An Aeon article, “Why read Aristotle today?” by Edith Hall (link
below), contrasts Aristotle’s Nicomachean
Ethics with the popular interest in Stoic ethics. I have to admit, most of
the pop-culture stuff I’m reading on the Stoics is sanitized in much the same
way many yoga instructors have sanitized yoga for US consumption. Lots of Stoic
soundbites on Instagram; little about ideas that don’t quite fit our preconceptions.
(For instance, that Medieval Asceticism owes more to the Stoics than it does
the Bible.
But, that sort of revision
and re-imagining is to be expected. After all, neither the Stoics nor Aristotle
lived in an age quite like ours. Hall does the same thing with Aristotle,
though she mentions his less than appealing attitudes about women and slaves.
She argues that the Stoics are more appealing than Aristotle because they give
definitive answers, while Aristotle requires us to think through what he has to
say. That strikes me as reasonable, and a reasonable possibility, though I
think there are more possibilities:
- Stoicism focuses entirely on behavior, with little philosophical development of the “whys” of behavior. This means there are clear behaviors laid out but little that is systematic. Systems, as one of my professors said, are a basket full of ideas. And we all know baskets don’t hold water. There’s always a chink in the system. (Ex. Aristotle on women and slaves.)
- Individual responsibility is emphasized, which appeals to the American character. Even those who abhor the ultra-conservative ideal of individualism, which tends to insist that others take full responsibility for every hardship in their lives, Stoicism keeps its eye firmly on my responsibility, and adjures me from judging yours.
- Appeal to youth who are seeking something that counters US consumerism. There’s a counter-culture appeal to Stoicism that Aristotle can’t claim and that isn’t entrapped in the hippy-dippy mysticism of past counter-cultures.
- Stoicism works. If you’re looking for a set of rules that allow you to live an ethical life without worrying about what others think of you, indeed, provides the argument that others thinking poorly of you is evidence that you’re on the right track, Stoicism provides that framework.
