| The article, for all its virtues, doesn't seem to mention a famous modern Stoic, Vice Admiral James Stockdale[1]. Stockdale was tortured in the Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War and his writings are studied (or at least were 30 years ago) at USNA. I find stoicism an intellectually useful set of concepts, in a tactical sense. IMO, it seems morally limited, strategically. For example, taking care of the environment is sensible, but why do I care? If I'm just so many atoms, then the eventual effects of my folly are SEP[2]. The drive to be mature and responsible will _always_ succumb to rationalization. Case in point: the national debt. Who in their right mond lives beyond their means? Only pretty much _every_ government. The human flesh is always corrupt; the mind is prone to rationalizations; the only "hope", if one cares to go there, is through the soul. Finding a community of faith to offer moral feedback to the Stoic mind and the fallen flesh is left as an exercise for the reader. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Stockdale [2] Someone Else's Problem |