Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Table of Contents
- Resilience from a Variety of Theoretical Perspectives: an Introduction
- I RESILIENCE IN THE PHILOSOPHICAL AND THE EXISTENTIAL CONTEXTS
- Resiliency and the Meaning of Life
- Building Resilience Today: How Can Ancient Stoicism Help
- Stoicism at War: from Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius to James Stockdale
- II SOCIAL CONTEXTS OF RESILIENCE
- III PROMOTING OF RESILIENCE AND ASSISTED RESILIENCE
- IV THREATS TO MENTAL HEALTH
- List of Authors
Stoicism at War: from Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius to James Stockdale
from I - RESILIENCE IN THE PHILOSOPHICAL AND THE EXISTENTIAL CONTEXTS
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 January 2018
- Frontmatter
- Table of Contents
- Resilience from a Variety of Theoretical Perspectives: an Introduction
- I RESILIENCE IN THE PHILOSOPHICAL AND THE EXISTENTIAL CONTEXTS
- Resiliency and the Meaning of Life
- Building Resilience Today: How Can Ancient Stoicism Help
- Stoicism at War: from Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius to James Stockdale
- II SOCIAL CONTEXTS OF RESILIENCE
- III PROMOTING OF RESILIENCE AND ASSISTED RESILIENCE
- IV THREATS TO MENTAL HEALTH
- List of Authors
Summary
Abstract
The chapter is devoted to the analysis of ancient Stoic philosophy as a source of resilience for soldiers. Firstly, some historical cases are investigated, from a Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius to more recent instances from Vietnam and Iraq. Secondly, in turn, the Epictetus’ distinction between the controllable and the uncontrollable is introduced with the focus on the prescription to assign value only to the former as the Stoic source of resilience. Finally, some further questions are briefly addressed including the ones concerning the sources of the Stoicism's appeal to the soldiers, its more particular applications as well as the potential drawbacks of the Stoic resilience.
Key words: resilience, stoicism, soldiers, Marcus Aurelius, James Stockdale
“If your philosophy doesn't work in the most dire circumstances, then abandon it now, because itʼs a Starbucks philosophy.”
Major Thomas Jarrett, cited in: Evans, 2013, p. 70‟Each person's master is the one who has power over what that person wants or does not want, so as to secure it or take it away. Whoever, then, wants to be free, let him neither want anything, nor avoid anything, that depends on others; otherwise, he must necessarily be a slave.ˮ
Epictetus, Handbook, 14‟Hippocrates, after healing many a sick man, fell sick himself and died… Alexander, Pompeius and Gaius Caesar times without number utterly destroyed whole cities, and cut to pieces many myriads of horse and foot on the field of the battle, yet the day came when they too departed this life… And lice caused the death of Democritus, and other vermin of Socrates.”
Meditations, III, 3The aim of this chapter is to investigate resilience in two quite particular contexts. Firstly, more specifically, it is the Stoic philosophy that will be scrutinised as a resource that enables the individual to cope resiliently with an adversity. Secondly, in turn, individuals one will be dealing with here are a special professional group of soldiers, soldiers met within a vast historical and cultural spectrum.
The choice of soldiers as a focus of attention can be justified by referring to very special environmental pressures in which the members of this profession often find, or at least always may find, themselves.
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- Information
- Resilience and Health in a Fast-changing World , pp. 47 - 58Publisher: Jagiellonian University PressPrint publication year: 2015