Who Is A Stoic? COSP
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ISSUE 38
September 2022
A publication of the College of Stoic Philosophers
THE STOIC PHILOSOPHER
WHO IS A STOIC?
WHO IS A STOIC?
BY ANTHONY AGUIRRE, FCSP
A Stoic is someone who follows the
philosophy of Stoicism. There is no
authority which decides whether one is a
Stoic or not, nor is there some ritual to
perform that makes one a Stoic. Is being a
Stoic, then, just a matter of calling oneself
one? While there is no hierarchy to
determine who is and who is not a Stoic, to
be one, I believe, is more than just a matter
of making the claim. How do I know? I know
because of the words of the great Stoic
teacher Epictetus. Examine his words, as
recorded by his student Arrian, and you
may be surprised to learn what makes one a
Stoic.
In Epictetus’ Discourses (Book 2:19),
‘Against Those Who Embrace Philosophical
Opinions is Words Only,’ he reveals the five
hallmarks of a Stoic. The discourse begins
with the examination of a paradox called
the Ruling Argument. This seems to be a
paradox where there are three propositions
given, each apparently true. However, any
two chosen will always be shown to be in
contradiction to the third remaining one.
When asked his opinion on the paradox,
Epictetus' response is that he does not
know. Epictetus states that Diodorus had
one opinion, Panthoides and Cleanthes
another, and Chrysippus, a third opinion.
Epictetus, seemingly repeats the question,
“What then is your opinion?” His rhetorical
response, “I was not made for this purpose,
to examine appearances that occur to me
and to compare what others say and to
form an opinion of my own on the thing.
Therefore I differ not at all from the
grammarian.” We know that this is purely
rhetorical because examining appearances,
and making a right use of them, is a process
mentioned many times in
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the Discourses.
Epictetus then continues with the example
of a purported Stoic who, while skilled in
argumentation and the use of syllogisms,
nevertheless trembles with fear in the face
of various situations. He ends the paragraph
with a question to this real or imaginary
character, “Why did you call yourself a
Stoic?”
attending a school of Stoicism to learn
to be Stoics, and now they find out that
they are Epicureans, masquerading as
Stoics. Epictetus tells them that their
actions reveal what they really are, and
that they are not Stoics, those who hold
virtue to be the only good, but in fact
they are the opposite, Epicureans,
regarding pleasure to be the highest
good. Perhaps there were a few students
present, who, upon self-examination,
discovered that by their actions they do
consider virtue to be a good, but not the
sole good, nor even the highest.
The paragraph which followed begins with
Epictetus advising his students to
A student of Stoicism for
Observe yourselves thus in your actions, and
you will find to what sect you belong. You will
find that most of you are Epicureans, a few
Peripatetics, and those feeble. (Discourses
2:19)
To know what school of philosophy you
belong to, you must first examine your own
actions. If you want to know whether you
are a Stoic or not, observe yourselves thus in
your actions to find out. Epictetus tells his
audience, his students, that most of them
will discover themselves to really be
Epicureans, devoted to pleasure as the
highest good. This may have chagrined
some of his students. After all, they were
Tony resides in Chicago, Illinois,
with his wife and two children.
almost 20 years, he completed
the SES course in the College
of Stoic Philosophers in 2019,
and the Marcus Aurelius
Program in 2020. Over the
years he has
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worked in the
fields of law enforcement,
education, and sales.
ISSUE 38 //September 2022
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ISSUE 38
These are the Peripatetics. Epictetus
rebukes their efforts as feeble.
Peripatetics considered virtue to be a
good, true, but they considered it to be
just one good among many. Were they
feeble Peripatetics because they rarely
choose virtue as their first good, and
tended to opt for one of the other things
which the Peripatetics also held as good,
such as health or friendship? Epictetus
continues:
For wherein will you show that you really
consider virtue equal to everything else or
even superior? (Discourses 2:19)
Here, I believe, Epictetus identifies the
first hallmark of the Stoic: one whose
actions demonstrate that he holds
virtue, and especially moral excellence,
to be the highest good. Stoicism is not
measured by a recitation of what one
has read, or an explication of what one
knows or what one believes, but rather
what one does. Epictetus demands that
we observe our own actions.
But show me a Stoic, if you can. Where or
how? But you can show me an endless
number who utter small arguments of the
Stoics. For do the same persons repeat
the Epicurean opinions any worse? And
the Peripatetic, do they not handle them
also with equal accuracy? (Discourses
2:19)
Is Stoic doctrine (theory) not important?
Doctrine is important insofar as it
produces change in a person. But if
theory is just treated as a bunch of facts
to know, then its importance is nullified.
Knowledge of Stoic theory does not
make a Stoic, because knowing theory is
different from putting it into practice.
Seneca was well versed in Epicurean
theory, and yet he was a practicing Stoic.
Who then is a Stoic? As we call a statue
Phidiac which is fashioned according to
the art of Phidias, so show me a man who
is fashioned according to the doctrines
which he utters. (Discourses 2:19)
This, then, is the
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second hallmark of the
Stoic, one who has been fashioned,
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changed, altered, by applying Stoic
doctrine. How can we see that one has
been fashioned into a Stoic? What is the
visible trait we can see to determine that
one has indeed been fashioned
according to the principles of Stoicism?
Epictetus tells us:
Show me a man who is sick and happy, in
danger and happy, dying and happy, in
exile and happy, in disgrace and happy.
Show him: I desire, by the gods, to see a
Stoic. (Discourses 2:19)
Now we have a third hallmark of the
Stoic, the man who is happy. Happiness,
or eudaimonia, is our natural state. This
Greek word, eudaimonia, has been
translated in various ways. It is
composed of eu-, signifying good in
ancient Greek, and -daimon, in reference
to spirit. Simply put it could mean “good
spirit” or to be in good spirits. Over time
it seems that the word came to indicate
that which places one in a good spirit,
such as a well-flowing life. George Long
has translated this term using the word
happy. Admittedly this English word is
inadequate to express the fullness of
what the Greek word eudaimonia
implies. In another discourse Epictetus
states God has made all men to be happy
and to be free of perturbation (Discourses
3:14), which could also be translated as
“God has made all men to be in good
spirits and to be free of perturbation,”
for when we live our lives according to
our nature and the nature of the Cosmos,
we will be happy or in good spirits. This
is why the Stoic strives to live the
virtuous life, because, as Musonius Rufus
tells us in Lecture 7, there is no other end
in becoming good than to become happy
and to live happily for the remainder of
our lives.
really educated, release from perturbation,
release from fear, freedom (Discourses 2:1).
Great
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is the combat, divine is the work. It is
for kingship, for freedom, for happiness, for
freedom from perturbation (Discourses
2:18).
Following Stoicism will lead one to
tranquility, courage, and freedom,
summed up with the word happiness. Yet
this is not the happiness of a mad man or a
child on Christmas Day, but of a serene
spirit, of an unperturbed mind, which
results from forming one’s life to this
particular philosophy.
Elsewhere Epictetus states that it is in your
own power to be happy (Discourses 3:8),
and that the gods have allowed you to be
above those things which they have not
placed in your power (Discourses 1:12).
Must a Stoic possess a good spirit under all
circumstances, or at least under the very
ones Epictetus points out? The truth is
that we all fall short of perfect peace. Why?
Because we do not reason perfectly, we do
not make perfect use of appearances, we
do not judge perfectly, nor do we
consistently apply the faculty of desire and
aversion perfectly. Only the Sage is
perfect, and only the Sage can reach the
lofty goal of perfect peace because only
the Sage judges perfectly, and applies all
aspects of the philosophy perfectly to his
or her life. Since we are not Sages, we will
not be unmoved by the vicissitudes of life,
though they may not touch us as they
touch others.
A Stoic may be moved by the injury or
death of a loved one or child, because,
after all, the most difficult things to endure
in life require the highest degree of
development, and perhaps there are some
things that only a Sage can endure in
perfect peace. It should be noted that
Happiness, a well-flowing life, is the goal, Epictetus does not mention this particular
but also our natural state. All of us have type of trial in the above quote from the
deviated from this natural state,
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and
chapter we are studying.
thus are in various states of happiness
and unhappiness. Stoic doctrine leads
You cannot show me one fashioned so. But
one back to one’s natural state of peace. show me at least one who is forming, who
What then is the fruit of these opinions? It has shown a tendency to be a Stoic. Do me
is that which ought to be the most noble
this favor. Do not grudge an old man seeing
and the most becoming to those who are a sight which I have not seen yet. Do you
ISSUE 38 //September 2022
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think that you must show me the Zeus of
Phidias or the Athena, a work of ivory and
gold? (Discourses 2:19) Epictetus
concedes to his students that they may
not be able to show him one who can
maintain a good spirit in the situations
he has given. The man who is, and the
man who will always choose virtue as
the highest good, is the Sage. And while
Sagehood is the ultimate goal for the
Stoic, it may be a nearly impossible goal
to achieve, as already alluded to. So
Epictetus will settle for seeing, at the
very least, one who is forming, who has
shown a tendency to be a Stoic through
practice.
In fact, for Epictetus – who never
claimed to be a Sage – Stoic practice
would be a continuous process of
improvement, and one who is making
progress along the Stoic path is referred
to as a prokopton. How does a
prokopton show a tendency to be a
Stoic?
The prokopton shows a tendency to be a
Stoic by showing a tendency to choose
virtue as the highest good, if not the only
good, and thereby increasing their
personal virtue, which then has a
corresponding effect on one’s peace of
mind. Now if virtue promises good
fortune and tranquility and happiness,
certainly also the progress toward virtue
is progress toward each of these things
(Discourses 1:4). A Stoic need not be
perfect, but a true prokopton should
show progressive improvement in virtue,
and thus improvement in tranquility.
Let any of you show me a human soul
ready to think as God does, and not to
blame either God or man; ready not to be
disappointed about anything, not to
consider himself damaged by anything,
not to be angry, not to be envious, not to
be jealous. And why should I not say it
direct, desirous from a man to become a
god, and in this poor mortal body
thinking of his fellowship with Zeus.
(Discourses 2:19)
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Now we arrive at Epictetus’ fourth
hallmark of who is a Stoic: the human
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soul ready to think as God does
(Discourses 2:19). What does it mean to
think as God does? As the Cosmos
ordains or allows what happens to
happen, for its own good, to think as God
does is to want what God wants.
Show me the man. But you cannot. Why
then do you delude yourselves and cheat
others? And why do you put on a guise
which does not belong to you, and walk
about being thieves and pilferers of these
names and things which do not belong to
you? (Discourses 2:19)
Whatever the Cosmos causes to happen, I
also want it to happen, and whatever
does not happen, for the Cosmos did not
cause it to happen, I do not wish it to
happen. This, simply put, is to think as
God does, and for one who does think as
God thinks, there is no reason to be
disappointed regarding what happens,
nor to consider oneself damaged by what
happens, for that which the Cosmos
brings, it brings to fulfill its purposes, for
the benefit of the Whole, and the part as
well. There is no need for one to be angry
and no point in one being envious or
jealous, since he knows that these things
are assigned to him according to the
Universal arrangement, and the Whole is
superior to the part, as the state to the
citizen (Discourses 2.10).
Epictetus knows that his audience
cannot show him the man who
demonstrates even a tendency to be a
Stoic, who is at least forming into a Stoic;
nor can they show him a man who is ready
to think as God does, to be of one mind
with God. And yet it seems that among this
same audience there were some who were
already referring to themselves as Stoics,
undeservedly. This is an ancient case of
stolen valor. Epictetus condemns these
Stoic pretenders as imposters, cheats and
frauds, for taking
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a name which does not
belong to them, and for fooling others into
believing them, by their talk and pretense,
to be authentic. This accusation may have
been a hard blow for some of his students
to hear. How many today are undeservedly
claiming the Stoic mantle while deviating
When one thinks as God does, one will no far from Stoic practice?
longer blame God or man for anything
that happens. One will view that which
And now I am your teacher, and you are
comes as beneficial for the Cosmos, but instructed in my school. And I have this
also for one’s personal benefit, for that is purpose, to make you free from restraint,
good for every part of nature which the
compulsion, hindrance; to make you free,
nature of the Whole brings (Marcus
prosperous, happy, looking to God in
Aurelius, Meditations 2.3). Where there is everything small and great. And you are
no room for one to wish things to be any here to learn and practice these things.
different than as they are, there will be
Why, then, do you not finish the work, if you
no room for anger, envy, or jealousy.
also have such a purpose as you ought to
What else is happiness than obtaining
have, and if I, in addition to the purpose,
exactly what we want and avoiding what also have such qualification as I ought to
we don’t want, for happiness and
have? What is that which is wanting? When I
tranquility are not attainable by man
see an artificer and material by him, I
otherwise than by not failing to obtain
expect the work. Here, then, is the artificer,
what he desires, and not falling into that here the material. What is it that we want?
which he would avoid (Discourses 1:4).
Is not the thing one that can be taught? It is.
Is it not, then, in our power? The only thing
If one conforms one’s will to want what
of all that is in our
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power (Discourses 2:19)
happens to happen, and to not wish to
happen what does not happen, there will Epictetus acknowledges his role as
be no room for unhappiness. We will
teacher, and what his purpose is as their
then become like God, not in the sense of teacher. More importantly, he
omnipotence or omniscience, but in the acknowledges that his students can
sense imperturbability, tranquility, and
indeed become worthy of the name Stoic.
peace – and in this way share in God’s
His students did not come to his school to
fellowship.
ISSUE 38 //September 2022
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be mere readers of what other Stoics
wrote, or to repeat the opinions of
others; they came to the school to be
changed, to have their characters and
minds changed. Epictetus, after the
harsh statement given to them
previously, is now urging them
forward to achieve the original goal
they had when they entered the
school, to acquire the character of a
Stoic, the character of one who is
released from perturbation, one who
is in the state of eudaimonia. By
urging them on, Epictetus is implying
that they are capable of becoming
free from restraint, compulsion,
hindrance,… free, prosperous, happy,
looking to God in everything small and
great.
It is to this end that we prokoptons
should also seek to arrive. He who is a
Stoic should have this as their
continual goal. If we trust the words
of Epictetus, then we can trust that
the means to achieve this goal can be
taught. And not only can it be taught,
but Epictetus tells us further that it is
the only thing that is truly and
completely within their power.
Neither wealth is in our power, nor
health, nor reputation, nor, in a word,
anything else except the right use of
appearances. This right use is by
nature free from restraint; this alone is
free from impediment. (Discourses
2:19).
The right use of appearances is the
principal means by which we acquire
the character of the Stoic. The right
use of appearances is the fifth
hallmark of what it means to be a
Stoic. The Stoic motto is to live
according to nature. For a rational
being, to act in accordance with
nature is also to act in accordance
with reason (Meditations 7:1). Now
reason, for what purpose has it been
given by nature? For the right use of
appearances (Discourses 1.20).
Reason itself has been given to us
that we may make a right use of
September 2022