How Should Stoics Respond When Bad Things Happen To Other People - Sadler's Lectures
Update: 2025-11-16
Description
This is the recording of my short presentation and the Q&A at the second Conversations With Modern Stoicism event, hosted in July 2023 by Phil Yanov. Asked to give a short and provocative presentation about an issue that arises in the everyday applications of Stoicism, I chose to focus on a common mistake and distortion of Stoic philosophy and practice.
Quite a few people think that Stoicism means that a person shouldn't exhibit or feel care, concern, or compassion for others who experience something that they view and react to as "bad". There are indeed some passages from Stoic authors that one can take out of context to justify such a stance. But when Stoicism is rightly understood, and when we look at other, equally authoritative passages, we see that the authentic Stoic position is to be compassionate and concerned with others.
Quite a few people think that Stoicism means that a person shouldn't exhibit or feel care, concern, or compassion for others who experience something that they view and react to as "bad". There are indeed some passages from Stoic authors that one can take out of context to justify such a stance. But when Stoicism is rightly understood, and when we look at other, equally authoritative passages, we see that the authentic Stoic position is to be compassionate and concerned with others.
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