What is Philosophy For?

“Stoicism puts more stock in deed than in creed”. Stoicism has neither a catechism nor an official declaration of faith. The better question is What do Stoics do?. To that I would answer Stoics (seek to) practice discernment. While not a sexy term, discernment, the ability to judge well, is not only one of the philosophy’s highest values, but is actually the whole point.

A balanced and clear mind

Within a Stoic framework the practice of discernment begets happiness, a balanced, clear mind, and inner peace. How do you do it? Discernment is deployed when we sincerely ask such questions as What is worthwhile? What isn’t? What matters? What doesn’t? What is valuable? What is trivial? What can I control? What can I not control? Whom should I befriend? Whom should I rather treat with kindness, but direct deeper engagement of my time and affections to others.

These queries are not abstract. They are situation- and time-specific, ideally reflexively asked and carefully considered, as we move through our moments, days, and years. They amount to the continuous small adjustments we can make to point ourselves toward wisdom and to steer us away from a distracted, foolish, aimless, or tragic life. The practice of discernment is the stewardship of our choices. The aggregate of our choices mixed with chance and mystery is the full expression of our one precious life.

Discernment

Discernment is a tonic for the spinning mind that takes root when we have spent way too long pursuing open options. When everything is available, every possibility on offer; when all we have are swirling options, but nothing to guide us in our supposed “freedom,” we become unmoored, and the possibility of a cohesive meaningful life animated by joyful curiosity and connection to others drifts out of reach.

Serenity

A serene person knows who they are and what they’re here to do. They aren’t hypnotically staring at all the shiny things they could buy on Amazon. We turn to a practice of discernment when we decide to take ourselves seriously and to get our lives ‘right’. By right, I do not mean in a singular or conclusive way, because serene joy and meaning are dynamic.

Where do we go from here?

So, what do we do with philosophy, with our practice of discernment? We do our part to create a civil society, to repair this broken world. We tell the truth to ourselves and to others. We make wellconsidered promises and do our best to keep them to both ourselves and to others. We step out and love, however clumsily, whether or not our affections are returned. We dare to care. We consecrate ourselves to a cosmos that needs us, even if we don’t know exactly at this moment what for.

But, we are willing to find out. We are on deck, receptive to piecemeal insight. We are willing to listen. We are willing to hear, and we are willing to heed and to try. We affirm that our life matters, that this moment counts. And we roll up our sleeves.

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Sharon Lebell is the author of The Art of Living: The Classic Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness, the first modern interpretation of Epictetus’ teachings. She Tweets@Sharon- Lebell.

 

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