“But the dispiriting thing about contemporary Stoicism is how slippery it has become, toothless practically to the point of meaninglessness…all religions have reform versions and adherents who push against orthodoxy. But cafeteria Stoicism has become diluted into the language of go-get-’em motivational speech…
Moreover, modern Stoicism drifts toward hypermasculine patter that at times devolves into macho preening…
And so modern Stoicism finds itself somehow settling into Successories-style aphorisms, screw-your-feelings machismo and the ends justifying the means. This is many things, but it’s not a coherent moral philosophy…
I’m still interested in the ideas Epictetus and company suggest; there’s a lot to be said for cultivating poise and keeping stressors in proportion. But the philosophy in its current iteration doesn’t offer much beyond affirmations with a veneer of wisdom from the ancients. Bumper-sticker philosophy has its limits, and the Stoics had a warning about that: Quintus Sextius wrote, ‘Never be keen to please the crowd.’”
Review by Mark Athitakis, “Stoicism is more popular than ever. Too bad it’s so incoherent now”, The Washington Post, March 28, 2024, at 2:05 p.m. EDT.
I assume that I am not popular with the crowd of higher education. When will I be employed (paid) to research the entanglement of horizon worldviews and how to untangle the mess in thinking in and on policies issues?
Is the silence to me, which indicates of self-consciousness unpopularity, the fear or stupidity in the belief that I am merely a promotor of negativity. A judgement on self from a form of belief in modern/postmodernist stoicism. Do such decision-makers merely go along with pleasing the crowd ? Is this the low-level of their political and organisation intellect ? Do we as stoics merely accept the happening ?
Well, what is the negativity of negativity as in the quote from Mark Athitakis? Is it not an illustration of the positive value of negativity, in the context it is presented?
The positive message is the methods of critical thinking and critical theory.
What is that worth in Australian society? What is it worth in Australian universities? To obtain employment or a paid contract?
Featured Image, hyperlinked:
Neville Buch
Latest posts by Neville Buch (see all)
- Presentism and Parallelism: Why Political Decisions-Makers Need to fund, contract, or employ professional historians - April 27, 2024
- What is “Stupidity” and Why it is Not a Dismissal in My Philosophic-Sociological History Work - April 26, 2024
- No! Not Yes: Optus Thinking is Machine Thinking - April 25, 2024