Stoicism and joy

The bulk of surviving Stoic writing deals with how to be tranquil and unperturbed, no matter what life throws at us. Not only that, it shows us how to be fully functional until something actually happens to us. Here is a story told by Epictetus (Discourses 1.1)

On hearing that he was being tried in the Senate, [the Stoic philosopher] Agrippinus said, “Hope it turns out in my favour. But it is five o’clock. Time for my workout and bath.”

Off he went to do his workout. When he was done, a friend came to inform Agrippinus that he was convicted.

“Death or exile?”

“Exile”

“What about my property?”

“You get to keep it.”

“Let’s go to Aricia and dine there.”

It did not matter to this Stoic whether he was going to be convicted or exonerated. It didn’t matter whether he was exiled. When he was being tried, he went to enjoy his bath and workout. When he was exiled, he was still quite happy to go some place else and have his dinner as if nothing had changed. This is the type of tranquility and fearlessness that Stoics taught.

Is there joy in all this? If you are fearless about what might happen in the future and if you are able to enjoy simple pleasures like having dinner even after you have been exiled, there’s joy in it. Stoics definitely believed a virtuous life led to fearlessness and tranquility. Joy is no different from living a life of tranquility and fearlessness, no matter what happens.

In Stoicsm, joy is a byproduct of – or identical to – a life of virtue. Stoicism does not talk about any means of achieving joy except in global terms. This view is expounded by Tanner Campbell. (Joy through virtue, page 5)

Yet, reading between the lines, we can get some practical ways of achieving Stoic joy, long before we become 100% virtuous.

• For example, Marcus Aurelius shows how we can find joy in everyday happenings. Seneca says it can be found in any kind of life. (Joy through everyday experiences, page 4)
• We can also achieve joy through becoming aware of the habits that stand between us and a joyful life. (Joy through awareness, page 7)
• We can recall the good times with our friends and rejoice in them. (Joy through rememberance of things past, page 8)
• Yet another way to be joyful is to remember death and enjoy whatever is in front of us. (Joy through contemplating death, page 10)
• Or, maybe, we can be more relaxed in the way we look at things and not be as stern as classical Stoicism would want us to be. (Joy through a relaxed attitude, page *11) 

You can see that our contributors Greg Sadler and Piotr Stankiewicz combine some scepticism with their practical advice. It is to be expected given the serious tone of Stoic wrtings.

TheStoicGym.com

NEW BLOGS THIS MONTH

Stoic Joy: 1. Why we are not joyful?

Stoic Joy 2: How to find joy

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