Stoicism and the Military
Did Stoic Philosophers go to War?
When I first became involved in teaching Stoicism, about 25 years ago now, I noticed that the audience at talks and conferences were quite a mixed bunch. At first I encountered mainly classicists and academic philosophers. Then more psychotherapists like myself, and some research psychologists, became interested in Stoic philosophy. Over time, I began to notice quite a few life coaches and individuals involved in corporate training, some sports coaches, and also a number of men and women who were serving in the military.
Each of these groups approaches Stoicism from a different perspective. However, the wonderful thing is that they will all happily sit around and discuss philosophy because they have enough common ground, a shared interest in Stoic literature and ideas. There are also some prominent figures in the modern Stoic community who approach the philosophy from a military perspective.
Modern Stoicism
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Jarrett spoke recently at the Stoicon Modern Stoicism conference in Athens about the Warrior Resilience Training Program he developed, based on Stoicism, and taught to US troops during the Iraq War. Nancy Sherman, who is currently Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University held the Distinguished Chair in…
