Contemporary Stoicism refers to currents in culture from the 20th century and later reviving elements of

Stoicism Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century Common Era, BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asser ...

. It is different from

neostoicism Neostoicism was a philosophical movement that arose in the late 16th century from the works of Justus Lipsius, and sought to combine the beliefs of Stoicism and Christianity. Lipsius was Flemish and a Renaissance humanist. The movement took on ...

, an earlier revival in the late 16th century. The term "contemporary Stoicism" covers both the revival of interest in Stoic philosophy and the philosophical efforts to adjust ancient Stoicism to the language and conceptual frameworks of the present.

Background

Philosophy

The revival of Stoicism in the 20th century can be traced to the publication of ''Problems In Stoicism'' by

A. A. Long Anthony Arthur Long FBA (born 17 August 1937) is a British and naturalised American classical scholar and Chancellor's Professor Emeritus of Classics and Irving Stone Professor of Literature Emeritus, and Affiliated Professor of Philosophy and Rh ...

in 1971, and also as part of the late 20th century surge of interest in

virtue ethics Virtue ethics (also aretaic ethics, from Greek ἀρετή arete_(moral_virtue).html"_;"title="'arete_(moral_virtue)">aretḗ''_is_an_approach_to_ethics_that_treats_the_concept_of_virtue.html" ;"title="arete_(moral_virtue)">aretḗ''.html" ;" ...

. Work by philosophers like Philippa Foot, Alasdair MacIntyre, and

Martha Nussbaum Martha Craven Nussbaum (; born May 6, 1947) is an American philosopher and the current Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, where she is jointly appointed in the law school and the philosoph ...

, among others, have brought back virtue ethics as a viable alternative to the dominant

Kantian Kantianism is the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher born in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). The term ''Kantianism'' or ''Kantian'' is sometimes also used to describe contemporary positions in philosophy of mind, ...

–

deontological In moral philosophy, deontological ethics or deontology (from Greek: + ) is the normative ethical theory that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a series of rules and principles, ra ...

and

utilitarian In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for all affected individuals. Although different varieties of utilitarianism admit different charac ...

–

consequentialist In ethical philosophy, consequentialism is a class of normative, teleological ethical theories that holds that the consequences of one's conduct are the ultimate basis for judgment about the rightness or wrongness of that conduct. Thus, from a ...

approaches." Contemporary Stoicism draws from the late 20th and early 21st century spike in publications of scholarly works on ancient Stoicism. Beyond that, the current Stoicist movement traces its roots to the work of Dr.

Albert Ellis Albert Ellis (September 27, 1913 – July 24, 2007) was an American psychologist and psychotherapist who founded rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). He held MA and PhD degrees in clinical psychology from Columbia University, and was certi ...

, who developed

rational emotive behavior therapy Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), previously called rational therapy and rational emotive therapy, is an active-directive, philosophically and empirically based psychotherapy, the aim of which is to resolve emotional and behavioral prob ...

, as well as

Aaron T. Beck Aaron Temkin Beck (July 18, 1921 – November 1, 2021) was an American psychiatrist who was a professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania.

, who is regarded by many as the father to early versions of

cognitive behavioral therapy Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a psycho-social intervention that aims to reduce symptoms of various mental health conditions, primarily depression and anxiety disorders. CBT focuses on challenging and changing cognitive distortions (suc ...

(CBT).

Psychology and psychotherapy

Stoic philosophy was the original philosophical inspiration for modern

cognitive psychotherapy Cognitive therapy (CT) is a type of psychotherapy developed by American psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck. CT is one therapeutic approach within the larger group of cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT) and was first expounded by Beck in the 1960s. Cogn ...

, particularly as mediated by Dr. Albert Ellis' Rational-Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), the major precursor of CBT. The original cognitive therapy treatment manual for depression by Aaron T. Beck et al. states, "The philosophical origins of cognitive therapy can be traced back to the Stoic philosophers". A well-known quotation from ''

Enchiridion of Epictetus The ''Enchiridion'' or ''Handbook of Epictetus'' ( grc, Ἐγχειρίδιον Ἐπικτήτου, ''Enkheirídion Epiktḗtou'') is a short manual of Stoic ethical advice compiled by Arrian, a 2nd-century disciple of the Greek philosopher Epi ...

'' was taught to most clients during the initial session of traditional REBT by Ellis and his followers: "It's not the events that upset us, but our judgments about the events." This subsequently became a common element in the socialization phase of many other approaches to CBT. The question of Stoicism's influence on modern psychotherapy, particularly REBT and CBT, was described in detail in ''The Philosophy of Cognitive–Behavioural Therapy'' by Donald Robertson. Moreover, several early 20th century psychotherapists were influenced by Stoicism, most notably the "rational persuasion" school founded by the Swiss neurologist and psychotherapist

Paul DuBois Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

, who drew heavily on Stoicism in his clinical work and encouraged his clients to study passages from

Seneca the Younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Seneca was born in ...

as homework assignments.

As a popular movement

The modern Stoicism movement relies heavily on global social media and online communities. One of the key sites is the ''Modern Stoicism'' website, which harbors the Stoicism Today blog and hosts the Annual Stoic Week (online) and Stoicon (offline) events. Another important place is the New Stoa, which was founded in May 1996 and is arguably the first lasting Stoic community on the internet. Three key podcasts talking about Stoicism applied to modern thought are the ''Stoic Solutions Podcast'' hosted by Justin Vacula, ''The Practical Stoic Podcast'' hosted by Simon Drew and Steve Karafit's ''The Sunday Stoic''. Several personal blogs explore Stoicism, some of them run by notable Stoic scholars (e.g., Massimo Pigliucci, William B Irvine, John Sellars) and some therapists who explore Stoic applications (e.g., Donald Robertson). Articles on Stoicism have appeared on popular websites. In E.O. Scott's words, " hepotent combination of social media and a few highly publicized books and articles ..has recently launched Stoicism on an exponential growth curve." There is a variety of Stoic meetups and groups based in places such as Australia, Denver, Dublin, Edinburgh, Fremont, Helsinki, Lisbon, London, Manchester, Milwaukee, New York, Orlando, San Francisco, Toronto and Warsaw, amongst others, as well as several "Stoic Camps" for study and practice. According to E.O. Scott, "arguably the most important and influential gathering place for Modern Stoics nline is the "stoicism group" on Facebook of ≈40 000 people (as of January 2019). The analogous Reddit group has amassed ≈496 000 users (as of December 10, 2022). Beyond the Anglophone, there is the "Sztuka życia według stoików" site run by Piotr Stankiewicz, "Stoicyzm Uliczny" run by Marcin Fabjański and Centrum Praktyki Stoickiej run by Tomasz Mazur and others. Applications of modern Stoicism are reported across industries. According to ''Forbes'', modern Stoic thought "hold fascinating promise for business and government leaders tackling global problems in a turbulent, post-recession slump." However, two Stoic academics, Kai Whiting and Leonidas Konstantakos, have warned against using "life-hack Stoicism" or "Silicon Valley Stoicism" as the primary means of understanding Stoic philosophy. Subsequently, they discussed Stoicism's role in advocating for change in society, including when it comes to standing against gender-based discrimination in the workplace and highlighted the fact that women had a vital role in the development of ancient Stoicism Similarities of modern Stoicism and Third Wave CBT have been suggested as well, and its potency in treating depression has been studied. There has also been interest in applying the tenets of ancient Stoicism to the human origin story, environmental education, vegetarianism and the modern challenges of sustainable development, material consumption and consumerism.

References

External links

* {{Cite web , title=Don't be stoic: Roman Stoicism's origins show its perniciousness, url=https://psyche.co/ideas/dont-be-stoic-roman-stoicisms-origins-show-its-perniciousness , access-date=2022-07-27 , website=Psyche Ideas, language=en 21st-century social movements Ethics History of philosophy Philosophical movements Stoicism

Background

Philosophy

Psychology and psychotherapy

As a popular movement

See also

Movements

Concepts

People

References

External links