A little over two years ago, my family bought and moved into a fixer-upper just outside Chicago. We were returning to the States after a four-year stint living in Oxford while I did research for my DPhil in New Testament. As we were still in the-moving-boxes-and-furniture-into-the-house phase, I had my first interactions with our new next-door neighbors. The husband (Jake) and I got to talking and exchanged the normal pleasantries one does when first meeting a neighbor. He told me about his work, and I shared that I was finishing up a research project on early Christianity, which involved some study of Greek language and ancient philosophy.
He asked me if I had studied any of the Stoics. I was a little surprised by the question, to be honest. I responded by saying that yes, as a matter of fact, I had just been studying Seneca’s De Beneficiis (“On Benefits”) for one of the chapters of my dissertation.
Jake replied that he was familiar with and had also read some Seneca. Again, I was shocked. I didn’t say this out loud, but I (somewhat pretentiously) thought, I know why I’m familiar with Seneca.... but why do you know about Seneca?
Jake went on to tell me he was very interested in Stoicism, so much so that he and his wife had given their daughter the middle name ‘Aurelia’ after the Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, the most famous Stoic philosopher in history. In the two years I’ve known Jake, Stoicism has become a regular topic of discussion between us.
In those early conversations, Jake filled me in on the fact that Stoicism has had a huge resurgence of interest in recent years. Exhibit A is the wildly popular author Ryan Holiday, whose books on Stoicism have sold something in the range of 10 million copies over the past decade. You can also poke around here on Substack and find pages dedicated to Stoic philosophy with tens-of or even hundreds-of-thousands of subscribers.
What Is Stoicism?
For the uninitiated, I’ll give a (criminally brief) introduction to the philosophy in question. Stoicism is one of the “big three” schools of Hellenistic philosophy1 that emerged in the centuries after the Greek philosophy OGs: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Stoicism, as you might have guessed, advocates a type of emotional detachment from the world (hence our modern word “stoic”) through disciplined governance of the “passions.” Stoics teach that such impulses as anger, greed, lust, or jealousy lead humans to do all sorts of unjust, irrational, and foolish things. The solution to this problem offered by the Stoics is a rationalist approach to life. This involved an inward turn, focusing on your own actions and internal responses (i.e. things you can control) rather than others’ actions or external circumstances (i.e. things you cannot control). Lots more could be said here, but I think this is fair as a summary.
The three most famous Stoic philosophers in history are Seneca, Epictetus, and Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. There were, of course, many other Stoics, but these are notable because they are our main historic representatives of the philosophy because their writings are the three examples that have been preserved through history for us to read today.
As a final point of introduction, I’ll note that Stoicism was very popular during the early imperial period of ancient Rome (which is also right around when Christianity first emerged onto the scene of the Mediterranean world).
Again, this is just a quick and dirty, off-the-cuff introduction. For the rest of this article, I want to speculate and theorize a bit as to why this 2000+-year-old philosophy is experiencing a renaissance today. Here are six reasons:
Stoicism is (largely) helpful
First, it’s worth saying directly that Stoicism is attractive as a philosophy for all sorts of reasons. It’s especially rationalist among the Greek philosophical schools, which means it fits especially nicely in the post-Enlightenment, post-Kantian West. But beyond this, it’s also fairly accessible (at least a lot of what’s been preserved is). Marcus’ Meditations are especially easy to read for an ancient document, almost like a 20th century self-help book. Much of this stuff has a punchiness, immediacy, and relevance that is pretty remarkable compared to some of the more abstract and esoteric stuff we find across the ancient Philosophical tradition.2 Stoic arguments intentionally prize and prioritize the common sense that is accessible to all.
More substantively, Stoicism (in my view) rightly diagnoses all sorts of things about human nature, why we struggle, the experience of suffering, and what true happiness entails. This is important to acknowledge because it’s been common among Christians (particularly among those of the evangelical persuasion) to reference Greek philosophy only to dunk on it and say that it sucks compared to Christianity.3 And, to be clear, there are critiques to level against Stoicism from a Christian perspective. However, it is also the case that Stoicism is far and away closest to Christianity among the Greek philosophical traditions. So much so that early Christian apologist Tertullian said of the Stoic philosopher and playwright Seneca that he was “often ours,”4 i.e. often in agreement with Christian perspectives.
Stoicism is cool
Second, Stoicism has an undeniable cool-factor appeal. This is at least partially due to the fact that a literal Roman emperor was an adherent to the school and wrote a book reflecting on how the philosophy intersects with everyday life. More immediate to our own time, the box office and cultural success of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator (2000) has elevated the modern profile of this Roman emperor in particular. This film, of course, is one of the enduring classics of the nineties–aughts manly-movie genre (think Braveheart, Diehard, etc.).
These associations, along with its emphasis on self-discipline and self-betterment, make Stoicism code edgy and masculine, at least to some people. In the ancient world, it was the popular philosophy of the upper class, the educated, and the powerful. Particularly for those of the traditionalist/conservative persuasion, Stoicism provides a connection with the fountainhead of Western civilization.
Stoicism offers the potential for a non-religious moral framework
Third, Stoicism is also unique among ancient philosophies in that it is naturalist/physicalist/materialist. I’m simplifying a bit here, but we tend to think of much of the Greek philosophical tradition as “dualist,” positing a split between a higher, spiritual plane of existence and the physical, created world. Stoicism is an exception to this rule. This can get pretty technical pretty quickly, but the upshot for this article is that the Stoics (contrary to mainstream thought in the ancient world) did not believe in God as a higher being outside of created reality. They instead argued that everything – including God – was part of a single unified physical reality.
Therefore, in the disenchanted, post-Christian world of the 21st century West, Stoicism actually works pretty well as a moral philosophy if you’re already disinclined to believe in a nonphysical reality, gods, or God.5 Christian apologists (perhaps most famously, C.S. Lewis) have often appealed to the necessity of religion to account for moral consistency across cultures or provide a justification for moral absolutes. Against this claim, Stoicism provides a path where one could at least attempt to create a robust moral and ethical framework that doesn’t require appeals to a nonphysical, supreme being. In Stoicism, “God” is the rational principle that animates and gives structure to everything in the world. In that sense, it’s metaphysic is more like a panentheistic physicalism than traditional Abrahamic monotheism.
Stoicism promises mental stability in an age of anxiety
If you didn’t completely follow that last part, don’t worry too much about it. These last few reasons for a Stoic resurgence are more about the everyday world of 21st century felt needs.
The massive rise in mental health issues and anxiety in recent decades has been much publicized and well documented. From a certain perspective, this spike in anxiety can be described as “feelings” or “emotions” run amuck, out-of-control mental spirals that paralyze us or leave us perpetually unsettled.
A central goal of Stoicism is keeping one’s emotions in check through a disciplined re-evaluation of one’s internal judgments and re-assessment of one’s external circumstances. The goal is peace and tranquility through learned detachment from the things that make you anxious. Whether you buy into the effectiveness of this approach or not, it’s striking to me that Stoicism has its proverbial finger on the pulse of our worry-stricken moment.
Medication, talk therapy, and self-care are our culture’s chosen strategies for addressing the epidemic of anxiety in our day. Stoicism, at the very least, offers an alternative to these.
Stoicism aspires to invulnerability in an age of uncertainty
Starkly stated, the Stoics aspire to be mentally invincible. This invulnerability is funded through disciplined detachment and a determination to have right judgments about external circumstances. This can be illustrated with a few example quotations:
“Remember that the insult does not come from the person who abuses you or hits you, but from your judgement that such people are insulting you. Therefore whenever someone provokes you, be aware that it is your own opinion that provokes you.” –Epictetus6
“It is in your power to live free from all compulsion in the greatest tranquility of mind, even if all the world cry out against you as much as they choose, and even if wild beasts tear in pieces the members of this kneaded matter that has grown around you… What hinders the mind in the midst of all this from maintaining itself in tranquility?”
–Marcus Aurelius7“Take away thy opinion, and then there is taken away the complaint, ‘I have been harmed.’ Take away the complaint, ‘I have been harmed,’ and the harm is taken away.”
–Marcus Aurelius8
This aspiration to invincibility is, I think, especially appealing to young men. Men as a group have higher risk tolerance and, by extension, a lower awareness of their own fragility and vulnerability. But as physical threats of violence and war have receded into the distant background of men’s everyday experience, they have found themselves beset by more abstract and relational harms: Horrible bosses and teachers, inflation, family tensions, job loss from technology and AI, insults, political upheaval, romantic frustration – these and a thousand other external circumstances beyond their control have harmed or could harm these young men at any time.
The Stoics would tell you not to worry about any of this and instead cultivate and fortify an impenetrable inner sanctuary of mental stability.
Stoicism reclaims control in an age of limited agency
This final reason for Stoicism’s modern popularity is closely related to the previous one. As I’ve already mentioned, the Stoics emphasize a “dichotomy of control,” maximizing attention on the things within one’s power and being intentionally indifferent to the things not within one’s power.
We are living through a time of profound and rapid social change – technological change, political change, ethical change. What is more, these changes feel increasingly beyond our control. Don’t like AI? Too bad. Silicon Valley execs have already decided for you that it’s going to take over the world. Don’t want your country to go to war? Well, this is pretty much just one guy’s decision now. Live in a state where you’re in the political minority? Sorry, your vote pretty much doesn’t count. Want to doom scroll less? The algorithm has engineered content for you that will be especially difficult for you personally to look away from.
You have no control.
Again, Stoicism speaks directly to these experiences. It offers a reframing of the concept of power in a chaotic world where we often feel we have less and less of it. It provides a way to take back a sense of agency, to resist the feeling and reality of being controlled by others.
It may seem bizarre to some that an ancient Greco-Roman philosophy has become such a force in the popular intellectual landscape of the 21st century. But the dots aren’t actually all that hard to connect. Stoicism is trendy right now because it is an accessible and pragmatic philosophy that fits many of our rationalistic presuppositions and speaks directly to the issues that make life challenging in this moment.
As you may have gathered, I wouldn’t identify as a modern Stoic myself. But as a Christian and New Testament scholar, I actually really like Stoicism! I find it insightful, interesting, and historically significant, not least because of its intersection with Christian theology and the world in which Christianity emerged. I’m working on a project where I’ll share more about what I believe Stoicism does and doesn’t get right from a Christian perspective – so stay tuned for more on that in the future!
The other two schools are the Epicureans and the Cynics. Some will add the Skeptics as a fourth, but perhaps as a quirk of my own personal background and research, they don’t loom as large in my mind.
Although the Stoics also have plenty of the more heady metaphysical stuff deeper in the archives, as it were.
This has gotten a bit out of hand, in my opinion, since N.T. Wright published The Resurrection of the Son of God and Surprised by Hope a couple decades ago and “Gnosticism” and “Platonic Dualism” became the big bads historical Christian apologetics.
De Anima, 21.
Stoicism is also flexible enough to create space for believers in the sense that the Stoics actually do talk about God quite a lot. It’s just that their concept of God is a bit different than modernist monotheism.
The Enchiridion 20.
Meditations 7.68.
Meditations 4.7.
I've anecdotally seen two variants of Stoicism that I think are related but distinct, one of them managing emotions by way of promoting stability and the other of them managing emotions by way of attempting to suppress them.
Good post. I am reading Adam Smith's "Theory of Moral Sentiments," and he mentions the Stoics. One part he talks about how the Stoics, as part of a vast commonwealth of nature, should regard the misfortunes of a stranger as important as a misfortune we may experience.