The philosophical doctrine of Stoicism, which dates back as early as the 3rd century BCE, is believed to have been founded by Zeno of Citium (IEP 1). Stoicism, a system of ethics, uses logic as “theory of method,” and physics as the foundation (IEP 1). Stoicism teaches, amongst other concepts, that one must live life with “perfect indifference (apathea) to everything external, for nothing external could be either good or evil” (IEP 1).
Epictetus, one of the most influential of the Stoic philosophers, was born around 50-55 CE in Hierapolis, Phrygia (Sedon 1). Sold into slavery as a child, he was eventually freed, opened a school in Nicopolis, and died around 135 CE (Sedon 1). Epictetus’ teachings dealt primarily with the ethics side of Stoicism, and much of his thoughts were recorded in two works: the Discourses and the Encheiridion (Sedon 1). Epictetus believed that one should live a life of “rigid austerity and self-denial,” that one should avoid the accumulation of money and other material goods for their own sake, entertainments by “outsiders and … persons ignorant of philosophy,” pleasure for pleasure’s sake, and honor for honor’s sake, amongst other things (“Encheiridion” 100-112). Stating that our lives came down to what was under our control (“conception, choice, desire, aversion, and everything that is our own doing”), and what was not under our control (“our body, our property, reputation, office, and everything that is not our own doing”), his teachings can be summed up simply: The world happens around us, not to us (“Encheiridion” 100).
It is relatively simple for the average person to grasp the concept that things such as our property and office are outside of our control; therefore, we should not expend emotional energy fretting about such things. Sometimes the boss just simply does not like you and there is nothing you can do about it; sometimes there is nothing you can do to stop someone from robbing your house. Our property is not who we are, it is just stuff, stuff that we don’t have control over, stuff that is, essentially, “on loan” to us (“Encheiridion”). Losing your T.V., computer, money, and other personal material goods does not affect who you are inside, material goods are external to yourself. Epictetus would have looked askance at someone who attached sentimental feelings to material goods, as we commonly do. He would not even view it as a loss – he would advise you to say “I have given it back,” and remind you that any material item necessary to life can be replaced easily enough (“Discourses,” “Encheiridion”). After all, someone stealing your material goods is simply something that happened around you, not to you.
However, it is quite difficult to apply the same logic – “it is outside of my control, it is nothing to me” – when it is our own bodies that are causing us distress (“Encheiridion”). How do you deal with the discomfort of the flu? Cancer? Serious bodily injury? To the average person, when we are injured or ill, it is something that happens to us, and causes us much distress and pain. But to Epictetus, our bodies are not under our control, therefore injury and illness of our bodies was not something we could control. He taught we need to either do something about our injury/illness, or do nothing about it; but most definitely, we should not complain and whine about it. In the Discourses, he writes extensively about how we should react to our own injuries and illness. For example, in Book 1 Chapter 6, he uses the example of a slave whose nose is running:
“ ‘Yes, but my nose runs.’ For what purpose then, slave, have you hands? Is it not that you may wipe your nose? … Nay, how much better it is to wipe your nose than to find fault.”
A runny nose is simple enough: just wipe your nose and stop whining. However, what if your illness is worse than just a runny nose? Most of us would want to just go home and suffer in silence, but Epictetus’ answer to that would be “at home, I suppose, you (are) free from sickness” (“Discourses” 3.5). That just because you are sick, you should still do the things you have set forth for yourself. It is hard to dispute such simple logic: you are sick here, you will still be sick if you go home, so why bother going home?
His teachings are simple enough to accept and put into practice when dealing with runny noses and illnesses like the flu. How does one use the teachings of Epictetus to deal with life-threatening illnesses such as cancer, or serious bodily injury such as the loss of an arm or leg? These things have serious negative impact on one’s day-to-day life. How can you go about your job, your family, and your life when you have death from cancer hanging over your head? How do you do the work you have done most of your adult life if you no longer have the arm or leg you needed to do that work?
For Epictetus, death was always over our heads – “a necessary thing” – but that death or pain “is not formidable, but the fear of pain or death is” (“Discourses” 1.27, 2.1). In other words, our fear – our judgment – of pain or death is what is bad, not the actual pain or death. So for someone who has cancer, Epictetus’ answer would be we all die eventually, so do not waste your time and energy worrying about it, do not fear it, just accept it and continue to live life as you have. For someone who has lost or injured a leg, he would say that it is an “impediment to the leg, but not to the moral purpose,” that regardless of what happened to your leg (or any other limb) it does not stop you from living and pursuing the moral life you have already embarked upon (“Encheiridion” 102). This is so tough – nearly impossible – for most of us, to separate our own selves from our own bodies in this manner, to think and believe that what happens to our bodies does not change who we really are inside. To separate our own bodies from our internal self, to view our own bodies as something around us and not an actual part of us … can it be done? Perhaps, but the strength of character and purpose it would require may be beyond the overwhelming majority of us.
To look at our own eventual death with equanimity is difficult enough, but to accept the death of a loved one – especially a child – is for most of us extremely difficult, if not impossible. We view our children as part of ourselves, often as extensions of ourselves. Many a parent, when faced with the death of their own child, has wished that it was themselves that were dying and not their child. Epictetus instructs that you should “never say about anything, ‘I have lost it,’ but only ‘I have given it back.’ Is your child dead? It has been given back” (“Encheiridion” 102). To view the death of a child as something that is happening to the child but not us, as something outside of our control, as something that is happening around us and not to us… that is beyond difficult. But perhaps, by remembering and saying to ourselves that we are simply giving our child back – to God as per Epictetus – should at least provide some comfort while dealing with the loss. Of course, Epictetus would not consider the death of one’s child as a loss – to him, it was simply giving back what was on loan to us.
In fact, Epictetus believed that by separating ourselves from everything outside of our control – and just about everything is outside of our control – was the way to true freedom. In Book 4 Chapter 1 of the Discourses, he states:
Purge your opinions so that nothing cleave to you of the things which are not your own, that nothing grow to you, that nothing give you pain when it is torn from you; and say, while you are daily exercising yourself as you do there, not that you are philosophizing, for this is an arrogant expression, but that you are presenting an asserter of freedom: for this is really freedom.
Truly, to Epictetus, almost all travails that can happen in one’s life are outside of our control. Loss of office, property, family members, reputation, death, virtually everything you complain about and hear others complain about is outside of our control, almost everything commonly viewed as a tragedy is outside of our control, and therefore we should not waste our emotional energy concerning ourselves with such things. The only things that are under our control are the things within ourselves such as choice, conception, desire, and aversion (“Encheiridion” 100). In other words, the only things that really do happen to us are the things we choose to happen to us. Just about everything else is something that happens around us, usually as a direct result of the choices and actions of another person. Since we cannot control the choices and actions of other people, we must not let their choices and actions disturb us.
To live life following Epictetus’ reasoning fully is difficult, to say the least. To separate ourselves from the perceived troubles that losing a job, property, or family member causes us; to separate ourselves from the actual physical pain and hindrances that illness and injuries can cause us – to actually believe and view such as things outside of ourselves and outside of our control – is very difficult indeed. Nonetheless, one can find a certain peace, solace, comfort and freedom by following the conceptual teachings of Epictetus. His teachings can be applied to just about everything in life, from things we view as simple (like the stress of having to write a paper for college) to things we view as serious (such as our own eventual death) with almost always the same result: “it is nothing to me, it is outside of my control” (“Encheiridion”).
Works Cited
Epictetus. “Discourses.” Constitution Society. Trans. George Long. 18 Oct. 2003. 18 Oct. 2003. .
Epictetus. “The Encheiridion.” Ethics: Selections from Classical and Contemporary Writers. Ed. Oliver A. Johnson. 9th Ed. Crawfordsville: Wadsworth Thomson Learning, 1999. 99-113.
IEP. “Stoicism.” The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2001. 30 Oct. 2003. .
Seddon, Keith H. “Epictetus.” The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy 3 Jan. 2003. 30 Oct. 2003.
Written for Professor Knoecklein's Ethics class at Pikes Peak Community College, 24th November 2003
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