Calmly Resisting the Fad of Stoicism

The Pet Rock of self-improvement

Do you remember Pet Rocks? You need to be older to remember them, but here’s a good history of them. The Pet Rock was the ultimate triumph of marketing over substance. The Pet Rock was a rock, just a plain rock, in a plain cardboard box labeled “Pet Rock.” I remember thinking even as a very young child how superficial the fad was.

I’m older now, and a philosophy professor, and seeing the recent increase in the number of books and articles about Stoicism reminds me of Pet Rocks. Stoicism has been around for many centuries, and over that time its popularity has waxed and waned. It seems to have traditionally been more popular during difficult times, when people seek solace in faddish, superficial comforts like Pet Rocks and philosophies reduced to pop psychology.

The prevailing view of Stoicism is that it is a method for staying calm. That’s true as far as it goes, but it is an over-simplification, even a whitewash of Stoic philosophy. Beneath the fluffy quotes extolling patience and acceptance of whatever dren life gives you, is a dark pessimism.