stoicism

The stoic philosophy was created by Zeno of Citium in Athens, Greece. Its philosophy is related only to the nature and universe. Even though the philosophy was stared in the 300’s B.C. it did not hit its popularity height until the 100’s B.C. and A.D. It reached its height here because people made more of an effort of to teach it and “talk it up”. source (Inwood, Copleston)

The Stoic philosophy is about how the universe is god-like. They believe that if you act according to nature’s plan you will be filled with goodness but if you do not then destruction will occur. Nature’s plan is what they also consider your conscience and virtue. This would not make being successful a necessity which would give this philosophy more likeable. source (Copleston)

The height of the Stoic philosophy was during the Roman age because of three people. The first person is Panaetius of Rhodes he put the philosophy in Rome where it was most popular and most successful in having a lasting effect. The second person is Epictetus who was the teacher of stoicism in Rome. With him Seneca popularized stoicism in Rome. These two even started an Academy for followers of the philosophy with out them this philosophy would not have been accepted as well. source (Inwood)

The stoic philosophy is a lot like our current system because its all about what you want and feel is best for you. Everything is subjective and relative in our world. This means that there are no universals or objective truths. This is all about what you feel is good and right for you. If you do what you feel like you should then you are right and you will get rewarded for it. source (Copleston)

This philosophy was obviously a big affect on our world if it has stayed with us. The stoic philosophy probably would not have probably been in our current society without the people that helped form it. Zeno had a great effect on our world that he probably did not think about when he created stoic. source (Inwood)

Book Sources:

Inwood, Brad. Reading Seneca: Stoic Philosophy at Rome. Oxford University: Oxford; May 11, 2008.

Copleston, Fredrick Charles. A History of Philosophy: Greece and Rome vl 1.Paulist Press: New York; June 1976.