My Stoic Thoughts: Day 3 of Stoic Week 2019

Stoic Week 2019

Wednesday, October 9th, 2019

Theme:  Virtue: Clarifying Your Values

When we say virtue, we do not mean virginal or chaste or however its mostly interpreted today.  Instead, virtue can be understood as the qualities a person possesses (and will express) that enable us to lead a happy life (you know, one according to nature like we discussed on Day 2).  Stoicism has four “Cardinal Virtues” which can be subdivided and made more specific. These virtues include:

• Wisdom – where one displays excellence in reasoning and judgement both in theory and in practice.  
• Courage or Resilience – where one has the ability to deal with dangers properly.  (I really like this idea of resilience because not all struggles are dangerous but all require the ability to deal with them properly).
• Justice – where one displays excellence in their relationship with others to include being kind, generous, and respectful.
• Moderation or Self-control – where one is able to deal with emotions and desires properly (probably with reason!).

Virtues entail both knowledge and skill and require actions.  They must be practiced in order to develop excellence. They also rely on each other.  For example, you may need to utilize wisdom to determine how to be courageous or just or exhibit self-control.  And acting virtuously add congruence to your life, which is how you lead a happy life.

Virtues are seen as the only “good” in life, because it is through them alone that one can lead a happy life.  This sounds like a bummer, but its not. This means, you have the possibility to lead a happy life no matter if you are rich, poor, healthy, sick, unlucky, or lucky.  It’s always something you can do and always within your reach. Sure, being healthy, wealthy, and lucky is nice and they add positive value to your life, but they will not lead you to a happy life.  Instead, they may give you the opportunity to practice virtue either with their presence or absence in your life. These other things are referred to as “indifferents” because the happy life can be obtained with or without them.

It is important to note that some of these preferred indifferents may result in living a virtuous, happy life.  One might have good health through the practice of moderation/self-control by eating well or exercising. One may have wealth by saving wisely (good reason and judgement) or good relationships through justice.  I like to think of those things as happy accidents to living a good life, directed with virtue toward happiness.

The opportunity to practice virtue is everywhere.  At home, at work, in leisure activities, and in relationships.  My most surprising find was my opportunity to practice them while playing in a pretty relaxed softball league where there is no umpire.  Here the players have to call the plays, whether its foul or not, or a strike or ball. As catcher, I have a front row seat to these plays and often have to make the call.  I practice justice as fairness in making fair calls. It’s also a practice in courage as I’ve never played before. I’ve had to take guidance and pointers from others who were better players in order to learn how to play well.  Frequently while playing I will reflect on the virtues I act out and it helps to build excellence in these areas in a fun way. As a result, I build relationships with my teammates and “rivals”, have fun, and experience joy…those happy accidents of virtue. 

(This is a summary of my thoughts and do not fully encompass everything on Stoic virtue.  I highly encourage you to learn more, leave comments, and add to this conversation!)