The Stoic philosophers were so named because the founder, Zeno of Citium, taught his students on a porch, or stoa. And I had an awesome time learning about Stoicism on a porch (and in a lodge and on hikes) last week in Wyoming. I've been interested in Stoicism for a year or two, but that has been limited to reading a few books and participating in a one week online event called Stoic Week. I also read a few blogs, and one of them posted an advertisement for Stoic Camp earlier this year. This seemed like exactly the kind of thing retirement was supposed to provide time for, so I signed up.
Each morning and afternoon we read and discussed the writing of Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius in groups, and in the evenings we had guest lecturers who helped connect Stoicism to other schools of western philosophy. Shared cabin lodging and meals were provided by the camp, and every day with good weather, we had time to hike. But mainly, I got to learn about a really interesting topic with people who were really passionate about it.
Before I went, I predicted that I'd either love or hate Stoicism by the end. And I'm definitely leaning in the love direction. It's a philosophy that resonates with me, but of course the real test will be putting it into practice over the coming months and years.
Near the end of the week, we all got up before 5am and hiked up a ridge to watch the sun rise and ponder.
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If you want to learn more about Stoicism, you can read more at Stoicism Today, some of the podcasts from Philosophy as a Way of Life (co-hosted by the leader of the camp), or just read the Wikipedia page.
6 comments:
That sounds so great! Glad you ended up leaning the way you did.
that's soooooo cool! What was the make up of the type of people who attend such a retreat, I wonder? Ages, socio-economic situation?
Hmmmm I wonder if there is an Epicurian Camp...A philosophy equally popular in the ancient world around the same time.
Alexis, the demographics of philosophy are a lot like those of physics. Primarily white and male. Of the thirty attendees, four of us were women. About half were current philosophy students (ie at a university) and about half were older and stoicism was a side interest to our main careers.
Epicureanism doesn't seem to be having quite the same resurgence as stoicism, but I agree that an epicurean camp would be awesome.
Such a contrast to your previous journey.
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