Stoic Emotions...All Three of Them


You must consider the activity which is possible for you to carry out in conformity with your own nature as a delight - and that is always possible for you.

-Marcus Aurelius

Stoics feel. The stoic path is not one of emotional repression. On the contrary, Stoics expect that a well lived life will result in tranquility and joy. Still, people seem to equate Stoics, if they think of us at all, with Vulcan wannabes. I have nothing against Vulcans (other than their paternalistic approach towards humanity in the pre-Federation years) but extra-terrestrials are not good stoic role-models. Stoics are students of what it means to be human. The stoic motto, live according to nature,  challenges us to learn how we fit into this ever expanding universe. This includes all the strange and messy interactions of life. It is true that we focus most of our attention on the amazing tool that is the human mind, but we understand that emotions are part of that mental landscape. Stoics give emotions their due. We just don't believe we owe them a lot.

Stoics do have a distinct approach to the emotional life. For instance, we don't expect emotions to be good guides for behavior. They're better treated like the weather. During a hard rain you may need to grab an umbrella and drive slower, but you still need to get to work. The same goes for emotional storms. Stoics believe we can still act well despite feeling a "bad emotion." If you're extremely rude to your co-workers and, when asked why, you answered, "it's humid," people would look at you funny. Stoics would say that being a jerk to people because you're angry is equally nonsensical. First, your anger itself is probably due to adopting an unhelpful perspective. Second, in any case, a person has the option to act with virtue in all circumstances.

Stoicism recognizes three "good feelings," called hai eupatheiai in the Greek.  The three good emotions are Joy, Wish, and Caution. The list was developed to contrast with three Passions, the "bad feelings" of Stoic philosophy.  In the battle of the mind, the Stoic lineup is...

  • Joy v. Pleasure

  • Wish v. Appetite (also translated Lust)

  • Caution v. Fear

I wouldn't argue if you said this list looks odd. It takes a lot of background info to understand how the ancients came to these conclusions, and even then you might decide they're nuts. Check out this article on Stoic ethics if you want a taste. For my part, I want to point out that Joy, Pleasure, and the like are overarching categories. All the nuances of human emotion fit under one of those words, so don't worry about envy, greed, rage, malice, etc...,they're all accounted for. Oh and there is a fourth passion, Distress. Distress doesn't have an opposite. Distress is simply distressing.

Let's look at Wish, because that's a weird name for an emotional concept. Why would the Stoics consider Wish good and Appetite bad? I think part of the answer is wrapped up in the Marcus Aurelius quote I opened with, specifically the phrase consider the activity it is possible for you to carry out. Stoics consider pining for things you don't have to be a huge waste of energy. Our definition of the passion Appetite is, "the irrational desire or pursuit of an expected good." Greed is an appetite for material things. Enmity is an appetite for revenge. These things take our energy and burn it on fantasy, or drive us towards unproductive actions. Stoics don't bet their happiness on things they can't control. Instead of Appetite, they Wish. 

Aurelius says, you must consider the activity...as a delight. When Stoics talk about emotion, they are addressing affect; the conscious, subjective aspect of an emotion considered apart from bodily changes. Appetite isn't the brief bodily reaction to seeing a person who is so very much your type. It's that feeling plus the thought that runs with it, says "dammmnnnnn," and then follows everything up with mental imagery. Stoicism councils that that mental component was a choice, an unhealthy one. We also claim that there is a better affect, Wish, that is more lasting and more satisfying.

 Consider the activity...as a delight, and that is always possible for you.

So what is Wish? It's an affect that says, "it would be great if I had x, but my contentment is not based in x." It's a shift in perspective. Appetite claims that the things that surround me will make me happy. Wish says, there are a lot of awesome things out there, but that's not where I find contentment. Wish is a state of mind that rests in Stoic first principles like the only good is virtue and the only things under our control are our own actions. Stoics claim that, with the proper perspective, it is always possible to be content (we don't, however, claim that being a person who sticks to that perspective is easy). Wish, as opposed to Appetite, is an affect that provides fertile ground for wise actions. 

Caution v. Fear and Joy v. Pleasure follow a similar logic. Fear is an irrational aversion or avoidance of an expected danger. Fear tosses away our present contentment simply because something might take it away later! Caution understands that life throws curve balls and that it's our duty to be prepared but, once again, true peace isn't found in external things. If we are going to flourish we must approach the world with awareness, not wariness. The Stoic negative view of Pleasure is also due to pleasure's external focus. Stoic's seek to develop an abiding Joy, in place of fleeting moments of delight. Personally, I do not try to discourage myself from feeling pleasure. I am a fan of pleasure! I do try to remember that whatever pleasures I experience or seek will, by necessity, be transient and that it is completely possible to enjoy my life without such things.



Stoics feel. Our philosophy does not boil down to, "walk it off." Our odd relationship to the standard ups and downs of life exists only because we want the best for people. We recognize that a lot of our pain is self-inflicted, caused by a viewpoint that demands the world be different than it is. The passions focus on breakable, mortal things and hope beyond hope that they last forever. Joy, Wish, and Caution are different. They arise from a mind that knows that circumstances can change and will, but our center can still hold and even flourish. Aurelius said,

To do what is just with all one's soul, and to tell the truth. What remains for you to do but enjoy life, linking each good thing to the next, without leaving the slightest interval between them?

That's where Stoicism leads, from one good thing to the next. How could we not be joyful?

This article is a favorite of many visitors and remains a primary driver of search traffic on this site. Since writing it, I’ve put out more concerning Stoicism and emotion. In particular, a natural follow-up to this article would be episode eleven of my podcast, Good Fortune, for an explanation of the differences between Stoic “passions” and the way many people speak of “emotions.”

-Transcript of Good Fortune, Episode 11: Uprooting Fear

Also, available now, my new book…

Festival: A Stoic Mindset

When you're alone you should call this condition tranquility and freedom, and think of yourself like the gods; and when you are with many, you shouldn't call it a crowd, or trouble, or uneasiness, but festival and company, and contentedly accept it.
 -Epictetus

When I'm in public, I'm at a festival. It's a mindset, one that is hugely important to my daily stoic practice. In fact, festival is a personal rallying cry. It reminds me of everything that matters in my philosophy. Festival reminds me of what is in my control. Festival demands that I live in a state of attention. Festival pokes me and says, all these people are family. I haven't run across other stoics who promote the festival mindset specifically, though I'm sure it would fit naturally in their practice and may go by other names.

First, some background. I've dealt with overwhelming anxiety since middle school. Crowds, loud parties, football games, and such have never been my favorite environments. In fact, over time I built up quite a misanthropic view of public gatherings. I had to struggle for a long while (and keep up the good work) to learn a better way to think. That's why Epictetus' quote resonates so strongly with me. The festive approach to life has freed me to enjoy more of my time and more of the world.

You'll notice that Epictetus expects us to re-frame our circumstances.  You're not in a crowd, you're at a festival. Stoics believe in personal accountability for everything that is in our control. Our opinions are one of the categories that falls under our control. You can check out the first chapter of Epictetus' Handbook for more on that, or you can recall old Will Shakespeare's, there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. The much older Epictetus agreed. He said, People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them.

We give a lot of grace to the people we're intentionally hanging out with. We've all been to an enjoyable party. Good friends having good times. Chances are, many of your pals were loud, maybe obnoxious, and yet you still had a great night. This is not because your friends are decent people who know how to party correctly. It's because your expectations were in line with partying.  

I was at a cocktail bar a month ago. I sat at the bar to read. Behind me, at least twenty five people were at tables being very loud constantly and Justin-Beiber-concert loud at random intervals. I wasn't concerned. I went to the bar expecting noise and I'd already said festival under my breath to keep my bearing. Half way into a second cocktail, my bartender came up and said, "you know, there's an engagement party going on directly behind you." I think he wanted to let me know why no one was taming the crowd. The info didn't change my already happy mood, but it lent some context. Now, the reason I'm sharing this is because about ten minutes later a couple on a date sat down at the bar next to me. As I transitioned to cocktail number three (I like cocktails with my Kindle reading) I noticed that my new neighbors were agitated. They were doing the whole, head turn and stare-at-the-loud-people-until-they-are-shamed thing that most of us have done ourselves at one time or another. I leaned over and said, "yeah, they're having an engagement party over there." The guy next to me replied, "oh, that's cool then," and they went back to their conversation and never seemed agitated again. That's how we operate. Oh, there's a reason? Fine. And the thing is, there is always a reason when it comes to humans. Maybe it's a foolish or horrible reason, but it's there. For Stoics the onus is on us to make the adjustment. We don't expect the world to be any different than it actually is. To keep my Epictetus quote streak rolling, let me add this one.

It is impossible that happiness, and yearning for what is not present, should ever be united.

I recently read one of those ubiquitous quote posters that are plastered on every website. It said, Don't get between my personality and my attitude because my personality is ME and my attitude depends on YOU  (emphasis, the poster). This statement should make any stoic cringe. Well, I suppose a good stoic wouldn't cringe...but you get what I'm saying. My attitude depends on me and only me. Final Epic quote, this one from chapter 28 of the Handbook.

If a person gave your body to a stranger you met on the way, you would certainly be angry. And do you feel no shame in handing over your mind to be confused and mystified by anyone who verbally attacks you? 

Here, Epictetus is addressing a personal attack. The guys in the corner of the bar cheering for a touchdown? They aren't even thinking of us. How much stranger that we take it personally.

Festival. The word reminds me that my attitude is a choice. It reinvigorates me when the chaos of the day starts to affect my mood. It reminds me that the Discipline of Action calls me to care about everyone.  Most importantly, it rescues my day from myself. Who would have thought that enjoying my day is more fun than not enjoying it? Developing a festive mind takes work, but it pays well.

 

Iteration or Something Like It

Habits begin to form at the very first repetition. After that there is a tropism toward repetition, for the patterns involved are defenses, bulwarks against time and despair...Of course there was no such thing as a true repetition of anything; ever since the pre-Socratics that had been clear, Heraclitus and his un-twice-steppable river and so on. So habits were not truly iterative, but pseudoiterative. The pattern of the day might be the same, in other words, but the individual events fulfilling the pattern were always a little bit different. Thus there was both pattern and surprise, and this was Wahram's desired state: to live in a pseudoiterative. But then also to live in a good pseudoiterative, an interesting one, the pattern constructed as a little work of art. 
-Kim Stanley Robinson, 2312

I'm working on a stoic daily routine. Exciting, I know. I guess I could say daily ritual and gain the patina of ancient spirituality that "ritual" implies, but I'm willing to stick with the less grandiose term. A routine is necessary if I'm ever going to build consistency into my view of the world around me, and stoicism is all about point-of-view.

I'm already a fan of a patterned day. I'm big on easing into the morning. Wake up, make breakfast, sip coffee, shave (slowly with a straight razor if I have the time), shower, drink more coffee while perusing Google News, etc... It shouldn't be that difficult to add some intentional meditation, a mantra, the sacrifice of a goat to Zeus (not actually a thing), or some other helpful device to keep my attention focused during the day.

Evenings are covered. The ancient stoics pretty consistently recommend retrospection at the end of the day. Before going to sleep, I can review how I used my hours. I can look at both my failures and my triumphs and seek to learn from them. I've practiced this on and off and found it helpful. It's calming and, when I wake up, I remember, "Hey, X got under my skin yesterday so I better be prepared if it happens again today."

My mornings are more up in the air. I usually remind myself of a Marcus Aurelius quote,

When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: the people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous and surly. They are like this because they can't tell good from evil. But I have seen the beauty of good, and the ugliness of evil, and have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own - not of the same blood and birth, but the same mind, and possessing a share of the divine.

Stoics are big on remembering that obstacles are going to be there whether you're prepared or not, so it's better to be prepared. I have a variety of other quotes stored in Evernote and I take time to review them as well. What I haven't decided is if I want to set aside fifteen minutes or half an hour just to center myself. Also, I have no idea how I would go about centering myself.

I opened with the Robinson quote because I love that view of life, the pseudoiterative. Like the character Wahram, I also want my day to be a little work of art. Stoicism gives me the tools I need to live that out. I just need to use them more consistently.