2023-08-22 09:11:32
At a colloquial level, stoicism is usually understood when a person has the capacity or sufficient willpower to control their emotions or feelings or that they are indifferent to pleasure, joy, as well as sorrow or pain.
However, for Nacho Bañeras, a specialist in Stoicism and one of the people in the Ibero-American world who has reflected the most on the prevalence of this philosophical doctrine in current societies, Stoic thought and attitude go much further, and in some cases differ , than these modern, popular or conventional definitions reflect.
Nacho Bañeras (Barcelona, Spain, 1980) has a degree in Law and Philosophy, a PhD in Philosophy, a yoga and meditation teacher and a trainer in philosophical accompaniment. In addition, he is the founder and co-director of the ‘Cura sui-Cura mundi’ School of self-knowledge, critical thinking and therapeutic accompaniment.
“For the Stoics, as for much of ancient philosophy, people must display the potential that is implicit in the fact that we are human. And the human being is characterized in a particular way by its rational dimension”, he explains to EFE.
“To the extent that the person listens and displays this dimension, they are being consistent with their nature, quite the opposite of the option of not listening to it, which leads them to live in a way contrary to or with their backs to their own nature,” he points out. .
Be consistent with nature
“The main motto of stoicism is to be coherent with nature”, according to Bañeras, who explains that “being coherent has to do with not going into contradiction with our own human nature and acting accordingly with it”.
He adds that “we must also understand living in coherence as living in correspondence.” In this context, “correspondence refers to the relationship between nature and human beings,” as he clarifies.
He adds that “as in any relationship, both parties are important. If nature predisposes us to a horizon, that of deploying a virtuous life, human beings must correspond to it, choosing the virtuous path. This is our responsibility.”
“There is an order in the cosmos, which marks some coordinates and principles that must be listened to, learned and followed. To the extent that the human being follows them, he will be able to be coherent with this order and manifest his own fullness, that is, unfold through the call and the nature that dwells within him ”, he points out.
Philosopher Nacho Bañeras, specialist in Stoic doctrine. Photo provided by Siglantana Editorial.
On the other hand, Bañas clarifies that “stoicism does not consist of a mastery of sensitivity. Instead, he seeks to live in serenity through sensitivity. To make it possible, he deploys a whole set of exercises or ascetic practices (sober, austere)”.
He explains that currently, “our focus of attention is mostly directed outwards, we constantly think and it is difficult for us to stop doing it and this causes us a growing restlessness”.
From the field of Stoic philosophy, Bathtubs “proposes to look within, from calm, reflection and meditation, to find some of the answers to our lives.”
Examples of Stoic Referents
“This philosophy has always been present in the history of Western thought, through classic and properly Stoic authors such as Seneca or the emperor Marcus Aurelius and thinkers strongly influenced by Stoicism such as Michel de Montaigne, Montesquieu or Quevedo” he points out.
Socrates ( 470 BC — 399 BC), an ancient Greek philosopher considered one of the most influential in history, is “a reference and model of Stoic life for many reasons”, although he does not really form part of the stoic school, according to Bathtubs.
“For example, he was able to lead a virtuous life despite going against what was politically correct, and on the other hand he lived close to his own maxim of ‘I only know that I know nothing’, taking care of what was really at his disposal. arrangement,” he stresses.
On the other hand, “as shown in the painting `La mort de Socrate’ (The Death of Socrates), an oil painting by Jacques-Louis David, the great classical philosopher faced his death with temperance, serenity and sheltered by his friends, finishing with this way a philosophical life”, he emphasizes.
Another painting that symbolizes stoicism is ‘The Walker on a Sea of Clouds’, a painting by Caspar David Friedrich, which shows a person observing a cloudy landscape and exudes the serenity of a contemplative look that, being close to life, observes it. without being carried away by events or by what the fog prevents us from seeing ”, he adds.
“Currently, Stoicism not only continues to influence philosophy, but is also experiencing a second renaissance, since many people seek answers to a world that moves and changes faster and whose restlessness is caused by this current of thought. It’s hard to escape,” he stresses.
Bañeras is the author of the book ‘Roads towards a stoic attitude’, which he describes as “a guide to adapt stoic thought to current situations and lifestyles”.
In this sense, he describes below three examples of current life situations to which the three disciplines that Stoicism offers us can be respectively applied to embody a philosophical and stoic life.
Photomontage book Paths towards a stoic attitude. Photo provided by Siglantana Editorial.
stoicism and desire
“We spend a lot of time thinking about life, ruminating on it. We turn our heads a lot thinking about future situations or what others will think. Many of the things that we try to think about, in order to control them, are out of our control and disposition”, says Bañeras.
“We should ask ourselves – he points out – what is under our control. If what we are worrying about is uncertain, the Stoics will tell us to deal with what is causing us, often fear, as it is the only thing we can deal with. This first example refers us to the Stoic path of desire”.
discipline and judgment
“We live in an increasingly individualistic society and many of our actions are built from this premise, in the same way that, very often, we perceive ourselves as isolated islands, in solitude. We perceive ourselves alone”, explains this philosopher.
“The Stoics started from the beautiful idea that we are twinned among ourselves since we are interdependent and come from the same place, from the same origin. This fact, which we often forget, should prompt us to act based on solidarity towards others and towards ourselves. This path is the one that opens the stoic discipline of action ”, he points out.
“Many times we present ourselves as free people. We act and decide through what we think, which, in turn, is based on the set of ideas and beliefs that we have about the world and about ourselves, but where does what we think come from?
He points out that “what we think generally comes from a set of beliefs that we have been receiving from our environment (family, school, the media) and that, according to the Stoics, we have not questioned”.
“This path opens us to the discipline of judgment, which allows us to work on the content of what we think and the way in which we do it,” he concludes.
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