Stoic Stories » Neel Burton author website and blog

Stoicism by its best stories. Zeno’s shipwreck, Cato’s suicide, Cicero’s murder… Learn all about the popular philosophy, through its best stories.

Readers’ Favorite Book Award Winner

This is a book of Stoic stories: stories about Stoics, stories told by Stoics, and stories with a Stoic bent. Snuck between these heroic tales, and exemplified by them, are the main tenets of Stoic philosophy, served up in small, bite-size chunks.

In the Classical World, the old religion privileged ritual over doctrine, and people turned instead to philosophy for guidance and consolation. In the imperial period, Stoicism rose into the foremost philosophy among the Roman elite. It was, in a sense, the real religion of ruling Romans, including, under the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the emperor himself.

In that much, Stoicism can be thought of as the first and original self-help. But ancient though they are, Stoic principles and practices are timeless and universal insofar as they speak to our deepest human nature: for all our progress in science, technology, and education, we are still plagued and tormented by anger, fear, greed, grief, death, and mis-living. Unlike many modern interventions, Stoicism is not merely about feeling better, but about being better—which, all considered, is the surest way of feeling better, and not just better but better than ever before.

Stoicism is, to an extent, just a byword for reason or philosophy: it is what we would do anyway, had we thought about it long and hard enough. We all, through experience and defeat, become slightly more Stoical as we age, with the witless, wailing child representing the antithesis of the Stoic. So, let’s join Hercules, Zeno, Hipparchia, Cato, Musonius, Epictetus, Seneca, and the rest of the varied cast, to grow wiser faster, and painlessly—which is, after all, the main function of reading.

Books can be entertaining, or informative, or useful, but this one is all three at the same time. —Charles Mauleverer, composer

A wonderful read… Full of thought-provoking stories and anecdotes that stuck with me long after I had put the book down. —Phil Stark, screenwriter (South Park, That ‘70s Show…), writer, and therapist

Neel Burton taught me more in this book than I learned in my years of study. —Philip Van Heusen for Readers’ Favorite ★★★★★

Uses a slew of intriguing narratives to provide a pathway to the inner mind… Nothing short of unique. —The US Review of Books (Recommended)

Neel is an incredibly insightful and elegant writer, with a deep knowledge of all he surveys. —Dr James Davies, writer and psychotherapist

About the author

Dr Neel Burton FRSA is a psychiatrist, philosopher, and wine-lover who lives and teaches in Oxford, England. He is a Fellow of Green-Templeton College in the University of Oxford, and the recipient of the Society of Authors’ Richard Asher Prize, the British Medical Association’s Young Authors’ Award, the Medical Journalists’ Association Open Book Award, and a Best in the World Gourmand Award. His work has featured in the likes of Aeon, the Spectator, and the Times, and been translated into several languages.

Contents

Introduction

1. Zeno’s Shipwreck
2. The Dogs of Athens
3. The First Stoic
4. Hercules at the Crossroads
5. The Happy Hedonists
6. The Second Hercules
7. The Second Founder
8. Philosophy Goes to Rome
9. The Scipionic Circle
10. Cato’s Suicide
11. Cicero’s Murder
12. Porcia’s Trial
13. The Ghost of Creusa
14. The Two-Faced Philosopher
15. The Letter to the Emperor
16. Seneca Above the Bathhouse
17. Musonius in Exile
18. The Stoic Opposition
19. The Slave Who Freed Himself
20. The Philosopher-King

Final words

Revel in the best, most beautiful, and most powerful ideas of the Classical World

Romans by the imperial period had stopped believing in the hoary myths of old. In any case, ancient religion privileged ritual over doctrine and offered little in terms of guidance and consolation. For that, people, especially educated people, turned instead to philosophy, which held out the promise of a flourishing life removed from wrongdoing and suffering. In that much, Stoicism can be thought of as the first and original self-help. The movement by this stage had become eclectic and syncretic, borrowing freely from other schools, and, in practical terms at least, represents the best that ancient philosophy and antiquity have to offer. Ancient though they are, Stoic precepts and practices are timeless and universal insofar as they speak to our deepest human nature: for all our progress in science, technology, and education, we are still plagued and tormented—perhaps now more than ever—by anger, fear, greed, grief, death, and mis-living.

At the heart of Stoicism is the idea that human beings ought to act in accord with their nature, which means two things. First, we are social animals, and designed to work together ‘like hands, or feet, or eyelids’. ‘Human nature’ said Musonius, ‘is very much like that of bees. A bee is not able to live alone; it perishes when isolated. Indeed, it is intent on performing the common task of members of its species—to work and act together with other bees.’ Second, while ants and bees, and maybe even wolves, may be more social than human beings, we are by a country mile the most rational of all animals, so that reason might be said to be our distinctive or defining function. Just as leopards ought to excel at running if they are to count as good leopards, so human beings ought to excel at reasoning if they are to count as good human beings. If we aim instead to excel at running or swimming or making money, we have not properly understood what it means to be a human being. Thus, of one who boasted of his diving, Aristippus asked, “Are you not ashamed to be proud of that which a dolphin can do?” As human beings, we ought at every moment to be rational and social. Unfortunately, we are all too readily waylaid by unwise attachments and the destructive emotions to which they give rise. These attachments dangle the promise of pleasure or happiness but really offer only slavery—whereas, if only we could see it, nothing leads to pleasure and happiness as surely as reason and self-control.

Today, most people think of ‘Stoicism’ (capital ‘S’) as ‘stoicism’, that is, the simple suppression or closeting of emotions. This modern derivation originated in the sixteenth century and should not be confused with the much older philosophical movement. The Stoic is not without emotions, but, ideally, without painful or unhelpful emotions such as anger, envy, and greed. To be without emotion, were that even possible, would be to be reduced to the inanimate state of a tree or a rock, whereas the Stoic seeks, on the contrary, to exist and excel qua human being. Thus, the Stoics invited positive and prosocial emotions such as compassion, friendship, and gratitude, which pour out of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. Already in Book 1, Marcus praises his tutor Sextus of Charonea for being ‘free from passion and yet full of love’.

Those familiar with Stoicism often came to it in a crisis, but soon discovered that it is about much more than firefighting or even longer-term resilience building. While I was writing this book, a buttoned-up surgeon put me on the spot by asking how stoicism, the modern disposition, differs from Stoicism, the ancient philosophical movement. I ventured in reply, ‘modern stoicism is about maintaining a stiff upper lip, whereas ancient Stocism is about seeking to maintain the ultimate perspective on everything, which then raises many interesting questions.’ Unlike many modern interventions, Stoicism is not merely about feeling better, but about being better—which is, all considered, the surest way of feeling better, and not just better but better than ever before.

Stoic Stories makes the case for the continued relevance of Stoicism when applied to contemporary life, and does so in an engaging and illuminating manner. —The BookLife Prize

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