Why our millennium has lost its sense of stoicism in life?

 It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.

—Epictetus

Stoicism proclaims that freedom and tranquility can be achieved only by being oblivious to material comforts, external fortune, and dedicating oneself to a life guided by the principles of reason and virtue (such is the idea of imperturbability or ataraxia). Assuming a materialistic conception of nature, the Stoics followed Heraclitus in the belief that the first substance is in the fire and in the veneration of the logos, which they identified with the energy, law, reason, and providence found in nature. The reason for men was also considered an integral part of the divine and immortal logos.

The Stoic doctrine, which considered each person essential as a member of a universal family, helped break regional, social, and racial barriers, and paved the way for the spread of a universal religion. The Stoic doctrine of natural law, which converts human nature into a norm for evaluating social laws and institutions, had a great influence in Rome and the later laws of the West. It also had importance in later currents and philosophers, such as Descartes and Kant. 

Ancient Stoics divided philosophy into three parts: logic (theory of knowledge and science, which includes rhetoric and dialectic), physics (science about the world and things), and ethics (behavior science). All of these refer to aspects of the same reality: the universe as a whole and its knowledge. This can be explained and understood globally because it is a rationally organized structure of which man himself is an integral part, ethics being the most important facet.

"Desire and happiness cannot live together."

—Epictetus

Since, according to Stoicism, all the events of the world are rigorously determined, and man is part of the universal logos, freedom can only consist of the acceptance of his own destiny, which is a fundamental part of living according to nature. For this, man must know what facts are true and what this truth is based on.

Good and virtue, therefore, consist of living according to reason, avoiding passions (pathos), which are nothing more than deviations from our rational nature. Passion is the opposite of reason; it is something that happens and cannot be controlled, and therefore, it should be avoided. Reactions such as pain, pleasure or fear, can and should be mastered through self-control exercised by reason, impassibility (apathy, from which apathy derives), and imperturbability (ataraxia). These will arise from the understanding that there is no good or evil in itself since everything that happens is part of a cosmic project. Only the ignorant ignores the universal logos and let themselves be dragged by their passions.

The ideal sage is one who lives according to reason, is free from passions, and considers himself a citizen of the world. Cosmopolitanism, defends the equality and solidarity of men through four virtues:

Stoicism preaches the value of reason, by proposing that destructive emotions are the result of errors in our way of seeing the world, and offers a practical guide to remain resolute, strong and in control of the situation.

As we have commented, the Stoic school had a profound influence on Greco-Roman civilization and, consequently, on Western thought in general. And it went further.

Stoicism is present in Christianity, Buddhism, and the thinking of several modern philosophers, such as the German Immanuel Kant, in addition to having influenced the contemporary technique of psychotherapy called cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Its three top representatives include Marco Aurelio, Seneca, and Epictetus.

• Marcus Aurelius: Marcus Aurelius, the emperor philosopher. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus (nicknamed the Sage or the Philosopher), born in Rome on April 26, 121, ruled the Roman Empire from 161 until his death in 180. His great legacy, Meditations or Thoughts, is the result of moral reflections that, at the end of his life, he left in writing, without following a strict or pre-established plan. Divided into twelve books and written in Greek, the work is based on a series of reflections inspired by his daily experience and reveals the Stoic influence, particularly from Epictetus.

• Epictetus: Born in Turkey in the year 50 and died in Greece in 135 He was a Roman slave to Epaphrodite and a Stoic philosopher, who devoted himself fully to studying philosophy and how to lead a life based on the moral aspect. The main representative of Stoicism. Helived almost his entire existence as a slave; however, after being released, he became one of the most famous philosophers in the world. Above all, the serenity of spirit. The works that have survived to this day are The Enchiridion or Handbook and the Discourses.

• Seneca: Born in Corduba in Hispania c. 4 BC and died in AD 65 in Rome, Italy. He is considered one of the leading figures in Stoic philosophy, whose ideas have served as an example and inspiration for important philosophers, intellectuals, and religious thinkers. He was an important Roman Hispanic philosopher and one of the best orators in the Empire. His Letters to Lucilius and his Dialogues are two of the top works of Stoicism.