to choose to do the right thing when the alternative
is more pleasant. Stoicism helps us make that choice.
5) We often get into trouble by overindulging in pleasures—health
troubles, financial troubles, etc. Stoicism helps us understand that
pleasure is not a good, and learn to do without it.
6) We often turn away from things we want to do because it may be a
bit painful. Stoicism helps us understand that pain is no evil, and
learn to overcome it.
7) We are often troubled by things over which we have no control and
even when we can take action, we are often pained by things we
can’t do anything about, and fear for consequences we cannot
predict. Stoicism helps us to cope with the uncontrollable and the
unpredictable.
What one needs to cultivate, however, is not hard-core stoicism, that
would account for negative behaviour. As long as this nature doesn't
affect the well-being of others around you, it is a positive attitude to
maintain. A quiet, observing nature without exaggerated reactions would
suffice.

CONCLUSION

In the modern world, Stoicism is particularly important for three reasons:

1. It teaches emotional management. This is to say that instead of

allowing our emotions to get the better of us, Stoicism teaches
rationality. Instead of worrying why something didn’t go the way we
would have liked, we can take the situation as it is and work to
move forward.

2. It teaches morality. It shows us what it means to be a good citizen

of the world - striving to work well with others instead of fighting
against them for our own purposes. It shuns self-absorption and
egotism.

3. It teaches connection. Instead of viewing our situation as somewhat

unique, either in a good way or bad way, we can rather focus on
what makes us all the same and that in the end we are all apart of
universe, nature, etc.

Stoicism matters because it’s really the only way to reason with the world
without having to rationalize. I also believe that a practice in Stoicism
paired with mindfulness could rid the need or use of prescription
medications, however, I think it may be a while until a psychologist or
general practitioner prescribes a practice of Stoicism as a replacement for
an anti-anxiety pill.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1) Sherman, R. (1973). STOICISM: THE EDUCATION OF MAN. Journal

of Thought, 8(3), 215-223. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/42588370

2) Richardson, R. (1980). A PERFECT PIECE OF STOICISM. The

Thoreau Society Bulletin, (153), 1-5. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/23399636