It’s easy to say that Christianity is untrue, that its teachings are degrading, and that its ethics are grounded in cultism … but what then? What replaces Christianity and provides a framework for thinking about the world and our place in it? How does one approach Socrates’ question without a bellowing Holy Man: How, then, shall we live?<\/p>\n
If publishing trends can be trusted, a lot of people are looking toward Stoicism, a pre-Christian philosophical movement nearly wiped-out when the Roman church seized control of the western half of the Roman empire following Rome’s collapse. Just this year has seen publication of Ward Farnsworth’s The Practicing Stoic<\/a><\/i>, Massimo Pigliucci”s How to be a Stoic<\/a><\/i>, and — get ready — even a book of daily devotionals by Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n Stoicism, a philosophical movement born more than 2000-years ago and advanced by figures as different as a former slave, Epictetus, and an emperor, Marcus Aurelius, is … in<\/i>.<\/p>\n So: What is Stoicism? First, it is not<\/i> an urging to suffer quietly, though that seems to be a widespread misapprehension. Nor is Stoicism a philosophical system complete with an epistemology, a politics, a metaphysics, on and on. It does not make specific claims about the world — created in 7-days, a global flood, gays are wicked, et cetera<\/i>, et cetera<\/i>. Stoicism is, simply put, a set of behavioral guidelines intended to get its practitioner through life in an ever-changing world happily and in one piece; think of it as practical<\/i> philosophy, a set of commandments without a dyspeptic old man with a long beard.<\/p>\n “Christianity cheated us out of the fruits of ancient culture, and later it cheated us a second time out of the fruits of Islamic culture.”<\/b><\/p>\n Nietzsche, 1889; If Stoicism interests you, the best book to read is Epictetus’ Manual for Living<\/a><\/i>, which are notes of his lectures compiled by his students. He is refreshingly direct and highly accessible and, generally, offers good advice.<\/p>\n What interests me the most about this trend, I suppose — more than Stoicism per se<\/i> — is the restoration of the classical world, the recovery of the world of thought that Christianity set out deliberately to destroy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Considered that way, this present time is a waypoint on the road out of Christian decadence, a weighing and sifting of what is best and most enduring in human thought; it’s a very good thing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s easy to say that Christianity is untrue, that its teachings are degrading, and that its ethics are grounded in cultism … but what then? What replaces Christianity and provides a framework for thinking about the world and our place … Continue reading
\n
The Antichrist, §60<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n