Stoics Against Coddled Minds

Abstract

Ancient Stoicism has enjoyed a steep rise in popularity in recent decades, both inside and outside of the academy. A few scholars have briefly offered reasons as to why, such as increased interest in virtue ethics, and the ease with which Stoic ethical maxims may be accessed and memorized through short, digestible quotations. This paper not only collects data on the observable phenomenon of Stoicism’s resurgence and current popularity and details the available, and plausible, arguments as to the cause, but it also argues for a new and significant part of the story. Stoicism’s popularity comes, in addition, as a reaction to current dominant values of extreme safety, that is, safetyism, the view that safety, both physical and emotional, is sacred and overrides all competing concerns. On analysis, the arguments of Stoicism are shown to be antithetical to the arguments of safetyism. Given that the current cultural popularity of Stoicism entirely regards the philosophy’s teachings on ethics and emotions, given the evidence of growing dissatisfaction with safetyism and the search by many for alternatives, and given Stoicism’s stronger philosophical position, I argue for a causal connection between Stoicism’s popularity and the distaste of many for safetyism. Detailing safetyism, I draw heavily on the cultural diagnosis of Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, in their book The Coddling of the American Mind (2018). Some examples of safetyism include the creation of “safe spaces,” the concept of “microaggressions,” and the censorship of speech, which all seek to remove causes of distress rather than strengthen individuals. The authors argue that, though with good intentions, these practices and values do more harm than good. Arguing instead in favour of the practices of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which has direct philosophical roots in Stoicism, I utilize some of the author’s arguments in demonstrating Stoicism’s stronger philosophical position. Stoicism and CBT both operate on the premise that if emotional distress is caused by perception and judgment, then a remedy lies in altering perception and judgment. Furthermore, they both argue that we are strengthened by stress and challenge, not weakened. CBT is already widely successful in treating emotional distress, and many are finding that Stoicism, too, offers a preferable alternative system of values to those of avoidance and suppression of the external world. As a final consideration, I also investigate the question of why Stoicism is more popular among men.