斯多葛主义
Stoicism
Stoicism · conceptA Hellenistic philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium around 300 BCE, teaching that virtue (arete) is the sole good and sufficient for happiness. Core practices include the dichotomy of control, memento mori, and premeditatio malorum. Stoicism emphasizes living according to nature and reason (logos), emotional resilience, and focusing energy only on what is within one's control. Its most famous exponents include Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius.
Context and Boundaries
The Stoic school emerged in Athens around 300 BCE with Zeno of Citium and continued through early figures such as Cleanthes and Chrysippus. Stoic philosophy is commonly discussed through logic, physics, and ethics; the surviving record comes through more than one author and period, rather than a single founder's complete book.
What this does not establish: Stoicism is not simply emotional suppression, a promise of calm, or a medical or therapeutic method. Virtue and living according to nature are ethical and philosophical claims; the control distinction separates judgments and actions from external results without making health, reputation, or loss irrelevant.
A restrained present-day reading: Oriens interpretation: the control distinction can help a reader separate responsibility for a judgment or action from responsibility for an external result. This is a bounded reading aid, not a guarantee of emotional resilience or success.
Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions.
— Enchiridion, Chapter 1 (Epictetus)
What Are the Key Facts About Stoicism?
- Tradition: Stoicism
- Chinese: 斯多葛主义
- Category: Concept
- Definition: A Hellenistic philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium around 300 BCE, teaching that virtue (arete) is the sole good and sufficient for happiness.
What Concepts Are Related to Stoicism?
Ataraxia 宁静Frequently Asked Questions About Stoicism
What is Stoicism?
Stoicism is a Hellenistic school founded by Zeno of Citium (c. 300 BCE), teaching that virtue is the only true good and that living 'according to nature/reason' brings eudaimonia despite external fortune.
What are the Stoic disciplines?
The 'three disciplines' (Epictetus): desire (assent only to what is good), action (do what is natural/social), and assent (judge impressions correctly) — anchored in the dichotomy of control.
What is the Stoic view of emotions?
Passions are errors of judgment, not mere feelings; the sage replaces them with rational 'good emotions.' Therapy of the passions is central.
Who were the main Stoics?
Zeno (founder), Cleanthes, Chrysippus (systematizer), then Roman Stoics Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius.
Where to Read Next
- What Is Stoicism?The longer definition and school overview.
- EpictetusThe control distinction's textual context.
- Dichotomy of ControlThe related concept entrance for what is up to us.
- What Is Stoic Virtue?The dedicated virtue owner.
- What Is Taoism?A separate tradition in the registered Stoicism–Taoism relationship.
Sources and Limits
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — StoicismSchool history and ethics
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — EpictetusPhilosophical context
- MIT Internet Classics Archive — The EnchiridionChapter 1
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Marcus AureliusSurviving Roman Stoic authors
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — SenecaSurviving Roman Stoic authors