Through the discipline of judgement, Stoicism teaches us to have the right judgement on events.
Through the discipline of desire, Stoicism teaches us to consent to whatever happens.
Through the discipline of action, Stoicism teaches us to act and behave justly.
Where the discipline of judgement teaches us to judge this correctly,
where the discipline of desire teaches us to accept universal nature,
the discipline of action teaches us to act in accordance with human nature.
In the words of Marcus Aurelius:
“Pondering all these things, imagine nothing to be great but this: to act as your own Nature guides, to suffer what Universal Nature brings.” 1
It is not enough to control your thoughts through the discipline of desire, as we saw in the previous text.
You must also control your actions.
What are good actions?
Those that are in accordance with the nature of man, which in turn is part of the universal nature.
What is the nature of man?
The desire to grow. Humanity carries within itself an innate drive to evolve and expand. Just as plants ceaselessly strive to grow—it is in their very DNA—so too is growth a fundamental part of human nature.
What is human growth?
It means constantly improving and doing good to one's environment.
It is part of man's natural instinct to maintain and develop himself and to serve the common good. This is what the Stoics call "appropriate actions" or "duties" 2
It also means to act for the good of the human community: All of your actions are to be done in such a way that the community as a whole can prosper, through connections with your family, friends, community, and everyone you meet along the way.
None of your actions {{username}} should serve any purpose other than one of the following:
- To sustain and improve yourself,
- To serve the common good.
And in all your actions that serve either of these higher purposes,
it is important that you take your actions seriously and that none of your actions are thoughtless, reckless or indiscriminate.
The important word here is -||seriously||-.
You must be serious about what you do.
Serious means that you do it consciously and with a specific purpose.
If you are serious about what you are doing, none of your actions will be in vain or without effect.
No matter how small the action, Marcus Aurelius tells us, it carries within it the building blocks for the preservation of your being or the good of the community.
“The soul of a man does violence to itself, when, failing to direct any act or impulse of its own upon a mark, it behaves in any matter without a plan or conscious purpose, whereas even the smallest act ought to have a reference to the end.” 3
Stoicism, then, calls us to act with a virtue that transcends our own person, and to separate ourselves from vice, which is directed toward our own pleasures and satisfactions.
It is this virtue, which we will see later, that guides us.
But is it wrong to indulge ourselves?
Is it virtuous?
It is this virtue, which we will explore later, that guides us. But is it wrong to indulge in pleasure? Is it virtuous? Yes, you have the right to enjoy yourself. Stoicism, contrary to what its critics might suggest, is not necessarily a philosophy of strict frugality. When it comes to personal pleasures, stoicism emphasizes temperance—one of the four cardinal virtues 4:
It's the selfish impulses you have to fight. Marcus Aurelius once again:
“ […]suffer this governing part of you no longer to be in bondage, no longer to be a puppet pulled by selfish impulse.” 5
We also know that today's society pushes us to individualism, that this society pushes us more and more to seek selfish satisfactions, but despite all this, I ask you to ask yourself this question:
Is this the right path?
Is the pursuit of constant self-gratification really bringing you closer to true happiness? Ask yourself if you're happier when you receive a gift, or when you give a gift? Isn't it often much nicer to give than to receive?
Distinguish between pleasure and selfish pleasure.
Pleasure is pleasure when it's shared, when it's good for your soul and not deviously destructive, when it contributes to the common good and the development of oneself.
What matters is the purpose of your actions.
Why are you reading this text right now? You’re reading it with the purpose of building a better life for yourself through philosophy. This action has a clear goal: creating a better life and, in doing so, preserving yourself. This is a virtuous action.
The goal must be clear and consistent with your principles for each of the pleasures you indulge in.
You'll not have to think about it.
Unconsciously, you'll do what is right.
Finally,
you must pursue each of these pleasures
with passion
and purpose.
You must act little, but seriously and passionately, with a determined purpose, because this also means that you become aware of the value of each moment, which we'll examine in more detail in the next text.