Oh I know what it is. I'm just not sure why it's attractive. — Sumyung Gui

I left out "raised Christian" in your quote as Stoicism was prior to Christianity, as I have already said.

So, knowing it, you really don't know what's attractive about Stoicism?

I have no idea. Christianity as I understand it is false. But there you are promised salvation whatever it means. Stoicism is far less anchored.

Okay, first let's stop referring to Christianity when talking about Stoicism itself. Stoicism had gone out of practice way before Christianity was born.
Are you just confused as to the historical events?

Yes.
Still curious why people find it attractive.

Well, there's my answer as to why it was once a good practice.

Ah. No I mean now.

I suppose there is a thing called adaptation -- we could take the teachings of Stoicism and use in our life.

.

I'm none the wiser.

I'm none the wiser. — Sumyung Gui

Of course not! You never practiced Stoicism yourself. You're just talking here in the forum. Practice it then come back and report to us if you've become wiser as a result. Stoicism is not about talking -- it's doing.

Omg. I don't know why it would seem attractive from the outside.

Thank you for the video from the Esoterica YT channel. It's one of my favorite such channels. Although, I haven't seen this particular upload before. I will give it a watch.

↪Sumyung Gui Okay, first let's stop referring to Christianity when talking about Stoicism itself. Stoicism had gone out of practice way before Christianity was born.
Are you just confused as to the historical events? — L'éléphant

Really? Jesus supposedly lived in the early first century C.E. (A.D. if your prefer). Paul was born around 5 C.E. and lived until around 65 C.E. Paul, it seems, had something to do with Christianity. The Stoic philosopher Musonius Rufus died in 95 C.E., 30 years after Paul. The Stoic philosopher Seneca was a contemporary of Paul's and was an advisor to Nero, who it was claimed burned Christians after Rome's great fire during his reign. The Stoic philosopher Epictetus died around 135 C.E. Marcus Aurelius was Emperor from 161 C.E. to 180 C.E They were Stoics, you see. Marcus Aurelius referred to Christians in his Meditations. So did the Emperor Trajan in his correspondence with Pliny (Trajan was Emperor from 98 C.E. to 117 C.E. ).

It seems you're wrong. Or just confused as to historical events.

It seems you're wrong. Or just confused as to historical events. — Ciceronianus

Not wrong or confused. You have to look at the time of Constantine, who made the formal acknowledgement of the Christian religion around 313 CE. The school of Stoic closed around the first century, I think. (I don't have my books anymore, sorry).

Before Constantine, it was a sect, not a religion. They were called the Nazarenes.

To be human, is to also fully realize the absurdity of the contingency of our actions and reasons, and the ability to be a thoroughly existential and constantly counterfactual creature. That is say, the moorings of anchors like "the good life" and "intrinsic value of the virtues" are indeed examples of bad faith psychological anchoring mechanisms. It's putting the cart before the horse. It is wishfully thinking oneself into a non-deliberative and determined being. The sedated comfort of not just law, but NATURAL LAW at that! Of course, don't look at the man behind the curtain, the saintly "sage" who will divine for you exactly WHAT that natural law IS.

Not wrong or confused. You have to look at the time of Constantine, who made the formal acknowledgement of the Christian religion around 313 CE. The school of Stoic closed around the first century, I think. (I don't have my books anymore, sorry).

Before Constantine, it was a sect, not a religion. They were called the Nazarenes. — L'éléphant

You astonish me!

It's very odd, then, that centuries before Constantine, Pliny the Younger referred to "Christianis" and "Christiani" and "Christo" in his letter to Trajan, inquiring how they should be treated, and Tacitus wrote of "Chrestianos" who were followers of "Christus" who had been executed by Pontius Pilatus. I wonder who they were referring to, really.

I admire your blithe exclusiveness. Not only do you relegate the authors of the Gospels and Acts to non-Christian status, but also the revered Church Fathers Tertullian, Origen, Justin Martyr (called "martyr" because he was martyred, but apparently not for being a Christian), Clement of Alexandria and Ignatius of Antioch (the third bishop of that city, though it seems not a Christian one), all of whom lived and died long before Constantine.

I asked the new GPT-4 AI to explain Stoicism to me, and this is what I was greeted with:



Thoughts?

At the risk of derailing this thread -- I think we already did, btw. I will respond one more time. The details are vast and long to discuss here.

Pliny the Younger referred to "Christianis" and "Christiani" and "Christo" in his letter to Trajan, inquiring how they should be treated, and Tacitus wrote of "Chrestianos" who were followers of "Christus" who had been executed by Pontius Pilatus. I wonder who they were referring to, really. — Ciceronianus

That word was derogatory as Pliny used it.

Ah. So Christianity didn't become a religion until it was looked upon favorably and sanctioned by the Imperial government. It's certainly an interesting though peculiar perspective.