Donald J. Robertson

What might Stoic Philosophy say about the Raptors Star?

What might Stoic Philosophy say about the Raptors Star?

Toronto Raptors player Kawhi Leonard is often praised for his “stoicism”. CBC call him “a stoic NBA superstar.” He’s even been dubbed “the Crown Prince of Stoicism”.

Despite his claim to be a “fun guy”, Kawhi doesn’t usually talk much and his poker-face doesn’t give much away either. He seldom gives interviews and he has no social media presence. His celebrations during and after games are muted. He’s been described as “the most modest, non-confrontational superstar in a league full of attention-seekers”.

Some people trace this sober demeanour back to his way of coping with adversity during childhood. When Kawhi was sixteen years old and still in high school, his father was shot and killed at the car wash he owned in Compton, where they had worked together. Kawhi nevertheless got on the basketball court and played the following evening, although he reputedly broke down afterwards. His father’s killer was never found.

Whatever the influences were that forged his personality, the media have settled on dubbing him a stoic. The word “stoic” (lower case) has come to denote someone who is, like Kawhi, generally unemotional and calm in the face of adversity. Curiously, the word “philosophical” is often used to mean virtually the same thing. For instance, someone facing hardship or misfortune is described as “maintaining a philosophical attitude toward events”. Kawhi certainly appears “stoic”, and even “philosophical”, in the sense that his trademark characteristic has become his impassive and unemotional way of coping with events. On the other hand, though, the word “Stoic” (capitalized) refers to an ancient Greek school of philosophy, from which the adjective “stoic” and our notion of a “philosophical attitude” are only rather loosely derived. There’s a lot more to being a Stoic philosopher, in other words, than just having a stoic personality.

Nevertheless, the Greek philosophy of Stoicism has experienced a resurgence of popularity in recent decades. That’s partly because it provided the philosophical inspiration for cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), the leading evidence-based approach to modern psychotherapy. Both Stoicism and CBT share the premise that our emotions are largely (if not exclusively) determined by certain underlying beliefs. Perhaps the most famous Stoic quotation of all, from Epictetus, states “It’s not events that upset us but our judgements about them” — and those precise words have been taught by CBT practitioners to countless thousands of clients since the 1950s. By identifying, evaluating, and changing relevant irrational beliefs we can change the way we feel and improve our mental health. The large volumes of scientific research that now support CBT’s therapeutic benefits for common problems like anxiety and depression have lent indirect support to some of the ideas and practices of Stoicism. There’s therefore been renewed interest in the philosophy as a way of life, which promises to help us build emotional resilience.

Often the distinction between “stoic” and “Stoic” gets blurred. Kawhi has never mentioned “Stoicism” or given any indication of having read the classic texts of the philosophy: the letters of Seneca, The Discourses of Epictetus, or The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. However, it wasn’t unusual for the Stoics to praise as role-models other non-Stoic individuals who happened to embody the virtues their philosophy praised. Indeed, some people have already drawn parallels between Kawhi’s mindset and the ancient Greek philosophy. For example, Avel Ivanov, over at The Bench, wrote of Kawhi: “If the ancient Stoics were tasked with creating a model of what the Stoic basketball player would look like he would look an awful lot like #2 on the Toronto Raptors.” So to what extent does Kawhi actually exhibit the sort of attitudes taught in Stoic philosophy?

First of all, we shouldn’t be surprised to find a player’s character being interpreted in terms of Stoic principles. Stoic philosophy has influenced players in other sports. The NFL exec and former New England Patriots coach, Michael Lombardi, began to draw on Stoicism after reading The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. One of the main things Lombardi takes from Stoicism is a psychological principle that modern Stoics tend to refer to as the “Dichotomy of Control”. This entails making a clear distinction between things that are up to you and things that are not. “In a profession that has many outside influences,” he says, “it is always good to remind yourself each day to worry and work on only that you can control.” Lombardi names several basketball players and coaches who particularly exemplify Stoic qualities, including Tim Duncan, who played for the San Antonio Spurs, and Gregg Popovich, their head coach and president. Kawhi’s naturally Stoic qualities were perhaps reinforced when he played for the Spurs and he clearly brought those traits with him when he was transferred to the Toronto Raptors.

Lombardi’s Stoic advice applies to life in general but also seems consistent with Kawhi’s approach to playing basketball:

Control the things you can control and only worry about them. Stay in the moment, don’t listen to the negative or the positive, be grounded and most of all keep striving for improvement.

The maxim “never too low, never too high” has likewise become part of the Raptors’ winning formula. Kawhi’s own level-headed approach to the game particularly exemplifies this philosophy. “I don’t like to bring attention to myself,” he has said. “I don’t like to make a scene.”

Teammates and coaches have also noted Kawhi’s habit of speaking to the point in short phrases. When playing defense and blocking another player, for instance, he’d just firmly say the word “No.” We traditionally describe this terse way of speaking as being “laconic”, after Laconia the region of Greece in which the city of Sparta is located. The Stoics admired certain aspects of Spartan society and they were also known for speaking laconically. The philosopher Cicero even described the Spartans as “the originators of that [Stoic] way of living and that sort of language”. Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism, was particularly known for his personal economy of speech. Moreover, the Stoic theories of rhetoric he taught praised “conciseness” as a virtue, “a style that employs no more words than are necessary for setting forth the subject in hand.” Stoic language also sticks to the facts rather than speculating or embellishing things — it makes a virtue out of simplicity. When asked by a reporter if he could describe his favourite Christmas moment, perhaps a silly question, Kawhi merely replied “Not right now.” When asked how he coped with the change in climate following his transfer from San Antonio to Toronto he patiently explained to reporters, with a straight face, that it wasn’t a big deal because: “I just wear a jacket. We’re in buildings a lot. We’re not outside playing in the snow.”

Kawhi’s relative indifference toward the external trappings of fame and success echo a fundamental distinction made two and a half thousand years ago by Socrates. The previous generation of intellectuals in Athens had focused mainly on oratory, or public speaking, and the use of sophisticated rhetoric designed to fire up emotions and win praise and applause from large audiences. The Sophists, as these teachers were known, often became greedy for wealth and fame. Socrates argued that they had fallen into one of the most common and fundamental traps in life by confusing appearance and reality. They’d been lured away from the pursuit of real wisdom by the promise of achieving the mere appearance of wisdom, in the eyes of others.

Socrates turned this on its head and repeatedly encouraged his young students to become in reality as they wished to appear — to try actually to become wise rather than merely appear so. Kawhi likewise shows no interest in cultivating his public image in order to try to appear important and successful. He just seems to be focusing on his game, and actually “striving for improvement”, to the best of his ability, rather than troubling himself over what the public might think of him. Whereas so many people care about being popular, a childhood friend confirms that Kawhi never did. He’s more interested in his own performance than other people’s opinions. He once said in an interview “I’m just going out there and playing as hard as I can… As long as you give your best effort, I feel like that’s all you can do.” He is also reported as saying:

You know, I’ll never try to win an award. I’m out there just playing for my team. If I get noticed for my individual performance, that’s what happens. Other than that, I’m just trying to win the game.

The Stoics believed that because the wise man is relatively indifferent to either praise or criticism, especially from the masses, and he even views success and failure with equal detachment. He therefore exhibits a more stable and consistent frame of mind across whatever situations he encounters. He won’t allow his mood to be lifted and then cast down, blown one way and then another by the winds of fortune. Kawhi likewise told an interviewer that “My mindset is the same every game.” He explained this mindset to reporters as follows:

I’m not describing my game; I’m just trying to win. That’s for you guys to do. I’m living in the moment.

The Stoic wise man (or woman) likewise lives grounded in the present moment. Like Kawhi, Stoics were taught to be relatively indifferent to either success or failure, focusing instead on doing the best they can in any given situation. We are to take more responsibility for what is up to us, from moment to moment, i.e., our own actions, and we’re to calmly accepts the fact that other things are not entirely under our control.

Cicero described the Stoic attitude as being like that of an archer who carefully draws his bow and takes aim at a target — doing what is up to him well. Ultimately, however, once the arrow has flown, he’s indifferent to whether it hits the target or not because it’s no longer under his control. He just does his best and lets happen what may. He may prefer to hit the target but if he misses that’s not worth getting upset about. That focus on his own performance and relative indifference to the outcome allows him to remain grounded in the present moment, unswayed by either external success or failure. As Kipling said “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same”, the earth will be yours. No mortal provides a perfect role model. However, I think the ancient Stoics would probably have been able to use Kawhi’s “stoic” demeanour as a (workable if imperfect) example of this inner calm and the sort of “constancy” or steadiness of character that they associated with moral wisdom.

Some Thoughts on Stoicism and Walking

Some Thoughts on Stoicism and Walking

All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking. — Nietzsche

A few years ago, one of my friends, “Scottish” Thomas, was nearly beaten to death by four youths who tried to mug him down by the Halifax Waterfront, in Nova Scotia. He told them to “Get lost!” (or words to that effect) and clung on to his knapsack, although there was nothing in it but some dirty laundry.

They stamped his face into the boardwalk, fracturing his jaw in several places.Thomas had reconstructive surgery, requiring several operations. After he’d been discharged from hospital he got into the habit of walking around town for hours more or less every day, even during the frigid winters, passing by the spot where he was attacked. He told me that he found it therapeutic: both physically and mentally. Sometimes, I’d go with him and keep him company.

We used to talk and joke, sometimes about Socrates and the Stoics, and it made me think about the role of walking in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy. (At the time, I was working on my book about Stoicism: How to Think Like a Roman Emperor.) Tommy reminded me of the Cynic, Diogenes of Sinope, albeit perhaps a softer, friendlier version. Diogenes was a “wanderer without a home” and a citizen of the whole world. He walked around Athens barefoot and naked except for a grubby woollen cloak and a small knapsack containing some basic food: some cheap bread, and a few lupin beans.

Diogenes taught that genuine freedom comes from within — from self-sufficiency rather than from wealth, power, or reputation. Not from having as much as possible, in other words, but from needing as little as possible. The most famous story about Diogenes the Cynic was that when Alexander the Great, paid him a visit and asked if he could do anything for him, Diogenes replied: “Yes, step aside, you’re blocking the sunlight.” (Alexander was sometimes portrayed as the child of the solar god, Apollo.) As he was walking away, with his retinue chattering in puzzlement, the Macedonian king reputedly said: “Truly, if I were not Alexander, I would wish to be Diogenes.”

Before emigrating to Canada, I was a cognitive-behavioural therapist in London, UK. I had published several books about my special interest: Stoic philosophy and modern psychotherapy. Diogenes is traditionally seen as part of a philosophical lineage spanning over half a millennium. It begins with Socrates, extends through his follower Antisthenes, via Diogenes and the Cynics, down to Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoic philosophy, and his many followers. I became interested in the Stoics because their writings constituted the original philosophical inspiration for modern cognitive-behavioural therapy. It struck me one day that a curious philosophical interest in the activity of walking permeates this Cynic-Stoic wing of the Socratic tradition.

Socrates himself was known for walking barefoot. His student Antisthenes, who inspired the Cynics and Stoics, likewise walked barefoot for miles to listen to him talk each day. It’s said they were both good friends with a shoemaker called Simon. (They discussed philosophy with Simon but weren’t giving him much business!) Among Socrates’ many followers, Antisthenes particularly espoused philosophy as a way of life, by embracing poverty and simplicity, and cultivating self-discipline and endurance. Socrates and Antisthenes were pioneers, in a sense, of the distinctive Cynic lifestyle made famous a generation later by Diogenes, who sought to return to nature through plain living, despite being in an urban setting.

Diogenes used to say that both mental and physical training are required to become a true philosopher. Constant physical exercise that is in accord with nature, leads to a fulfilled life. However, he reputedly also said that “no exercise is of any value unless it aims at the good order and fitness of the soul, as opposed to that of the body.” Later in his life, Diogenes was captured by pirates and sold into slavery. He was purchased by a wealthy man who entrusted him with the education of his sons. The Cynic taught the young men in his care to “go out dressed in nothing but a cloak, with no shoes on their feet; as they walked they had to keep silent, and not look around them in the street.”

The philosophy of Diogenes inspired various moral, spiritual, and psychological exercises that involved walking. He would walk into the theatre against the flow of people leaving, and walked around backwards in public arcades. Other Cynics walked around carrying fish, cheese, or bowls of lentil soup, down bustling streets, where they would be jostled by the crowds. This symbolised their desire to radically swim against the tide of popular opinion but it also served an important psychological function. Modern cognitive therapists treat social anxiety by prescribing “shame-attacking” exercises. Diogenes once tied a piece of string around the neck of a ceramic wine bottle and took it for a walk through the potter’s district. Today it’s a banana on a string. The idea is to do something embarrassing so often that, eventually, you completely extinguish your sense of shame.

Zeno, the founder of Stoicism, seems to have been socially nervous or shy until his mentor Crates instructed him to walk through the crowded streets carrying a bowl of lentil soup. When Zeno tried to hide the bowl under his cloak, Crates smashed it with his staff, leaving his student to walk around with lentil soup dribbling down his bare legs until he finally got over his embarrassment. It must have worked because about two decades later we’re told that Zeno was consulted by King Antigonus of Macedonia, one of the most powerful military and political leaders of the time. Although Zeno dressed like a beggar, Antigonus found himself looking to him as an equal, or even a superior, because of his wisdom, composure, and self-confidence — much as Alexander the Great had reputedly looked upon Diogenes the Cynic.

Like their Cynic predecessors, the Stoics had an interesting attitude toward walking. Zeno was renowned for lecturing on philosophy while walking briskly up and down the Stoa Poikile or “Painted Porch” where he started his school. (We’re told that prevented lazy students from slouching on the floor!) He disliked being among a crowd of people, such as at a drinking party or dinner, and preferred to spend his evenings either walking alone or with no more than two or three companions. His successor as head of the Stoic school, Cleanthes, walked around all night watering gardens to make a living. Chrysippus, the third head of the Stoic school, was a long-distance runner. He warned his students that when they’re consumed by passionate desires and emotions they resemble someone running too quickly to avoid obstacles in their path. The wise man resembles someone walking (or running) slowly enough to be able to stop or change direction whenever he chooses to do so — he’s still in control of his own actions.

Later Stoics also seem to have associated philosophy with walking calmly, in a self-possessed fashion. Cato of Utica, the great Stoic hero of the Roman Civil War, attracted attention because, unusually for a military officer, he generally avoided riding a horse and walked everywhere. Plutarch implies this was part of training himself in “shamelessness” (like a Cynic) as well as a means of developing physical endurance. Seneca, another Roman Stoic, likewise recommends walking in the fresh air as an exercise for Stoics. “We should take wandering outdoor walks,” he says, “so that the mind might be nourished and refreshed by the open air and deep breathing.”

However, Seneca also frequently says you can judge a man’s character by the way he walks. The ancient philosophers believed that walking barefoot encouraged circumspection. Epictetus says, for instance, that someone walking barefoot must obviously be careful where he treads, in case he steps on a nail or hurts his foot. He tells his students that, in the same way, they should be cautious not to harm their own character through the value-judgements they make, which Stoics believe to be the root cause of our unhealthy fears and cravings. To walk with wisdom is to walk with self-awareness, mindful of how we are using both our body and our mind, from moment to moment. It’s our ruling faculty, our faculty of judgement, that we have to watch like a hawk.

Indeed, Epictetus tells his students about a highly-regarded Stoic philosopher called Euphrates of Tyre who spent years secretly living as a philosopher, patiently training himself to eat with moderation and to walk around with mindfulness and in a self-possessed manner. Epictetus asks his students: “Do you read when you are walking?” No, he says, if they want to become true philosophers, like Euphrates, they should walk alone and silently converse with themselves about the deepest questions in life without paying too much attention to other people’s opinions or what’s written in books: “Man, if you are anything, both walk alone and talk to yourself, and do not hide yourself in the chorus.” Get into the habit of examining your own mind and the world around you while walking in deep philosophical contemplation, Epictetus says, so that you may come to know who you really are.

I’m inviting you to “eat like a Stoic” on Sunday 26th May. We want people from all over the world to make “Stoic Soup”, based on the ancient recipe attributed to Zeno of Citium, the founder of the Stoic school. It’s also a great opportunity to reflect on our relationship with food, from a philosophical perspective. What should we eat? How should we eat? And what does the way we eat say about our character?

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The Stoics were very interested in food. We’re told that the Stoic teacher Musonius Rufus “often talked in a very forceful manner about food, on the grounds that food was not an insignificant topic and that what one eats has significant consequences.” He believed that Stoic students should begin their training in self-control by mastering their appetite for food and drink.

Musonius taught that Stoics should prefer inexpensive foods that are easy to obtain and most nourishing and healthy for a human being to eat. He advises eating plants and grains rather than slaughtered animals. He recommends fruits vegetables, which do not require much cooking, as well as cheese, milk, and honeycombs. “Zeno”, we’re told, “thought it best to avoid gourmet food, and he was adamant about this.” He thought that once we get used to eating fancy meals we spoil our appetites and start to crave things that are expensive or difficult to obtain, losing the ability to properly enjoy simple, natural food and drink.

Musonius also thought we should train ourselves to avoid gluttony:

Since this behavior [gluttony] is very shameful, the opposite behavior—eating in an orderly and moderate way, and thereby demonstrating self-control—would be very good. Doing this, though, is not easy; it demands much care and training.

Stoics should eat slowly and with mindfulness of their own character and actions. They should use reason to judge where the boundary of what’s healthy lies and exercise moderation wisely.

The person who eats more than he should makes a mistake. So does the person who eats in a hurry, the person who is enthralled by gourmet food, the person who favors sweets over nutritious foods, and the person who does not share his food equally with his fellow-diners. […] Since these and other mistakes are connected with food, the person who wishes to be self-controlled must free himself of all of them and be subject to none. One way to become accustomed to this is to practice choosing food not for pleasure but for nourishment, not to please his palate but to strengthen his body.

I think Musonius would approve of the recipe below because it’s very cheap, mainly uses common vegetable ingredients, which are easy to obtain, and it’s also very easy to prepare. You can easily make a large batch and store it in portions to reheat later. It’s unfussy but tasty and nutritious.

Therefore, the goal of our eating should be staying alive rather than having pleasure—at least if we wish to follow the sound advice of Socrates, who said that many men live to eat, but that he ate to live. No right-thinking person will want to follow the masses and live to eat, as they do, in constant pursuit of gastronomic pleasures.

Recipe for Stoic Soup

In Meals and Recipes from Ancient Greece, Eugenia Ricotti describes the following recipe called “Zeno’s Lentil Soup”. It’s a modern recipe based upon ancient sources, including remarks attributed to Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoic philosophy, which are found in the Deipnosophistae (or “Dinner Experts”) of Athenaeus of Naucratis.

1 lb. (450g) lentils
8 cups (2 litres) broth
1 large minced leek
1 carrot, 1 stalk of celery, and 1 small onion, all sliced
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
olive oil
12 coriander seeds
salt and pepper to taste

She says to rinse the lentils and put them in a pot with the broth to boil. Then reduce heat and simmer for one hour. Then skim the top, add the vegetables, and leave to simmer until cooked, which should be about 30 minutes. She says that if it seems too watery either add cornstarch or pass some of the lentils through a sieve. Finally, add vinegar and honey for flavour.

After pouring into serving bowls, add a good amount of olive oil – she suggests about 2 tablespoons per serving. Finish by sprinkling on the coriander seeds and adding more salt and pepper to taste.

I’ve made this recipe quite a few times myself. I use dried green lentils, which I soak overnight and boil for a few minutes. I use red wine vinegar and often add a couple of garlic cloves and perhaps a few bay leaves, possibly also a little paprika. I’d also usually garnish it with a few fresh coriander leaves and serve with bread. This is a photo of my version…

Discussing Stoicism and CBT on the Hidden Why podcast

Discussing Stoicism and CBT on the Hidden Why podcast

Yes, we’d be best to sidestep the word “passion”, as its meaning has changed so much over time. What you mean by “passion” is arguably part of Stoicism, though. There’s certainly a central role for healthy emotions in Stoicism, particularly love. In fact, Stoicism was originally conceived as a philosophy of love, in a sense. Stoicism definitely never dismissed emotion, accountability or empathy — quite the opposite.

What Marcus Aurelius learned from Domitia Lucilla

What Marcus Aurelius Learned from Domitia Lucilla

The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius was the last famous Stoic of antiquity. His personal reflections on applying Stoic philosophy to daily life, The Meditations, begin with a chapter contemplating the virtues of his family members and most cherished tutors, including his mother, Domitia Lucilla.

His father died when Marcus was only a small child, aged around three, leaving him to be raised in the care of his paternal grandfather and his widowed mother.

Domitia Lucilla was a wealthy and cultured Roman noblewoman, the daughter of the statesman Calvisius Tullus, who had served twice as consul. She died while Marcus was Caesar, before having a chance to see him acclaimed emperor. We can see from Marcus’ private letters to his rhetoric tutor, Marcus Cornelius Fronto, that he loved her very dearly. In The Meditations, he thanks the gods that “although my mother was destined to die at an early age, she at least spent her last years with me” (1.17).

She was a woman of considerable means and influence, who owned an important tile and brick factory outside Rome, near the banks of the River Tiber. However, Marcus describes her generosity and the simplicity of her lifestyle, “far removed from that of the rich” (1.17). These qualities perhaps inspired his own love of simplicity and moderation, paving the way for his later education in Stoic philosophy.

Nevertheless, at first, Lucilla perhaps felt Marcus went too far in his embrace of the traditional Cynic-Stoic attire and lifestyle.

He studied philosophy with ardour, even as a youth. For when he was twelve years old he adopted the dress and, a little later, the hardiness of a philosopher, pursuing his studies clad in a rough Greek cloak and sleeping on the ground; at his mother’s solicitation, however, he reluctantly consented to sleep on a couch strewn with skins. (Historia Augusta)

A few years later, Marcus began formal study of Stoic philosophy and his main tutor was to be a Roman statesman called Junius Rusticus. Marcus also mentions that he learned from Rusticus, “to write letters in an unaffected style, as he did when he wrote to my mother from Sinuessa”, a city on the Italian coast south of Rome (1.7). Rusticus and Lucilla would have been around the same age. He and Marcus’ mother were clearly friends and it’s tempting to wonder whether she may have had some hand in the appointment of Rusticus as one of her son’s main tutors in Stoic philosophy.

Marcus lists the qualities he most admired in Lucilla and sought to emulate as follows:

From my mother, piety and generosity, and to abstain not only from doing wrong but even from contemplating such an act; and the simplicity, too, of her way of life, far removed from that of the rich. (Meditations, 1.3)

Lucilla’s notable generosity and love of simple living, despite her immense wealth, perhaps influenced Marcus’ decision to give away much of his own family inheritance.

Later, when his mother asked him to give his sister part of the fortune left him by his father, he replied that he was content with the fortune of his grandfather and relinquished all of it, further declaring that if she wished, his mother might leave her own estate to his sister in its entirety, in order that she might not be poorer than her husband. (Historia Augusta)

Later, the historian adds that Marcus gave away part of the fortune he inherited from his mother to his sister’s son, after her death.

Finally, he mentions in the passage above that his mother’s example instilled in him a sense of piety and a moral conscience that warned him against entertaining evil thoughts even in the privacy of his own mind, a theme that he returns to several times throughout The Meditations. For example,

I have often marvelled at how everyone loves himself above all others, yet places less value on his own opinion of himself than that of everyone else. At all events, if a god or some wise teacher presented himself and told him not to entertain any thought or idea in his mind without stating it aloud as soon as he had conceived it, he would not abide it for even a single day. So much greater is our respect for what our neighbours think of us than what we think of ourselves! (12.4)

Although The Meditations was probably written at least a decade after her death, Marcus is still reflecting on the lessons he learned from his mother and how the example she set in her own life shaped his character. Whether or not she played some role in introducing him, as a child, to Stoic philosophy, she certainly helped lay the foundation upon which his later training would be built by instilling old-fashioned Roman values in her son compatible with those of Stoic ethics.