In my Catholic girl's high school, we were required to take religion. In our junior and senior year, we were allowed to take philosophy to meet that requirement. We would ask our philosophy teacher at the beginning of each year if he was feeling more Platonic or Aristotelian in this particular year and he would start the semester by telling us which way he was leaning. I had a wonderful educational experience that certainly isn't universal in this country.
Worked with a couple girls from a Christian school academy, at a Dairy Queen when I had just graduated high school. I don’t think it was Catholic. they were all pretty cool, dated one of them, that school really skimped them on real education though. I called a customer a Neanderthal and then had to explain to my 16 - 18 year old co-workers what that meant because they had never heard the term before.
@@Yung-plague "Christian Academy?" If it's hard core, they teach a "young earth" with a compressed chronology that leaves no room for Neanderthals except in the staff room.
@@Yung-plague We were just the opposite, or most of us were. Our nuns had Phds. Truthfully, there was sort of a dichotomy. Were we a college prep school or were they just preparing us to be wives and mothers? There were very much two camps among the faculty at my school in the 1980s. Some were pushing calculus, physics, foreign languages, and chemistry while others were fine with us getting a basic education and learning secretarial skills. Thankfully, the principal was in the intellectual excellence camp.
"All my life...I've been fearful of defeat. But now that it has come, it's not near as terrible as I'd expected. The sun still shines. Water still tastes good. Glory is all well and good, but...life is enough, ne?" *Comment by Marc Antony after the Battle of Actium*
To the stoics, a good life was one of a lapdog who blindly accepted all that was thrown at him in life. Not an actual good life of victory, achievement, success etc.
@@KevinJohnson-cv2no You just don't get stoicism. It has nothing to do with being a lapdog it is about overcoming everything life throws at you and valuing what truly matters.
@@KevinJohnson-cv2no that's cerainly true of Epictetus. I think his teachings was aimed more at slaves and common people to allow them to endure life's pain. Seneca on the other hand was one of the richest men in rome and made no appologies of his wealth. To quote, "Prosperity that is undiminished cannot withstand a single blow; but the man who has struggled constantly against his own ills becomes hardened by suffering and no misfortune makes him yield, indeed, if he falls, he still fights on his knees."
@@DrSales-zl3kq Seneca sounds... acceptable, at least. But is he not an outlier in Stoicism? His quote is a far cry from Aurelius telling people to give up their attempts to "control outside events". Many followers of Stoicism themselves also seem to have the idea that to struggle to overcome obstacles is pointless suffering, which can be avoided by simply accepting your circumstances and working with what you have.
@@KevinJohnson-cv2no Interestingly enough we may both be right. I think a lot of it depends on how we interpret the meaning. Like a glass half full or half empty.
Domitian after expelling the Philosophers: "Ha! What uptight, arrogant nerds Philosophers are! They think they can tell me how to run my Empire! I'm the only one here who knows how to control the morality of Rome" *5 minutes later* Domitian: "IS THERE A VESTAL VIRGIN IN ROME WHO HASN'T SLEEPED WITH SOMEONE?!"
Garrett, you never disappoint. This was eye-opening, fascinating, jaw-dropping, and hilarious. Your research and depth-of-knowledge just makes me want more and more.
Hey Garrett! Hope you’re well. I was talking about books the other day and some of my friends that don’t read a lot. so I gave them my copy of Naked Statues-, I figured your dry wit humor they would appreciate and learn something along the way. Love your videos! I’d love to have a professor like you, I’d never lose focus in a lecture haha
The Roman stoic philosopher Seneca made a comment I have always treasured -when you wake up in the morning think of all the terrible things that might happen to you during the day -if any of them actually happen to you -you will be prepared for them!It was Seneca when as his tutor kept Nero on the rails but when Nero ordered him to commit suicide then all hell broke loose!
In some ways the ancient Greek philosophers were incredibly prescient. The idea that everything that happens is fated (but simultaneously your choices matter) ties in nicely with the block theory of the universe as proposed by some physicists.
Fate schmate. No such has ever existed, nor exists now. The "controller of the universe" does an especially shitty job of it. How could such a godmyth be so stupid.
Garrett, you have taken me on a journey from the macro to the micro. I appreciate your dedication to the ancient world and discovering my ancient roots. My few trips to Italy have not exposed me to the depth of history and every day life of the Romans (and others) that you have provided. I would like to link them together in the remaining years I walk the planet.
the characterization of epicureanism as a hedonist philosophy is very misleading. they believed the ultimate pleasure was freedom from fear and suffering, and that otherwise they should live in contentment and harmony with nature. they didnt advocate lust, gluttony, mammon, and other types of "pleasure" as the right course of action.
When I first learned about the Stoic and Epicurean philosophies. I found that I had much to agree with in both. And have never seen them as being in conflict with one another.
I love Stoicism, in our crazy world of exaggerated fear-mongering & negativity, there's much that can be learned from the Stoics. I think you should do a video about Marcus Aurelius when you have the time, the reluctant Philosopher-Imperator with a series of private, personal diatribes that are very much inspiring for our modern world. I know his example helped me greatly during my own struggles.
I wonder if the cause Stoicism's popularity in the Imperial era is in part due to it advocating a withdrawal from public affairs and an acceptance of things outside the practitioner's power. A more politically minded philosophy, like that of Aristotle or Plato or even Polybius, is hard to cultivate in an autocracy where politics is a dangerous and limited game. It's no coincidence that Stoicism (like Epicureanism) developed in the age of the great Hellenistic kings when the political life of the Greek _polis_ had lost much of its vitality and most of its stakes.
The Enchiridion of Epictetus, a book of "applied stoicism" (Enchiridion means "handbook") was so popular among early Christians that it was edited to remove its pagan content rather than being banned outright for it.
Was Caeser technically an emperor? I thought that Augustus was the first, Caesar technically being a dictator rather than an imperator. My memory might be faulty though.
Good question. Technically Augustus wasn't an emperor either, nor Tiberius, Claudius, etc. "Technically" the first emperors were just citizens that had received certain special powers from the Senate and the people of Rome, that they were from the same family was just a... coincidence. You have to go quite far to find an emperor that was a biological son from the prior emperor (Titus in 79) and longer still to find a second example (Commodus in 176)
Stoicism was a good fit for Roman culture due to its heavy emphasis on discipline. As well, emphasis on reason over emotion was a core belief along with self control. Stoic " theology" thus was a fatalistic and naturalistic pantheism based in the Stoic view of nature. It should also be noted that classic Greco-Roman paganism was already declining before Christianity.
I recall a study or maybe a series of archaeological studies showing that Classical faith had been rising to significantly higher levels throughout the ~0 AD to ~200 AD period as evidenced by an increase in various religious artifacts. This was most likely partially done through intentional campaigns like those under Octavian, but it seems to have perhaps started before as a trend. Also, I've heard arguments that the Christianity as practiced by them was more akin to a 'p*gan church' than anything else. There was already a trend of consolidation of different cults within the pantheon, with the imperial cults early on and then henotheism later on. Like you said, the Stoic so called "theology" was in some sense a fatalistic and naturalistic pantheism based their view of nature, something you could perhaps read from/into Christian texts as well, making it easier for them to adopt the faith as they were simply translating much of what they already had regarding religious beliefs into new Christian imagery.
Stoicisms fit was good for various aspects of roman life. Warriors would have benefited from discipline. Generals would benefit from not letting their emotions rule them. Poltiicans would benefit from listening to others, as well as keeping their speeches short and meaningful. Rather than waffling. Average people would benefit from not becoming so entrenched in politics and the minor issues of daily life. European paganism wasnt on the decline so much as it wasnt religion for the people... in fact, historically religion ISNT something that everyone took part in, unless it was a special holiday. The average Roman probably didnt pray much, or at least not regularly. Becuase what did they have to pray for? However around holidays, or important decisions (which come maybe once a month or less) they might participate in some form of specific worship. It was the job of priests to pray daily. This goes back to early history, likely being practiced since the days of Ur. And why not? In a pagan pantheon such as the ones in europe at the time, being a farmer venerated Ceres. Being a soldier who fights venerated Mars. There was no need to pray if your actions do it for you... again, stoicism promotes the idea of doing through deeds rather than just words.
2:04 Loved the way Aristotle was portrayed by Christopher Plummer in the Oliver Stone's movie "Alexander." Despite only appearing in a couple of scenes, it definitely lraves a big impression on you.
@@funfact8660 Yeah, the movie deserves far more recognition that what it received (specially the "Revisited Cut"). It does not make entire justice to Alexander, it would be needed a show with various seasons to do that, but it still did a great job portraying the selected parts of his life
Including his disdains for the Persian orientalism that would occur in Alexander’s court, and Alexander’s eventual rejection of them “Aristotle be damned!” also I still think degenerates like you belong on a cross but this was a good comment.
Great video. In fact it's omaze-ing. Har har. Anyway, I'm sure you don't need my input for content ideas, but I'd really love a video recommending some must-reads on Roman history. I've long wanted to read a comprehensive work on the Roman empire, but there's such a glut of material out there I don't know which to choose. In addition to your own fine book, of course.
Girl 1#: "He didn't cry with Titanic! Can you believe it?!" Girl 2#: "Do boys even have feelings?" Aristotle: "As a child, my student Alexander once told me that, the day he became a soldier, he would never flee from battle. When he died at the age of 32, his back was the only part of his body without a single scar..." True Men: 😢
I thought the main difference between Epicurean and Stoic thought had to do with which was the first cause of existence, the physical world or ideas... 🤔
I discovered stoicism not long ago and, for my astonishment, I found many similarities between the doctrine and the oral culture of my birthplace. As my home state is known for its deep Catholicism, I wonder if the Catholic Church have embraced some stoic values and then spread those values to the world.
Yes, they did. The early Catholic church was founded amidst enormous turmoil and chaos, both from without and from within it's own ranks. While it's difficult to trace the exact genealogy, scholars generally agree that when the "Catholic" (word meaning 'universal') church came into being, it did so under the guidance and direction of the patriarchs most closely associated with the Roman persecutions and zealotry of the era. They did away with heresies (i.e. everything that undermined ecclesiastic authority), and created saints out of the martyrs which were to be worshipped as imitators of Christ. You can imagine how venerating self-sacrifice so deeply from core leadership can lead to the development of Stoic tendencies. The real incorporation of Stoicism however would only fully occur during the Renaissance Humanist revival of Classical philosophy, taking from the Platonic and Stoic schools among others. Saint Augustine is a notable example, he would serve as a landmark in the trend of Clerical scholarship drawing from the "virtuous pagans".
Your channels give me no reason to believe that you partake in computer games. However, I firmly believe you would enjoy doing a commentary on The Forgotten City, which revolves around getting to know a small community in Nero’s Rome. With very few “game-like” elements, it’s really more focused on exploring a snapshot of everyday Roman life. I feel it would be right up your alley.
Roman/Greek religion was ahead of its time. They depicted supernatural beings that realistically wouldn’t care too much for mortals unlike the widespread Christianity today. Though it is interesting to speculate how Christianity propelled our civilization forward in us mostly having common ethics and right/wrong.
Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? “For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; “for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. “Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, “so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; “for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ “Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, “because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” So Paul departed from among them. However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
I wonder deeply… Thy camper advertisement will be on this tablet for future of man to see… All while the camper king will not be paying coin for this service as its embedded in this tablet forever. Thus is the way of the ad blocker😢
How did stoicism come to embrace traditional values? My understanding is that early stoics were radically egalitarian even by today's standards. (Zeno even had a critique of gendered clothing or something? Been well over a decade since I read this stuff so I might have some of the details wrong.)
@@BlackJesus8463 Ah, to me “lost a little shine” would imply that ancient philosophers critical of gendered clothing were commonplace or boring. From a philosophical perspective, it genuinely is hard to ignore that the specific gender associations of a given piece of clothing are pretty arbitrary. Much of what men wore in Zeno’s day would only really be appropriate for women in our world, which I think proves his point. From a practical perspective, I can’t imagine that it would do me much good to make other peoples’ clothing choices my business (aside from when safety is an issue).
@@gg3675 Yeah they did wear togas didn't they. In that case I still don't know what the problem is or why he'd worry about it but modern traditional is much more practical for both sexes just because of urination. ✌
Instead of a Catholic high school, begging, my parents reluctantly agreed to public high school. I was placed in advanced studies and my science textbook in 9th grade was the same one I used in 5th grade! I was years ahead of my peers and every class I had was the same, textbooks the same ones I'd used 3 - 4 years prior. I was astonished at how far ahead I was. I was heartbroken.
Julian the Apostate was many things, but apparently the Romans, Pagan as well as Christian, all agreed that the most important thing he was, was annoying AF.
I dislike Stoicism. Never have I seen the word "catamite", which is derogatory term for a gay man, used so many times as in Epictetus (read his works). I much prefer Epicureanism, which accepted women as equals, non Romans, and gender/sexual nonconformists into its bosom. It's due to Stoicism that Paul wrote those famous Epistles, and why we labor under such vile anti woman, anti gender/sexual nonconformity, and even racism. It's a blight on Western culture.
@@BlackJesus8463 uhhh... I dunno. How would a black person think about a text filled the "n word", or a Latino about a text filled with derogatory words about Spanish speakers? It was the Stoics' ideas about "nature" that formed the basis of "homosexuality is UNNATURAL" that I had to contend with my ENTIRE LIFE, and had to deal with that idea's material consequences. I'm NOT saying "Let's cancel Stoicism", but I am saying, let's call a spade a spade. ANY system of thinking which makes MAN and MANLINESS the ne plus ultra is something we should be really really really careful about lauding too much. For reasons I hope that are obvious
This all comes down to who is the great creator of life. The great God sent His Son, and He was was killed. But, He rose from the dead to prove that He was the Divine Redeemer. All of the ancient pagan monarchies, before Jesus, fell in to oblivion.
I think stoicism is overrated. Voiding life of emotion and passion usually leads to the people around you thinking of you as a cold jerk. I would bet that Commodus’s horrible leadership (understatement) could psychologically be traced to the stoicism that Marcus Aurelius cast on him, as well as the people who raised Commodus for him.
@@BlackJesus8463How much of that is projecting backwards? Philosophers of science argue endlessly as to what exactly "science" is. To say THE INCAS AND EGYPTIANS HAD SCIENCE TOO!! is to ignore all their unique perspectives on the world, and to impose a very European, Age of Enlightenment viewpoint on them
@@johnmanno2052 Just learning isn't science though and those other cultures were stuck in the stone ages. I don't know why you bring them up in a discussion about anything modern.
@@BlackJesus8463 I was trying to address what you had said re ancient schools of philosophy. The Greek schools claimed Egypt as their inspiration, and the Incas are usually lauded for their feats of engineering. You said that those schools included "the very beginnings of modern science". I question that.
@@johnmanno2052 Egypt didn't learn, they were taught, and they haven't done anything with it in thousands of years. Also, Incas. Those people ate each other. lol
I’ve always wondered why people who don’t believe in God should have morals. What’s the point? If there’s no God to hold you accountable, why should you behave at all? But many atheists have ethical standards. Why?
Manners cost absolutely nothing. And treating one with respect garners manners and respect in return. And I'm neither religious or an athiest. I'm here til I'm not, and it's what I do in between that can be the difference between worth it and worthless. Pretty simple if you ask me.
This is like saying how many Roman’s were Socratic’s. People think “stoicism” is this profound world changing life philosophy. Every culture has had some version of this for centuries. Stoicism is not unique in any way whatsoever. It’s a philosophy for westerns who jerk themselves thinking that there’s some ancient philosophy that makes them uniquely resilient. I’m sick and tired of hearing about stoicism. Get a life. You want to study something that challenge you , change the way you think about things then study what you’re told not to study, Marxism
Stoicism is one of the philosophical roots of Conservatism, and so was the cornerstone of a traditional classical education. The maxims and improving stories that a schoolboy takes away from a study of Latin lean towards a Stoical outlook. Its baggage includes opposition to the materialism and atomism of the Epicureans. We see that in the original Encyclopedia Britannica, which was written in opposition to the French Enlightenment and its Encyclopédie, and so preferred Aristotle's balance of gravity and levity among the four elements to Isaac Newton's indivisible atoms and his newfangled theory of gravity. Whereas Karl Marx got his doctorate in philosophy for a dissertation on the atomic theories of the ancient Epicureans. See where atomism will get you!
@@faithlesshound5621 Thanks for the informative post, I will have to check out the differences between the original Encyclopedia Britannica and the original Encyclopédie. Also, it was very interesting to note the irony of Marx's dissertation on Epicureanism.
Marxism is pure horse manure, and committed Marxists have heads full of it. It's utopian nonsense for rebellious college kids, for anarchists who've soured on anarchism, for social failures who are looking for someone else to blame, for illiterate mobs who'd have been burning witches centuries ago instead of capitalist scapegoats, and for political sociopaths or psychopaths who are looking for a facile justification for their abuses of power. But you're just a troll, not even a real Marxist. LOL