$toicism, Broicism, and StoicisM

Part I: it’s not about becoming rich & famous

problem n. 1: $toicism

Stoicism is back, baby! As anyone who has been paying the slightest attention should have realized by now, the ancient Greco-Roman philosophy founded around 300 BCE by Zeno of Citium is more popular than ever. As modern Stoic Bill Irvine told a large gathering of Stoic practitioners in New York three years ago, “this is the largest group of Stoics ever assembled.” And it’s gotten bigger since. Stoicism’ online presence (over 58k members at the largest Facebook Stoic group), the growing number of books on popular Stoicism, and the ample media coverage are all witnesses to that fact.

Yet, modern Stoicism has a problem. Three, actually. I’m not talking about the still surprisingly many people who criticize our philosophy from the outside, usually on the basis of simple misconceptions, such as that Stoicism is about suppressing emotions and going through life with a stiff upper lip. (Examples here, here, and here, just to mention a few.) I’m talking about three somewhat related “internal” misapplications of the philosophy: what I call $toicism, Broicism, and stoicisM. The first one is a distortion of Stoicism that is employed to achieve wealth and fame; the second one is a different kind of distortion, which makes Stoicism into a precursor of and philosophical foundation for “men’s rights”…