A Stoic beginning

 

If there's one regret about my collegiate life (actually, there are many) it's that I never took a class in Philosophy. You'd think that a liberal arts college like Syracuse University would have made that a freshman requirement, like English or Biology or Binge Drinking.

But it wasn't and now I wish it were.

Last week I came across an article regarding Scott Thompson, a recognizable actor known for Kids in The Hall and the brilliant Larry Sanders Show. 

You may be wondering what an openly gay Canadian actor whose home was once attacked by Islamic terrorists and left a note that said, "In the name of Allah, the merciful and compassionate, you will be dead" (Scott: They underlined the word dead as if being firebombed didn't freak us out enough) could teach me about philosophy?

Well, I'll tell you.

Scott had become interested in Stoicism. And had started reading Letters from a Stoic. 

I know a little about Stoicism, mostly from Russell Crowe's admiration of Marcus Aurelius in the movie Gladiator. But I decided I wanted to know more about a philosophy that emphasizes: the contempt of death, the value of friendship and virtue as the supreme good. 

So I ordered a copy for myself. Pictured here alongside a book of considerably less significance. 

In my short foray (a full review to come later) I am most impressed. So impressed that the flimsy cover of the book is bent backwards, hence needed to be weighted down by my wrought iron beer bottle opener, a household item that gets used way too often, much to my weight-losing detriment.

The astute reader will now notice the tone of my voice reflects the same tone used by Francis Barton Gummere, who has thoughtfully translated the letters collected by Roman Philosopher Lucius Seneca. And published by William Collins, a millworker from Glasgow, where I trace my own personal roots.

Here's a sample from the very beginning of the book:

"I commend you and rejoice in the fact that you are persistent in your studies, and that, putting all else aside, you make it each day your endeavor to become a better man. I do not merely exhort you to keep at it; I actually beg you to do so."

That's good stuff. And I love any sentence that properly used a semi-colon. Perhaps one day I will learn to do so myself.

There's a good chance that by page 242 I may even consider myself a full fledged Stoic. But I'll try not to bore you with it. 

It's not like I'm a vegan or into cross-fit.