What Is Stoicism? by Tanner Campbell & Kai Whiting

Author:Tanner Campbell & Kai Whiting
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: New World Library
Published: 2024-09-09T19:04:42+00:00

11

Emotions

Believe me, true joy is a serious matter....Look to your real good and rejoice in what is yours. What is it that is yours? Yourself; the best part of you.

— Seneca the Younger, Letters to Lucilius 23.4, 23.6

The word Stoicism (uppercase S) is the Stoic philosophy we’ve been discussing up until now. Stoicism is different from stoicism (lowercase s). This easy-to-miss uppercase/lowercase distinction is one you will need to pay close attention to in this chapter. The word stoicism (lowercase s), as understood in the generic sense, is used to describe a seemingly cold and aloof response or attitude toward life. It is also strongly linked with masculine traits and is often seen as something negative, even “toxic.” This is unfortunate, because there are times when being stoic is helpful. If you’re a combat medic, for example, how emotional can you be on a battlefield before you can no longer perform your job well?

The contemporary Stoic author Jonathan Church offers an insightful view on how stoicism (lowercase s) helped him navigate his brain cancer diagnosis. Specifically, he states,

As the neuro-oncologist informed me dur-ing a post-surgical consultation..., it’s impossible to remove every cancerous cell.... During this ordeal, not once have I cried. Not once have I felt depressed, anxious, or out of sorts. Not once have I felt a need to seek therapeutic help. On the morning of surgery, I worried more about losing cognitive abilities if the surgery went awry than I did about death. One of my sisters commented that I was so calm she thought the doctors must have given me Valium. I was, in a word, stoic....I have managed to develop a healthy perspective about brain cancer, which has helped me continue to live a happy and productive life and not succumb to anxiety and depression. I have stoicism to thank. I touched on this before in an essay on why I am a man who chooses not to cry. I argued that emotional restraint is not the same as emotional repression.1

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