Stoicism - A Mental Schema of the Philosophy

…or some advice on reading

It’s a question often asked and one that is eminently reasonable. What books on Stoicism should I read?

The answers questioners receive are wide-ranging and particular to the respondent’s biases.  They tend to fall into a couple of groupings (at least on the large FB groups I am a member of):

1. The latest #PopSto (Popular Stoicism) rendering, think Ryan Holliday’s, Ego is the Enemy, or Bill Irvine’s, A Guide to the Good Life.

2. The original texts(in all their varied translated glory), Epictetus’ Enchiridion, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Seneca’s Letters and maybe Musonius Rufus’ Fragments and Lectures.

If you are after a bag of psychological hacks or tricks, you could go to the first group.  You’ll undoubtedly get something useful that you can put into action in a short period.

If you want a more in-depth look and aren’t rushed, then the second grouping is good. You’ll better appreciate the thinkers and their lines of argument. You’ll broaden your knowledge.  

Group 1 or Group 2?

So either way, I think it is perfectly fine, depending on your aim.  The second grouping might get you closer to the objective of practising Stoicism as a Way of Life. However, it could be argued that #Popsto sources have distilled some of the spiritual practises/technologies of the self into easy-to-implement activities.

The Missing Link(s)

What you don’t get from either of these groups is a schema or framework that the information slots into. If you are trying to build a cohesive picture of the philosophy, it is not generally found in #Popsto, and you’ll have to dig through hard bedrock to get it from the original texts.

Stoicism developed as a unified, integrated, and entangled system, each part necessary for and reliant on the other. Now while you may not subscribe to everything in that system, it benefits you to understand how the ancient stoics conceived it.

So, in that case, what should I read?

I’m so glad you asked. I have two recommendations.  

The first is John Sellars’ Lessons in Stoicism. At 78 pages, you could conceivably read it quite closely in an afternoon.  It’s not an academic text, and it would benefit readers from the first group immensely, answering some of the why behind certain practices. If you are from the first group, you’ll begin to understand the reasoning behind the practices/hacks/tricks. If you are in the second, you’ll perhaps discover that your understanding of the original texts is deepened and expanded, and you’ll make connections and observations you might not have.

The second is John Sellars’ Stoicism. If you want to attempt to live as a modern Stoic and practice the philosophy as a Way of Life, this book is your starting point. At 178 pages, it’s still short, but it consolidates your understanding of the Stoic system.

I tend to read #Popsto and the original texts while seeking out experts like Sellers to supplement and enhance my understanding of Stoicism. I’ll point you to some of these in future posts.

Practising Stoicism as a Way of Life requires education and practice.  Epictetus had a school where he taught. To think that we can grasp a philosophy in an afternoon, that we can read and understand a technical philosophy without help, is the height of hubris.