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Stoicism Facebook Group (Ground Rules)

Facebook group

Stoicism is an open Facebook Group, established in 2013 by Donald Robertson, for the discussion of Stoic philosophy, and sharing resources. We welcome all students of Stoicism, including atheists, agnostics, “traditional”, religious, etc., as well as non-Stoics, including followers of other philosophies, such as Platonism and Epicureanism, etc.

Everyone is welcome as long as you read and agree to abide by the ground rules below.  These rules were agreed by the original group members and have been modified over time by the admin in consultation with the group, who voted to approve them.  They are requirements of posting and group participation and constitute our terms of use for the group.

Stoicism Facebook Group

Owner/Moderator: Donald Robertson

“Where do I begin?”

People often request a basic introduction to Stoicism so I created the ten-minute Crash Course in Stoicism, which is a free online mini-course, and includes a brief recommended reading list.

Ground Rules

You are required to read the Ground Rules below before posting.  Rules apply to both posts and comments.

The beautiful and good person neither fights with anyone nor, as much as they are able, permits others to fight… – Epictetus, Discourses 4.5

  1. Please treat other group members politely and with respect.
    • Members may be banned for persistently speaking to other group members or moderators disrespectfully.  Manners cost nothing.
    • Please bear in mind that this is a large group consisting of tens of thousands of people of different sexes, ages, nationalities, cultures, and religions, from all around the world.  Your comments should be appropriate to a mixed audience, which includes about a thousand children of high-school age.
  2. “Trolling” and “flaming” are strictly prohibited.
    • Members who are trolling will be banned.
    • Comments containing insults or attacks against either individuals or specific groups are strictly prohibited.
    • This includes insults made against individuals or groups on the basis of their political or religious views.
    • Racist, sexist, homophobic, or other clearly offensive or inflammatory comments are prohibited.
  3. Posts will only be approved at the moderator’s discretion.  It must be obvious that they contribute something of value to the rest of the group and that they’re directly relevant to the topic of Stoic philosophy.
    • No “shitposting” or off-topic posts/comments.
    • Members who post off-topic or irrelevant comments will be warned and if they persist may be banned from the group.
    • This forum is solely for the discussion of Stoic philosophy.
    • No off-topic political rants.  Comments about political issues that make no reference to Stoic philosophy are prohibited.
    • Keep it reasonably concise. Avoid posting/commenting too frequently or overly-long comments.
    • Remember you’re posting to a large group. Take prolonged one-to-one discussions off-forum, unless they’re of benefit and interest to other members.
    • It must be obvious to the moderators how your post is relevant to Stoic philosophy, otherwise it will not be approved. If posting a link, please include at least a sentence explaining exactly why you want to discuss it in relation to Stoic philosophy and why you think it will seem relevant to other group members, unless it’s already explicitly about Stoicism.  Saying “I think this seems relevant” is not enough.
    • Posts that just say something like “Is this Stoic?” or “This is Stoic:” will not normally be approved, except at the moderator’s discretion.
    • Posts that only contain quotes with no context or discussion are not normally permitted, except at the moderator’s discretion. (To prevent websites spamming the group with them as part of their social media marketing campaigns.)
  4. Only post comments and links in the English language.
    • The moderators have to be able to read it know whether it’s appropriate content or not.
  5. You must not block the moderator(s).
    • That makes it impossible for us to read and moderate your posts/comments and will therefore necessarily result in your removal from the group.
  6. Fake profile names are in breach of Facebook’s terms of use, and using them may result in you being banned from the group.
  7. Posts or comments that infringe copyright by sharing links to copyrighted materials without permission will be removed.
  8. Posts complaining about the group or addressing the moderators directly will not be approved, except at the moderator(s) discretion.
    • You should PM the moderator(s) directly if you wish to discuss the group with them.
  9. You may receive a warning from the moderator(s) if they are concerned about one of your comments but do not wish to immediately ban you from the group.  Under these circumstances if you do not voluntarily remove your comment within 24 hours you may be banned from the group.
  10. You have the right to appeal a ban by PMing the moderator(s) directly.
  11. You will be banned immediately for abusing or harassing the moderator(s) either in the forum or elsewhere, including emails or private messages (PMs).
  12. You may be banned from the group, at the moderator(s) discretion, if one or more other group members register formal complaints about your comments or posts by flagging them up for moderation.
  13. The moderator(s) decision is final.

The moderators reserve the right to remove or ban members who violate the ground rules of the group.

Then you will soon observe whether a man is just and gentle, or rude and unsociable; these are the signs which distinguish even in youth the philosophical nature from the unphilosophical. – Plato, The Republic, Book 6

How you can Help

  1. If you are concerned about a comment in the group, please click the menu beside it, hide it, and then select the Report option to notify the moderator.
    • Do not flag the whole post for moderation if you wish to notify moderators about a specific comment in the thread underneath.
    • To report a comment on the desktop version of Facebook click the three dots beside the comment then choose Hide then click Report.
    • To report a comment on the mobile version of Facebook press on the comment and hold down for a few seconds to display a menu and choose Report to Group Admins.
  2. Please use the option in the top-right of the report the post, if you do wish to notify moderators about the whole post.
  3. Please do not comment on spam or other nuisance posts as this pushes them to the top of the news feed and encourages people who are trolling or “shitposting”.
  4. Once a group member has been banned their content will usually be left online even if it is offensive or has been flagged for moderation.  That’s the only way we can maintain a record of the reasons for the ban.  Please do not continue to comment underneath or report it for moderation; just ignore it.