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The article, for all its virtues, doesn't seem to mention a famous modern Stoic, Vice Admiral James Stockdale[1]. Stockdale was tortured in the Hanoi Hilton du
by smitty1e 4y ago
The article, for all its virtues, doesn't seem to mention a famous modern Stoic, Vice Admiral James Stockdale[1].
Stockdale was tortured in the Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War and his writings are studied (or at least were 30 years ago) at USNA.
I find stoicism an intellectually useful set of concepts, in a tactical sense. IMO, it seems morally limited, strategically.
For example, taking care of the environment is sensible, but why do I care? If I'm just so many atoms, then the eventual effects of my folly are SEP[2]. The drive to be mature and responsible will _always_ succumb to rationalization.
Case in point: the national debt. Who in their right mond lives beyond their means? Only pretty much _every_ government.
The human flesh is always corrupt; the mind is prone to rationalizations; the only "hope", if one cares to go there, is through the soul. Finding a community of faith to offer moral feedback to the Stoic mind and the fallen flesh is left as an exercise for the reader.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Stockdale https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Stockdale
[2] Someone Else's Problem