More than 2,000 years old, Stoic philosophy still offers lessons for well-being in the modern world, explains NeelBurton
As Stoicism gradually lost ground to Christianity, it subtly worked its way into the incipient religion.Stoic principles inspired what has become the most common form of talking treatment, cognitive behavioural therapy .In the Classical World, the old religion privileged ritual over doctrine, and educated people turned instead tofor guidance and consolation. In the imperial period, Stoicism rose into the foremost philosophy among the Roman elite.
The influence of Stoic philosophy is felt even in the Bible. For instance, the Gospel of John opens with the verse, “In the beginning was the Word [Greek,, according to the Stoics, consists of creative fire, orBroader points of parallel between Christianity and Stoicism include that God is a benevolent creator, that each of us has a divine element, and that we ought to pursue virtue and love one another.
People concerned with virility tend to the right of the political spectrum. While Spartanism has long been associated with the far right, Stoicism has not shared in the same fate, probably on account of its strong cosmopolitan strand—which might even have endeared it to the left, had it not been for its dogmatic disregard for a person’s external circumstances.
Despite its influence and importance, the study of Stoicism has long been left out of university curricula, perhaps because its more theoretical texts have all been lost, or, more likely, out of academic snobbery for a philosophy that is practical and accessible, and tainted by the “unimaginative” Romans.