Why Stoics Gamble on Virtue

The Stoics were virtue ethicists. They saw virtue as the good, what was worth pursuing. As opposed to the Epicureans who pursued pleasure.

This makes Stoicism a worldly philosophy, outward facing philosophy. It’s focused on thought and action, not achieving internal ecstacy.

What makes virtue so good? It’s the optimal strategy in a risky and uncertain world. Consider this line from Seneca:

Cling tooth and nail to the following rule: Not to give in to adversity, never to trust prosperity, and always to take full note of fortune’s habit of behaving just as she pleases, treating her as if she were actually going to do everything it is in her power to do.

The last one warning is important. Here Seneca is telling us to take account of how uncertain and unreliable reality is. How do we do this?

The philosopher Epictetus analogizes life to a dice game:

The counters are indifferent; the dice are indifferent. How do I know what the cast will be? But to use carefully and dexterously the cast of the dice, this is my business.

Life isn’t completely random. We can influence the game. We do have significant control. But we get attached to many things outside of our control. Our social status, relationship, health, mortality. For Stoics these are indifferent…