Stoic News

By Dave Kelly

Friday, May 21, 2004

Google Search: define: stoicism


  • an indifference to pleasure or pain

  • (philosophy) the philosophical system of the Stoics following the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Zeno

  • A philosophical doctrine developed by the Greeks that taught people to live in conformity to the natural order of the cosmos; this meant peacefully accepting one’s duties and responsibilities even if such acceptance involved great personal pain and sacrifice.

  • The idea that true virtue or excellence lies in not being affected by outside events and in not experiencing passions or emotions; impossible to attain, but still the natural human state of living according to reason.

  • the principle or practice of showing indifference to pleasure or pain.

  • was the doctrine of a Greek school of philosophy known as the Stoics. This group taught that human beings should be free from passion, unmoved by joy or grief, and submissive to natural law, calmly accepting all things as the result of divine will. It is a Greek pagan version of the Islamic, Kismet, "what ever will be, will be."

  • A development from Cynicism. Unlike Cynics, Stoics accept the ideas of society and social duty, and also argue that while external goods (health, friendship, money etc.) are not essential for happiness, they are still preferable to external evils (sickness, enmity, poverty etc.)..

  • A Greek philosophy that became popular among the upper classes in Roman times, Stoicism emphasized duty, endurance, self-control, and service to the gods, the family, and the state. Its adherents believed in the soul's immortality, rewards, and punishments after death, and in a divine force (providence) that directs human destiny. Paul encountered Stoics when preaching in Athens (Acts 17:18-34), and Stoic ideas appear in Ecclesiastes, the Wisdom of Solomon, Proverbs, John 4:23 and 5:30, James 1:10, and 1 Peter 2:17.

  • belief that one should live according to providence/fortune/destiny and accept one's fate with indifference or, in the case of extreme hardship, with courage

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