Stoicism is misunderstood
Almost everyone with the slightest interest in philosophy has heard of famous Stoics like Marcus Aurelius and Seneca, but what is Stoicism really? The Stoics wanted to lay out what it means to live according to nature, expanding and clarifying in their own terms what Heraclitus, Socrates, and the Cynics had already begun. Their question was simple: “How do we live a virtuous, good life?” Heraclitus gave them the metaphysical foundation: the cosmos has an order, it’s rational and alive. Socrates provided the example of living according to one’s philosophical wisdom. From the Cynics, they took the idea that virtue is the only true good, and that freedom comes from within, which the Stoics softened with reason, duty, and social responsibility. ...