The central concern of Stoic thinking is with ethical development in adult life, coupled with the assumption that all human beings, in principle, have in-built capacities and motives enabling such development. Stoics believe that ethical development can take place, in principle, in any socio-political context and that it can be enabled by life experience, as well as, or instead of, philosophical education.
Chris Gill, Learning to Live Naturally
We are now wrapping up our two-month-long tour of one of the 21st century’s most important books on Stoicism, Learning to Live Naturally: Stoic Ethics and Its Modern Significance, by Chris Gill. This has been an exciting exploration of the foundational concepts of ancient Stoicism (virtue, nature, happiness, indifferents); of Stoic ideas on development, rationality, sociability, and emotion; and more recently of the application of these ideas to contemporary moral issues (virtue ethics and environmental ethics). We’ve discovered what it means to live naturally, how virtue relates to happiness, and why (and how) virtue must be learned.
Gill’s work has introduced us to all the major tenets of ancient Stoicism that are still relevant for ethical living today. In Chapter 8, the final part of the book, he broadens the scope from academic philosophy to “life-guidance”—those Stoic writings which offer advice on how to live well and which are aimed at a broad public rather than academics. This includes ancient life guidance such as Seneca’s Moral Letters to Lucilius, or modern works such as Donald Robertson’s How to Think Like a Roman Emperor (or my own recent book, Journal Like a Stoic).
To those of us who read Stoic life-guidance, it seems obvious how important it is. No matter how thorough your grasp of philosophical theory is, applying it to your life is always going to be hard. We all need advice, encouragement, and the voice of reason and experience helping us along this difficult path. However, not all academic philosophers take this genre seriously. Part of Gill’s aim in this chapter is to make the case that life guidance is not only an important component of Stoicism as a successful life philosophy, but it can also contribute more broadly to contemporary virtue ethics. He identifies two main ways that “Stoic guidance can inform modern virtue ethical thinking” (p. 316):
“Stoicism offers examples of guidance (from a virtue ethical standpoint) on determinate areas of life such as practical deliberation or emotional self-management or more localized and particularized questions.”
“Stoicism is exceptional in its focus on guidance designed to promote ethical development, understood as development towards virtue and virtue-based happiness...This mode of guidance expresses the virtue ethical view that, in order to understand how to act (and feel) properly in a given situation, what is needed is not just instruction of various kinds but also, and crucially, ethical understanding and character.”
If you’ll recall from our discussion of Chapter 6 on contemporary virtue ethics, the field is currently dominated by Neo-Aristotelianism, which focuses on developing good moral habits in children. Aristotelians working in philosophy, moral psychology, and developmental psychology tend to emphasize moral habituation in childhood as critical for a flourishing adult life. While I think most of us would agree that we do want to provide a good moral education for children, and that positive ethical teachings in early life do establish an excellent foundation for flourishing throughout adulthood, we also know that not everyone is fortunate enough to receive this training in early life. What happens then? Are children who (through no fault of their own) do not receive a good moral education destined to become unhappy failures for the rest of their lives?
Of course not. We all know from experience—either our own or that of other people around us—that we have agency in our own lives. We have a say in how our life and character turns out. The reason Stoicism is so popular is precisely because it does offer adults a path of self-development toward virtue, happiness, and a good life. Gill explains how Stoic life-guidance makes it the right system of virtue ethics in today’s culture of self-development:
The prominence of Stoicism, rather than Aristotle, in this movement, despite Aristotle’s importance as an ancient prototype for modern virtue ethics, is not surprising... Guidance forms a more substantial part of Stoic, than Aristotelian, ethical writing. Indeed, there are extensive and eloquent Stoic writings devoted, primarily, to this purpose, derived from Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius, especially, which have provided rich material for modern life-guidance. Also, Stoic thought on development focuses, almost wholly, on adult life. A central theme in Stoicism is the idea of life (primarily adult life) as a project of ongoing ethical development or ‘progress’, involving the shaping of one’s life as a whole towards the goal of virtue-based happiness. This conception of development, rather than the competing Platonic-Aristotelian one, offers a framework that is highly suitable for adults in the modern world looking for life-guidance.
p. 323
It is this idea that each of us can—if we try—make progress toward a better life that resonates so strongly with most people. I’m sure readers of Stoicism for Humans would agree. We wouldn’t be reading, writing, and talking about Stoicism if it didn’t provide genuinely insightful and helpful guidance for our lives, particularly during difficult times.
Modern Stoicism, the nonprofit organization Chris Gill co-founded (along with John Sellars, Donald Robertson, Tim Lebon, and others), is both the embodiment of and the testing ground for Stoicism as life guidance. Since 2012 Modern Stoicism has hosted Stoic Week, which condenses Stoic advice into a week-long program of self-development, and Stoic Mindfulness and Resilience Training (SMRT), a month-long course of Stoicism for building resilience. Gill explains their primary features:
The courses provide resources to help people to take forward their own personal and ethical development, and to do so, in principle, on an ongoing (life-long) basis. There are several components of this process of self-managed development: acquiring or exercising a sense of personal agency or direction of one’s life; adopting a reflectively based approach to living; applying this approach in the various aspects of life, including daily actions and longer-term objectives, emotional responses, and interpersonal and communal relationships.
p. 326
Both Stoic Week and SMRT have been extremely successful. Thousands of people complete one or more of these courses every year, and the data show very positive results associated with living like a Stoic. For example, participants who completed Stoic Week in 2021 experienced a 12% increase in flourishing, a 15% increase in satisfaction with life, a 13% increase in positive emotions, and a 21% reduction in negative emotions. This is a pretty remarkable outcome for a one-week online course!
Modern Stoicism also offers other resources to help introduce and maintain Stoicism as a philosophy of life. A weekly blog post explores different facets of Stoicism, from anger management to parenting to Stoicism in popular culture. The yearly Stoicon gathering brings together Stoic scholars and practitioners for talks and workshops on a variety of Stoic topics. And various events throughout the year turn the growing Stoic movement into a global, ethical community. As Gill notes:
The success of the Modern Stoicism project, taken as a whole, alongside many other indications of interest in applied Stoicism, gives strong support to my general claims in this book. I have argued not only that Stoic thinking presents a powerful and coherent ethical framework, including their ideas on development and guidance, but also that their approach speaks strongly to contemporary thought and can inform modern thinking, especially cognate types of ethical theory. The Modern Stoicism project lends support, in particular, to the claim of the contemporary appeal of Stoic ideas on development and guidance, and to some extent of the whole ethical framework.
p. 333
Learning to Live Naturally — Conclusion
The resurgent appeal of Stoicism, I think, shines a light on that age-old human quest for understanding ourselves, for finding meaning in our lives, and for living in harmony with the people and the world around us.
This is the aspect of Stoicism that Gill brings out with great clarity throughout Learning to Live Naturally. While Stoicism has much to offer academic philosophy, particularly within the reinvigorated virtue ethics paradigm, it has always been designed for heavy-duty, rough-and-ready daily use. It’s a philosophy that cuts to the core of what it means to be human: How do we live best with others? How do we discover what will bring us true happiness (and what won’t)? How do we face existential questions of death, illness, and suffering? How do we exist harmoniously with the natural environment?
Analyzing both ancient and modern philosophical sources, Gill explores all these questions with lucid precision while never losing sight of the bigger picture of Stoic ethics. This is one of the main reasons I value his work so highly—he doesn’t lose the forest for the trees. Even while illuminating ancient puzzles and recasting the terms of scholarly debate on important topics in Stoicism, Learning to Live Naturally feels level-headed, relevant to contemporary concerns, and compellingly grounded in human nature. It is certainly a tour-de-force work, one that I hope finds a place in philosophy departments everywhere.
For those who don’t have the time or budget to read the whole book, I hope this series of posts has been a valuable portal into the pages of Learning to Live Naturally. I have tried to pull out the most important ideas, or those most relevant for people trying to apply Stoic principles in their own lives. With any luck, you have found some benefit in Chris Gill’s wonderful insights and in my very brief presentation of them.
Most of all, I hope you continue to find the way forward on your own path toward wisdom and happiness. Although our coverage of this book ends here, we will continue weekly posts on other topics and books relevant for a Stoic life. Please feel free to post questions about Learning to Live Naturally or other Stoic issues in the comments section. See you next time!
Thank you for writing this excellent series summarizing key points in Chris Gill's Learning to Live Naturally.
Over the past few years I've read a great deal about and deepened my appreciation for ancient and modern Stoicism. But your insightful and cogent summaries have greatly clarified and increased my understanding of every one of the areas you covered.
The underlying Stoic concepts are, of course, remarkable. Gill's clarity in organization and subtly in communication are things of beauty. And your approachable, easily understood, yet nuanced presentation of this information is a godsend. Thank you again for this valuable work.