This week concluded the first cycle in Write of Passage culminating in the publication of my first essay for the course, Why I’m (Still) Christian. If you have yet to read it, start there. Now onward to this weeks library notes.
Walking Away From Stoicism
As I prepare my second essay for Write of Passage, I’m honing in on writing about Stoicism and my time with the philosophy as a daily discipline and why I no longer believe it is a serviceable system of philosophy for not only myself but the modern reader.
As I look to explore my walk away from Stoicism as a daily practice I’ve returned to the biographies of Julius Caesar by Philip Freeman and George Washington by Ron Chernow.
Julius Caesar is not one any student of history would confuse for a Stoic, but his arc from military tribune, to priest, governor, general, and finally dictator, are not in a vacuum but in response to a staunch senate replete with self described stoics. It would be wise to see how what we put into the world shapes those around us.
George Washington is one that I’ve seen some casually cite as either a stoic or stoic influenced but I do not believe this to be so. Returning to not only the man who would be remembered as Cinncinatus’ second coming, but the lesser known frontiersman and then colonial lieutenant shows us a man imperfect and a product in part of second, sometimes even more chances, despite his maturing character. While not a stoic at least in my book, Washington embodies another philosophy that is crucial to what I believe to be the philosophies worth studying.
For that, I look forward to sharing more with you this coming Wednesday.