Lipsius Neo-Stoicism as a Combination of Stoic and Christian Ideas - Essay Example

Lipsius’ Neo-Stoicism as a combination of Stoic and Christian ideas by Date Introduction As is known, Christian Renaissance has had a particularly important influence on the further development of European religious and philosophical thought. Its peculiarity was that it sought to rethink the ancient philosophical tradition within the Christian worldview. Various schools of antiquity such as Platonism and Stoicism found a second life thanks to the work of the great humanists named Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Marsilio Ficino, Desiderius Erasmus and several other philosophers. All of them tried to use the ancient traditions for their main goal – to justify the idea of human freedom that within the Christian faith enables a person to consciously and freely follow Gods will. In particular, Erasmus was convinced “that the human will is extremely weak, but able, with the help of divine grace, to choose the path of salvation” (Casini n.d.). Special attention should be given to the concept of the Belgian humanist Justus Lipsius “(Joost Lips) (1547-1606), described by his admiring correspondent Michel de Montaigne as one of the most learned men of his day” (Papy 2011). He saw his task in combining the Stoic philosophy with the Christian religion. Analysis of his famous work entitled ‘Two Books of Constancy’ (‘De Constantia’) can ensure that such a combination is possible provided that Stoic principles do not violate basic Christian tenets. In particular, Lipsius points out the special importance of the Stoic term ‘constancy’ within the Christian worldview because it allows a person to accept the suffering in his/her life (manifestation of public evil) and thus accept Gods will that implies that one must be prepared not only to joy and happiness but also to grief and unhappiness because evil is also part of Gods plan. On the other hand, Lipsius rejects the Stoic determinism, which denies the freedom of both God’s and man’s will. Following Christian humanism on the freedom of God and the human will, Lipsius cannot admit that every phenomenon has a cause and therefore nothing and no one can have free will. In general, the Christian Stoicism presented by Lipsius seems to be rather reasonable by offering a few convincing arguments in favor of his theory. Constancy as a Way to a Calm Christian Life To begin with, Lipsius “considered himself a Stoic, and his interest in Seneca lies at the root of his tract De Constantia (1584)” (Encyclopædia Britannica n.d.). “Lipsius presents Stoicism as an antidote to the vicissitudes of fortune” (Sellars 2014, p. 3). As part of the Stoic philosophy, Lipsius examines the notion of ‘constancy’ as one of the most important factors for a calm and balanced life within the Christian religion. Constancy is defined as “a right and immovable strength of the mind, neither lifted up nor pressed down with external or casual accidents” (Lipsius n.d). It must be remembered that Stoic philosophy insists on the idea that a person cannot change the external events and factors, since they do not depend on his/her will. Everyone is faced with certain events and none of them asks the person’s permission to happen in his/her life. In this respect, man is powerless in the face of external events since they occur, regardless of whether he/she wants them or not. Nevertheless, Stoicism and his supporter Lipsius are convinced that people can change their attitude to external factors and events. This ability is not given to man from birth, because it needs its cultivation using a philosophical attitude to life. In this regard, constancy is particularly important because it allows a person to find inner peace and confidence, and thus it eliminates human suffering. Constancy is the inner strength, while the strength is understood by Lipsius as “a steadfastness not from opinion, but from judgment and sound reason” (Lipsius n.d). In turn, “the true mother of constancy is patience, and lowliness of mind, which is a voluntary sufferance without grudging of all things whatsoever can happen to or in a man” (Lipsius n.d). Patience defines a calm and balanced state of the human soul, allowing man stoically evaluate all that happens to him/her, no matter how severe the suffering is. Denoting the particular importance of constancy and patience as its mother, Lipsius provides practical guidance to achieve this state. In particular, he points out the fact that a person has to learn to rely not on opinion but on reason. Only the reason can give rise to the patience, which in turn will lead to constancy. “Cultivating reason is thus the way in which one can reach the goal of constancy" (Sellars n.d). Mans task is to learn to have the psychological state free from the various emotions. Emotions lead to inner imbalances and calm. They deprive the person of the possibility to impartially treat everything, which is happening, and therefore they are a source of suffering. Emotions are the result of the opinions, and a person can get rid of them only if he/she applies to the reason that will tell him/her that happiness is above all a persons inner state, which does not depend on external circumstances. The source of suffering can be seen not only in false evils (diseases, poverty, and shame), but also in false goods such as health, honor and wealth. Despite the fact that they give the impression of a special benefit to humans, however they are not the lesser evil for inner peace. The main reason lies in the fact that they define those or other human feelings caused by the human aspiration to achieve health, honor and wealth. As a result, the person suffers because as it was mentioned above he/she cannot subjugate the whole world. The man is part of the earthly world that exists independently of human desires. If the man is lucky today and he/she receives all that he/she wants, it does not mean that tomorrow it will be the same. As a result, false evils and false goods lead to such emotions as joy and desire, as well as fear and shame, respectively. This creates many difficulties, since a Christian should have a clear conscience, and live in harmony with his/her body and soul. Thus, according to Lipsius, attitude to life based on the philosophy of Stoicism has a particularly important practical value for a Christian because it allows him/her to fulfill his/her Christian duty to purify the soul from negative emotions and attachment to the world of material things and phenomena. Lipsius sees the particular practical importance of the Stoic philosophy in its ability to provide moral support to Christians in a world full of ‘public evils.’ In addition, Lipsius notes the theoretical benefit of Stoicism to justify evil in the world within the Christian worldview. Stoic Arguments in favor of the Need of the Existence of Evil in the World According to Lipsius, Stoic philosophy is able to find common ground with Christianity in the question of the existence of public evil and Gods providence. After proving the existence of evil in the world as part of God’s plan, Lipsius points out the particular importance of Stoicism as a philosophy which can give a person the moral support in the world in which public evils are inevitable. Initially, Lipsius gives the following evidence in relation to the issue of public evil: First I will prove that these public evils are imposed upon us by God himself. Secondly, that they by necessary and by destiny. Thirdly, that they are profitable for us. Finally, that they be neither grievous nor strange (Lipsius n.d.). The first argument is based on the Stoic idea that “from heaven…from heaven are all these miseries sent” (Lipsius n.d). “Anyone who believes that this world is administered by God must accept that public evils are as much a part of his providential plan as anything else” (Sellars 2007, p. 348). For this reason, a true Christian should not complain about public evil, because this complaint will be directed primarily against God. Christianity recognizes that all that the man has belongs to God, because God is the one who gives to people all they have. Therefore, if a person loses his/her property, it means that God took it as something that belongs to him. In this regard, any complaint or dissatisfaction means discontent against God, that is a sin. Any struggle against evil is pointless because it will be directed against God. For this reason, the Christian can rely on the Stoic constancy as a way for a peaceful life within the physical world in which evil is inevitable. The second argument in favor of the existence of evil in the world is determined by the fact that everything has not only its beginning, but also its end. Everything is going through a cycle of its development, which is determined by the laws of Nature. One must accept the fact that “all things run into this fatal whirlpool of ebbing and flowing” (Lipsius n.d). The birth and creation of anything is connected with its death and destruction. Therefore, evil is also an inevitable phenomenon since it accompanies the process of destruction, which in turn is subject to the laws of nature. The third argument is a kind of variation on the justification of public evil as having a particular benefit to people. All the terrible events that happen in peoples lives should be considered as part of God’s Providence the mission of which is to lead people to universal happiness and harmony. In this regard, public evils are a useful practice for the good, a way to correct the behavior for the weak-willed, and punishment for the scoundrels. Finally, the fourth argument considers various religious wars that took place in the Low Countries. As a result, Lipsius comes to the conclusion, “that these wars are neither particularly grievous nor uncommon” (Lipsius n.d). The philosopher cites numerous examples of religious wars and conflicts that allows him to believe that they are the result of a cyclical cycle of the principles of birth and death, creation and destruction. A person cannot interrupt this cycle, but he/she can choose the way of his/her attitude to the reality: either bitterness and regret or constancy and moral acceptance of the world as it is. In general, according to Lipsius, Stoic philosophy has a double benefit for Christianity. First, it can provide practical guidance for the restful life of any Christian, because its basic method suggests the development of such quality as constancy that allows a person to stoically endure all his/her suffering and hardships. In addition, stoicism is able to give Christianity new arguments in favor of the need for the existence of evil in the human world. Nevertheless, Lipsius does not consider it necessary to adapt all the ideas of Stoicism because some of them contrary to the Christian idea of the nature of God and the human will. In particular, Lipsius rejects the Stoic idea of determinism as a principle that denies free will, regardless of whether it is about - God or man. Lipsius Objections to the Stoic Idea of Determinism One of the main ideas of Stoicism asserts that every phenomenon has its definite cause. Stoic determinism leads to the fact that Stoicism teaches that: 1) God obeys fate (i.e. he does not have free will), 2) the world of phenomena and events obeys the causality, therefore, miracles do not exist, 3) causality denies contingency, and finally, 4) similar to God, man has no free will. The fact is that “Stoic determinism is itself built upon Stoic materialism, which affirms that only bodies exist" (Sellars n.d). The combination of this idea with the concept of causality requires proper understanding of fate as a series of interrelated phenomena. This series suggests that a phenomenon is always the result of certain factors. Eventually, this logic leads to the fact that Stoicism denies not only God’s but also mans free will. Lipsius categorically denies the justification of this idea, because it does not give him the opportunity to combine Stoicism with a Christian worldview presented in the Renaissance, according to which not only God but also man has free will. As a solution to this problem, Lipsius proposes to modify Stoicism by making it more Christian. All this gives reason to see Lipsius the founder of his own theory of Neo-Stoicism, which successfully combines Stoic and Christian ideas and principles (Bireley 1990, p. 76; Brooke 2012, p. 16). Conclusion In his theory, Lipsius relies on both theoretical and practical part of Stoicism. In turn, this provides Lipsius with more opportunities for the adaptation of Stoicism within the Christian worldview. Analysis of Lipsius’ concept ensures that Lipsius not so much modifies Christianity as adapts Stoicism to it. In fact, it has both practical and theoretical benefit to the Christian worldview. In particular, Stoicism is being successfully used by Lipsius to harmonize the fact of existence of evil in the world with the Christian concept of God as the most perfect being that cannot harm humankind. Based on the idea of the inevitability of evil, the Stoic constancy and patience are regarded as particularly valuable human qualities. Their value is determined by the fact that they can help a Christian to find peace of mind, and thus make his/her way to spiritual enlightenment and purification much easier. For the successful combination of Stoicism and Christianity, the philosopher denies the Stoic principle of determinism, because it is in conflict with the Christian idea of God’s and man’s freedom of will. As one can see, Lipsius offers rather a successful combination of Stoic and Christian principles. Reference List Bireley, R 1990, The counter-reformation prince, Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press. Brooke C 2012, Philosophic pride: Stoicism and political thought from Lipsius to Rousseau, Princeton, Princeton University Press. Casini L n.d., ‘Renaissance philosophy’, Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, viewed 22 December 2014, < http://www.iep.utm.edu/renaissa/>. Encyclopædia Britannica n.d., Justus Lipsius, viewed 22 December 2014, . Lipsius J n.d., ‘De Constantia’, Western Kentucky University, viewed 22 December 2014, , . Papy, J 2011, ‘Justus Lipsius", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, viewed 22 December 2014, . Sellars J 2007, ‘Justus Lipsius’s De Constantia: A Stoic spiritual exercise’, Poetics Today, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 339- 362. Sellars J 2014, ‘Stoic fate in Justus Lipsius’s De Constantia and Physiologia Stoicorum’, Academia.edu, viewed 22 December 2014, . Sellars J n. d., ‘Justus Lipsius (1547—1606)’, Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, viewed 22 December 2014, . Read More