- 3 parts - Logic, Physics and Ethics
- Analogy
- Stoic Philosophy is like an egg:
- Logic is the shell.
- Ethics is the white.
- Physics is the yolk.
- Stoic Philosophy is like a human:
- Logic is the bones.
- Ethics is the flesh.
- Physics is the soul.
- Stoic Philosophy is like an egg:
- Concerned with Knowledge and Judgement.
- Truthfulness with what we say.
- Rationality is one of the defining characteristics of human beings.
- Logical consistency is given a lot of emphasis.
- Make judgements of value and not only of matter of fact.
- Our emotional lives are a product of the judgements we make.
- It's not things that upset us but our judgements about things.
- Pay attention to our judgements: Slow down - try to open up some cognitive distance from when we experience and when we make a judgement.
- Ethics is about value - what's good / what's bad / what we ought to do / not do.
- Virtue and Value go hand in hand.
- Anything that's genuinely good will always consistently benefit us.
- Excellent Character / State of Mind.
- Rational
- Consistent
- Mentally Healthy
- Not overcome by emotional upheaval
- Moderate
- Courageous
- Fair and Just
- No situation where having a calm / rational state of mind where things will get worse.
- No situation where being anxious / irrational state of mind where things will get better.
- Having good character will always be a good thing and not a bad thing.
- Good character generates the happiness; if you are psychologically in a mess, nothing will make you happy.
- Attend to yourself and your judgements - how you think about things before expecting happiness from other things.
- Study of nature or what exists.
- Interconnectedness: Single organic unity - we are all parts of something larger than ourselves.
- Our well being depends on that interconnectedness.
- None of us can survive on our own - we all rely on each other and nature.
- We don't need to choose between our own interest and nature: these are the same.
- Selfishness = person hasn't grasped our interconnectedness.
- They don't understand how the world works.
- Psychological consistency is required.
- All about having a consistent character that makes consistent judgements.
- Making judgements consistently so that we develop the habit of thinking consistently.
- Zeno: The goal of life is to live consistently.
- Pupil of his: The goal of life is to live consistently with Nature.
- Pupil of theirs: The goal of life is to live consistently with what happens according to Nature.
- To embrace fate - what happens out of our control.
- Rational, social, harmony with natural world and without complaint.
- The Stoic Challenge:
- Pay attention to our judgements.
- Focus on what's inherently good.
- Understand that we are part of a larger whole.