Was Epictetus Happy?

On Stoic secrets to happiness

Apr 28, 2023

What is the Stoic defintion of Happiness—according to Epictetus?
Who is Epictetus + what does he say?
Application
Click for more
Summary 🎧

1. What is Stoic Happiness?

To be fair, that’s a strange question.

Many of the ancient Stoics were less focused on happiness, and instead preoccupied with living in harmony with the natural world.

Above all, the Stoic life is one of disciplined reflection, self awareness, and discernment.

I might go so far as to posit that Stoics place discernment—to know what one has influence over and what one does not—as the key skill to wellbeing (and what I would label as happiness.)

2. Who is Epictetus + what does he say?

I chose to focus on just one Stoic philosopher for this post—Epictetus.

Epictetus is one of the more mysterious of the ancient Stoics, actually spending much of his life enslaved in bondage.

This is interesting to me because, unlike other Stoic philosophers we frequently study today—such as Marcus Aurelius who was a Roman emperor, or Seneca who was often regarded as one of the wealthiest men in Rome—Epictetus lived most of his life in obscurity, oppression, and it would appear in chronic pain with a lifelong leg injury.

In some ways, certain elements of Stoicism are even more credible when laid against the obstacles and pressures of a life not steeped in privilege.

Consider his background when you read,

It is not events that disturb people, it is their judgements concerning them.
—Epictetus

To me, the meaning is only heightened.

3. Application

Epictetus reminds us that we are always cultivating judgement, whether we are aware of it or not.

We can cultivate a judgment that is centered on what many Stoics called “indifferents,” or we can practice a judgement that is built upon the things we can influence or control.

In her book Stoic Warriors modern day author Nancy Sherman notes,

“The Stoics argue that human flourishing—that is, our happiness or wellbeing (what the Greeks call eudaemonia)—is not a matter of the state of one’s body, even its global condition being healthy or diseased. Rather, as I have noted before, the body and its states constitute what the Stoics call ‘indifferrents,’ that is, external goods, outside our full control, to which happiness is indifferent, so to speak.”

So today, perhaps we can consider our own life.

Are we cultivating discernment? If not, what is the obstacle which stands in our way?

To quote another famous Stoic quip, perhaps “the obstacle is the way.”

4. Click For More

One of the greatest modern day stewards of the tradition in my opinion is Ryan Holiday and his Daily Stoic Newsletter

Recently, I’ve very much enjoyed Donald J. Robertson’s stack below. He integrates many traditions and modalities with Stoicism, including cognitive-behavior therapy! Make sure to check out a recent podcast he recorded with friend of TPP J.W. Bertollotti.