Musical Stoicism

Melinda Latour's fascinating exploration of "singing Stoicism"

Are Stoics allowed to enjoy music? What kinds of music would a Stoic listen to?

These are questions I see frequently asked on Facebook and other social gathering spaces for modern Stoics. And with good reason: music is a big part of our lives. We all know how powerful it is to influence our thoughts and emotions. Music has frequently been co-opted to shape character and influence opinion—think about religious and patriotic songs, not to mention commercial jingles, or didactic songs to teach children the periodic table or the ABCs.

You might be surprised to learn that there is a long history of musical inquiry and appreciation in Stoicism, going all the way back to ancient Greece but re-explored in depth during the Neostoic revival of the 16th century. And I am pleased to say that a magnificent book has recently been published on this very topic by Melinda Latour, Associate Professor of Musicology at Tufts University. Today we’ll be looking at this tour-de-force work, The Voice of Virtue: Moral Song and the Practice of French Stoicism, 1574-1652 (Oxford University Press, 2023).

If, like me, you knew practically nothing about music during this time period, you are in for a treat. I would consider Latour’s book paradigm-shifting in the fields of both music and philosophy. As she notes, Stoicism has for too long been overlooked as an influence in European intellectual history. Scholars have fixated on Plato and Aristotle as influences during the Renaissance and Reformation periods, but Latour convincingly shows that Stoicism was actually a pervasive influence on the musical practices (and of course art, literature, poetry, education, and politics) of the time.

The Voice of Virtue focuses on a very specific time of political and cultural upheaval—post-Reformation France from 1574 to 1652—but if you’re not an academic, don’t let the specialist-sounding title scare you away from today’s post. This book has profound implications not just for academics or professional musicians, but for anyone who likes music. And that’s pretty much everyone, right?

The book itself is certainly very scholarly, addressed to scholars of music and philosophy, but it is also beautifully written and contains many gems of insight into the practice of Stoicism. That’s what I hope to pull out for you here: some important considerations about philosophy and music for anyone committed to living a good life. Even if you’re not a musicologist, I think you’ll find Latour’s perspective enlightening for your philosophical practice. And if you are a musicologist, you should definitely order the book for yourself.

With that in mind, here's our plan for today:

• Neostoicism and Moral Song in Post-Reformation France

• Are Stoics Allowed to Enjoy Music?

• Stoic Music in the 21st Century

Setting the Scene: Neostoicism and Moral Song in Post-Reformation France

First, Latour notes a phenomenon she calls moral song or singing Stoicism: “a category of vocal music that includes the full range of topics and questions recognized under the banner of moral philosophy, or ethics” (p. 6). In contrast to moralizing, which was in full force during this time period (as well as our own), moral song promoted open-ended inquiry into philosophical topics. As such, it was politically and religiously neutral, and therefore bridged the divide between warring Catholics and Protestants. By reaching all the way back to antiquity, and featuring topics that were of interest to all groups, Stoic thought was able to appeal to a broad community of scholars, clergy, politicians, and laymen. (Can Stoicism play a similar unifying role today across various ideological divides?)

In fact, there was such a revival of interest in Stoicism during this time that the movement has its own name: Neostoicism. Latour calls it not a formal school but a stream of thought, “a rich field of mostly informal, poetic, and artistic philosophical activity nourished by Stoic thought that worked alongside other ancient philosophies and religious perspectives” (p. 15). Again, this reminds me very much of our own times, where the resurgence of Stoicism is being driven by popular interest—alongside some innovative scholarly work, of course. Perhaps the time is right for a flourishing of Stoic music and art in the 21st century.

In this swirling stream of Neostoic thought, several composers set popular collections of moral poetry to music. Most of these were meant to be sung by three (but sometimes up to six) people, with the voices harmonizing and coalescing around popular philosophical themes like virtue, death, time, and the transience of worldly goods. (On the book’s companion website you can listen to selections of this music via Spotify.) In both artwork and music, Stoic topics were presented through symbol and allegory:

• constancy > cube and square shapes (in contrast to slippery circles and spheres)

• memento mori > skulls, death masks, hourglasses, candles

• impermanence of nature > flowers, wind, water, soap bubbles

• ruin and decay > rotting fruit, architectural ruins

• perspective > mirrors, eyeglasses, trompe l’œil paintings

• cosmopolitanism > maps, books

But what’s fascinating about musical interpretations of these philosophical themes is how the composers reinforce the meaning of the lyrics through musical devices. We know from experience that certain musical characteristics (even very basic ones like tempo, key, and number of singers) impact our response to a song, even our thoughts and emotions. Neostoic composers cleverly played with a wide range of musical devices to enhance the moral message of the lyrics.

A hallmark of the Neostoic musical style was simplicity, brevity, and repetition. This was both a reflection of Stoicism’s famously terse poetic style and a natural companion to moral maxims that are meant to be learned by heart. Just as ancient Stoic verses were often kept at hand for moments of need, French moral poetry of this time period functioned as a handbook or condensed guide to life. This was part of the widely accepted idea that music had both pedagogical and therapeutic functions—which, as we’ll see below, is actually quite Stoic.

Are Stoics Allowed to Enjoy Music?

We now get to the heart of the matter: how do Stoics relate to music? Given their reputation for austerity and their single-minded focus on virtue, you might think ancient Stoics disapproved of music. But you would be wrong. They definitely recognized and frequently criticized the potentially corrupting influence of poetry, drama, music, and other arts. However, unlike Plato (who suggested banning poets) or Epicurus (who withdrew from society altogether), ancient Stoics defended the place of the arts in a flourishing society and for flourishing individuals (p. 33). Like other indifferents, music can be used for good or for ill, but it is certainly among the preferables of life.

Latour suggests that the ancient Stoics saw music as a form of psychotherapy that

could arouse or calm the emotions, discipline impulses and influence actions, produce proportion in the soul, bring health to the body through regular practice (like diet and exercise), and serve the establishment and maintenance of justice and order in a state.

p. 34

The key difference between Neostoicism and other philosophies like Neoplatonism was that that Stoics considered music to be a body. The Stoics were, famously, materialists who considered that (almost) everything in the world is a physical body. (This is in contrast to Neoplatonism, which insisted on the primacy of incorporeals, including music.) Thus, “the Stoics could understand mind/body, song, and soul as physical forces operating on a shared plane of existence with causal and natural links between them” (p. 144). In other words, music has a literal, physical impact on our minds.

Personally, I think the ancient Stoics were quite prescient in this theory, since today we also understand music in physical terms: a physical object producing sound waves in some way (being struck, blown through the mouth, etc.), which travel through the air at a certain frequency and strike the delicate organs of our ears, which then send impulses via chemicals in our brain, which is specially made to appreciate music. As far as I know, no one yet understands exactly how our brains do this, but it’s definitely a physical process.

In Stoicism, our sense perceptions are the foundation of our understanding of the world. We take in information through our senses and interpret them based on our values and beliefs. Since music is basically a heightened sensory experience, with the power to even bypass our conscious cognition completely, it can be a potent force for moral guidance (for better or worse). When used properly, as a force for philosophical instruction and ethical inspiration, music is among the most powerful technologies available for character formation.

Neostoics of the 16th and 17th centuries were very aware of the connection between music and morality, and they used it to their advantage. At the same time, however, they issued warnings against becoming too attached to the pleasure and external beauty of music. As Latour puts it with respect to a musical arrangement by Paschal L’Estocart:

The multi-sensory forms of the Octonaires corpus found a way to reconcile the presence of beauty and pleasure in music, poetry, and art by addressing the dangers of unmoderated hedonism while valorizing the importance of aestheticized sense impressions for moral understanding.

p. 131

Like other preferred indifferents—including money, good health, good relationships, and a peaceful society—music is an advantage we can enjoy when appropriate. But we should never stake our happiness on an indifferent like listening to or performing music. There may be times when it’s not appropriate to participate in music, and especially in certain types of music. And we would never make the mistake of thinking that a good life depends on the availability of music.

Latour also points out that Stoics disapprove of music when used as a marker of exclusive taste or status. She notes that Stoics “were clearly opposed to elite and haughty connoisseurship, in which making value judgments on music and art is a form of status-building designed to flaunt how little satisfaction one takes in commonplace or amateur musical practices” (p. 127). That’s obviously not an appropriate way to engage with music. Fancying yourself better than other people or judging others based on musical taste is a sure sign of foolishness.

On the other hand, when given its proper place in a good life, the ancient Stoics considered music to be one of the “habitudes of the wise”—pursuits like literature or sport that contributed to the cultivation of good character, physical or mental fitness, or the realization of philosophical ideals through artistic endeavors. These activities do not produce happiness in themselves, but they are eligible to become part of a happy life when applied appropriately. According to Diogenes Laertius, the Stoic sage was said to be a true lover of music, even perhaps the only true lover of music.

All things considered, then, both ancient Stoics and Neostoics held a very favorable opinion of music as a mode of training for virtue. Caution is certainly in order, since music can also be used for immoral purposes. But their overall stance was positive. In Latour’s words, “Here was evidence of human rationality at its most mature: the ability to choose and appreciate excellent things, for as long as Fortune made them available” (p. 128).

Stoic Music in the 21st Century

Where does that leave us today? It should be clear by now that Stoics are allowed—even encouraged—to appreciate music that can inspire us toward a good life and good moral choices. So, for example, listening to energetic music to help us exercise, or soothing music to help us study or sleep, would be a great way to engage with music. If you can find songs that inspire you to be a better person in some way, put them at the top of your playlist.

The challenge for most of us, I think, is finding music that does align with Stoic principles. Many of today’s genres do not support—and even actively work against—Stoic ideals of wisdom, justice, courage, and self-control. So we have to look for philosophical messages where we can. (Feel free to share in the comments if you have any good ones.) At the Stoic Summit hosted by Modern Stoicism in April, Melinda Latour posed this question to an audience of Stoics. We heard suggestions ranging from Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off to Frank Sinatra’s My Way. It was clear that practicing Stoics are definitely looking for good music options to incorporate into their lives.

And of course, this is where instrumental music is great. It can be uplifting and inspirational without having to think about words. Personally I like various types of classical, jazz, and world music as a beautiful and morally neutral-to-beneficial soundtrack to my day.

On a different note (!), could moral song exist as a genre today? Could anyone write and perform specifically Stoic music? I’m sure we have some talented musicians in the Stoic community who could do this. An obvious starting point would be to set the already-poetic Meditations of Marcus Aurelius to music, or perhaps some of the witty aphorisms from Seneca and Epictetus. Maybe we will eventually have an ambitious composer who is up to the task of writing both lyrics and music. And what about Stoic-inspired art or literature? Architecture? Garden design? It’s definitely time for a Stoic artistic renaissance.

I look forward to the day when we can feature a Stoic art and music collection at Stoicism for Humans. We can also look forward a book from Melinda Latour on this topic for practicing Stoics: How to Listen to Music Like a Stoic. Stay tuned for information on that title in the future.

In the meantime, we can all show our support for the Beautiful Stoics conference tomorrow, where some of these themes will be explored in more detail (and we will see a musical performance by The Art of Living author Sharon Lebell). And if you have a special interest in music and are a truly committed Stoic, I highly recommend Latour’s exceptional book The Voice of Virtue. You’ll see whole new possibilities for the connections between Stoicism and music.