Many things will
ensure we endure the rigours of climate change, but chief among them will be a
personal philosophy we adhere to.
What that should be will be as different as those who
confront the dilemma, but one worth considering is stoicism.
Stoicism, which is considered – when considered at all – a
philosophy of grim endurance, of carrying on rather than getting over, of
tolerating rather than transcending life’s agonies and adversities.
Lary Wallace has written about stoicism on Aeon in a story headed: “Indifference is a power”.
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| William B, Irvine's "A Guide to the Good Life". |
The sub-heading says: “As legions of warriors and prisoners
can attest, Stoicism is not grim resolve but a way to wrest happiness from
adversity”.
Writing about the famous stoic, Epictetus, and those who has
learned from him, Wallace said: “One of these is the late US Navy Admiral James
Stockdale. A prisoner of war in Vietnam for seven years during that conflict,
he endured broken bones, starvation, solitary confinement, and all other manner
of torture.
“His psychological companion through it all were the
teachings of Epictetus, with which he had familiarised himself after graduating
from college and joining the Navy, studying philosophy at Stanford University
on the side.
“ He kept those teachings close by in Vietnam, never letting
them leave his mind even when things were at their most dire. Especially then.
He knew what they were about, those lessons, and he came to know their
application much better than anyone should have to.”
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