Exercises

Stoicism is a practical philosophy. Though the theory is important (otherwise, it wouldn’t be a philosophy), it’s the practice that really matters. This page will guide you through a series of “spiritual” exercises that will improve your Stoic practice. Don’t neglect to couple this with our suggested curriculum for the theory part!

The term we’ll use here is “spiritual exercises,” which is perhaps most famously linked to Ignatius of Loyola, the 16th century founder of the Jesuit sect. His Exercitia Spiritualia, composed between 1522 and 1524, are a set of Christian meditations, including prayers and contemplation exercises. But Ignatius was by far not the first one in the western tradition to come up with such practices. In fact, he got the idea from the early Church Fathers, who in turn got it from the Hellenistic philosophers. (Outside the western canon the most obvious example of this sort of thing are the various kinds of Buddhist meditation.)

It is clear why these are called “spiritual” exercises if we are talking about Christianity (or Judaism, or Islam, each of which has its own version). But what if I am an agnostic, atheist, or otherwise secular Stoic, or Skeptic, or Epicurean? Pierre Hadot, the man who first drew attention to these techniques in modern times, writes in his Philosophy as a Way of Life:

“‘Spiritual exercises.’ The expression is a bit disconcerting for the contemporary reader. In the first place, it is no longer quite fashionable these days to use the word ‘spiritual.’ It is nevertheless necessary to use this term, I believe, because none of the other adjectives we could use — ‘psychic,’ ‘moral,’ ‘ethical,’ ‘intellectual,’ ‘of thought,’ ‘of the soul’ — covers all the aspects of reality we want to describe. … The word ‘spiritual’ is quite apt to make us understand that these exercises are the result, not merely of thought, but of the individual’s entire psychism. Above all, the word ‘spiritual’ reveals the true dimensions of these exercises. By means of them, the individual raises himself up to the life of the objective Spirit; that is to say, he re-places himself within the perspective of the Whole.” (p. 82)

Whether you like the term or not, you may wonder what is the exact point of these exercises. That depends on the philosophy you are practicing. If it is Christianity, the goal is to get you closer to God. If you follow Stoicism, Platonism, or most of the other Hellenistic schools, the goal is to make you into the best human being you can be. Virtue, after all, comes from the Greek arete, which just means excellence.

But how does one “exercise,” spiritually speaking? You will find a number of modern versions of these practices, especially in the context of contemporary Stoicism. Cognitive behavioral therapist Donald Robertson, for instance, describes a number of them in his Stoicism and the Art of Happiness: Practical Wisdom for Everyday Life. Two of our faculty, Massimo Pigliucci and Gregory Lopez, compiled 52 exercises, updated on the basis of findings from modern cognitive science.

However, here we want to go back to the source, so to speak, and look at how the ancient Greco-Romans themselves practiced philosophy. It turns out that, although there are plenty of references to individual exercises in Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Plutarch, and others [1], there is only one known source that provides us with a (not necessarily exhaustive) list of ancient exercises for our askesis, a word that later came to indicate asceticism, but originally just meant spiritual practice. Well, two sources, to be precise: two lists provided to us courtesy of Philo of Alexandria, an Hellenistic Jew who lived between 20 BCE and 50 CE (which means he overlapped with Seneca). The lists are found in “Who is the Heir of Divine Things” (at 253) and in “Allegorical Interpretation” (at III.18).

The two lists overlap somewhat but not entirely, and they are discussed in details by Pierre Hadot (Philosophy as a Way of Life, ch. 3, pp. 84–86). Following Hadot’s suggestion, we grouped them into three types: reflective exercises, active exercises, and intellectual exercises. Here they are, each accompanied by a brief explanation. Some of the English words are followed by the corresponding Greek word, when the latter is known enough that I thought it may be helpful.

Reflective exercises

Attention (prosoche): continuous vigilance and presence of mind; paying attention to what is and is not up to you (i.e., Epictetus’s fundamental rule); concentration on the present moment; helps you to free yourself from the passions (i.e., unhealthy emotions), caused by regret of the past or worry for the future (neither of which is up to you). [2]

Meditations: keep handy formulae or arguments you can repeat to yourself in difficult circumstances and reflect on them; morning premeditation on what might happen during the day and how you are to react to it; evening recollection and analysis of how you have acted; the idea is to attempt to control your inner discourse and to render it coherent; can be a dialogue with oneself, with others, or a written exercise.

Remembrance of good things: engage in exercises of gratitude for the good things and people in your life (e.g., book I of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations).

Active exercises

Self-mastery (enkrateia): practice temperance in all aspects of your behavior, for instance drinking, eating, speaking, etc.

Therapy of the passions: remind yourself that externals (health, wealth, reputation, career, etc.) are only as good (or bad) as your actions make them; do not get attached to them; change your point of view from one dominated by your passions to a universal perspective; abstain from labeling things and events, describe them instead objectively, as they are in themselves; reflect on the impermanence of things.

Accomplishment of duties: with respect to family, friends, society at large.

Intellectual exercises

Listening: engage with other people, ideally in a Socratic manner.

Reading: peruse the sayings of various philosophers; practice explaining philosophical texts.

Inquiry (skepsis): understand how the world works to the best of your abilities; remind yourself of your place in it. [3]

The “reflective” exercises are meant first and foremost to make us mindful of the present and indifferent to both past and future. That’s because the first, but not the latter two, is “up to us” as Epictetus puts it (Enchiridion I.1). We are also trying to prepare for the challenges of the day and then to learn from how we have handled them. Finally, we engage in an exercise in thankfulness, to remind ourselves what good we have in life, regardless of the setbacks we may experience.

The “active” exercises are opportunities to practice what we have been meditating on and studying theoretically. These exercises focus on temperance, which both Plato and Musonius Rufus (Epictetus’s teacher) thought was the most important of the cardinal virtues (it’s also crucial for Confucius); remind us that we have duties toward others; help us to think of externals (so-called “indifferents”) as being only as good (or bad) as our use of them; and train us to be less emotional and judgmental when it comes to things, events, and people.

Finally, the “intellectual” exercises are theoretical practices aimed at honing our skills at reading, listening, and learning about the world. If we are trying to practice philosophy we need to know what it is that we are practicing (reading); we want to engage in Socratic dialogue with others so that we gather external checks on how well we are doing; and we want to study (not necessarily at a high, academic level) science, history, and philosophy, because understanding how the world works and how to think about it is helpful in trying to live a good life.

We hope the above summary will be a useful companion in your daily practice. As Hadot explains:

“[In the view of the Hellenistic philosophers] philosophy did not consist in teaching an abstract theory — much less in the exegesis of texts — but rather in the art of living. It is a concrete attitude and determinate life style, which engages the whole of existence. The philosophical act is not situated merely on the cognitive level, but on that of the self and of being. It is a progress which causes us to be more fully, and makes us better. It is a conversion which turns our entire life upside down, changing the life of the person who goes through it. It raises the individual from an inauthentic condition of life, darkened by unconsciousness and harassed by worry, to an authentic state of life, in which s/he attains self-consciousness, an exact vision of the world, inner peace, and freedom.” (Philosophy as a Way of Life, p. 83)

[1] If you are interested in Hellenistic spiritual exercises, see the following by Plutarch: On Restraining Anger, On Peace of Mind, On Brotherly Love, On the Love of Children, On Garrulity, On the Love of Wealth, On False Shame, On Envy and Hatred; and the following by Seneca: On Anger, On Benefits, On Peace of Mind, On Leisure. And, of course, the whole of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations.

[2] On prosoche see this essay.

[3] Here Philo uses two terms, zetesis (research) and skepsis (investigation), which technically indicate two distinct exercises, but even Hadot groups them together because it isn’t exactly clear, practically speaking, what the difference is between research and investigation. We adopted the more comprehensive term “inquiry” to cover both.