Ward farnsworth the practicing stoic6/23/2023 Externals are things that are beyond our control (like the unexpected insult). The preceding example highlights another important aspect of Stoic philosophy: the distinction between things that are in our control and things that are beyond our control. Alternatively, you could choose to feel something else, or-better yet-you could also choose indifference. This anger, in Stoic terms, is an opinion about an external event. For example, if somebody insults you, you might feel angry. From the Stoic viewpoint, people don’t react to external events, people react to their judgments about those events. One goal of Stoicism is to tame the mind: “Understanding our own minds helps us become conscious of our misjudgments-a little more perceptive, a little more self-aware, a little less stupid.”Ĭultivating an awareness about our judgments toward the external world is one way to tame the mind. Human irrationality is a main concern of the Stoics. The Stoics wrote about a range of topics, but Farnsworth’s focus is their ethical teachings, the consideration of right and wrong behaviors and the meaning of the good life. The Practicing Stoic by Ward Farnsworth (2018) is a wonderful introduction to the wisdom of the ancient Stoic philosophers.
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