/lit/ - Literature

Stoicism + Nietzsche wikipedia page = Psued starter kit

>>26450
im not smart though

Plutarch's Lives

>>26512
Then it's the perfect set for you

Dhammapada

>>26719
iq is a spook

>>26450
What about stoicism + absurdism?

because you /fit/ plebs can only comprehend the most basic of philopsophy

>>26450
>>27617

How else am I gunna get redpilled?

>>27617
I'm a stoic-absurdist. after a brief moment of introspection I can report that it seems fine to me but even if it wasn't I wouldn't complain because, you know, stoic-absurdism.
four out of five stars, I recommend this personal philosophy.

>>27738
You could stop looking for an easy answer and read until you find out what you truly believe in?

>>27712
can you recommend me some higher level stuff?

>>27808
apologetics volume 911

>>27837

>>27800
Nice to see another stoic-absurdist here. Its a nice philosophy I wonder why more people don't get on board with it.

>>27800
>>27897
explain it to me

btw I am retarded

>>27897
>>27800
>>27948
me too
im more retarded

These myman

I bought Ride the Tiger and though Evola spent the first few chapters wordspilling he eventually made sense to me.

>>26430
I tried getting through this twice and I don't think I ever made it past 20 pages.

>>28020
Don't choose Ride the Tiger as your introduction to Evola.

>>28107
I get that now. From that list I'm thinking I'll read The Way of Men next

>>27948
>>27986
Absurdism is the idea that everything is ultimately unknowable and acts beyond the whim and reckoning of the human mind. The universe behaves in a way that does not regard you in any perceivable way and no matter what you do nothing external can make you happy. Happiness comes from within and purpose is constructed by you alone.
Stoicism is more or less pic related.
When a stoic acknowledges the absurd the two philosophies round each other out. Stoicism creates structure where Absurdism usually engenders nihilism, and Absurdism gives perspective that keeps the Stoicism from becoming self-destructive

Nothing matters
But things that matter matter to me matter
but I don't matter
But I want me to matter so I matter
but ultimately it doesn't matter and I'm just here for the ride

Sorry if that's a terrible explanation

>>28129
thanks anon!

>>28020
'A Handbook for Traditional Living' is just Evola dumbed down to layman's terms and 'Fighting for the Essence' was so bland that I literally can't fucking remember what it was even about.

>>27804
That sounds absurd

>>28156
Appreciate it m8

>>28129
Why did I get buddhist vibes from this? Please, I'm just as retarded

>>28220
Probably your misunderstanding of Buddhism, but stoicism and Buddhism ride pretty close desu

>>26430
is mad dog certified and approved

https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Penguin-Classics-Lucius-Annaeus/dp/0140442103/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1491101457&sr=1-1&keywords=seneca

or

https://www.amazon.com/Dialogues-Essays-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0199552401/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1491101457&sr=1-5&keywords=seneca

or both?

>>28494
>>>>>>penguin

>>28129
well put

>>28540
kek whats wrong with penguin, anon?

>>28129
I think thats a very good way of explaining it honestly. Good job anon.

EPICUREANISM > SKEPTICISM > STOICISM

I'm reading meditations right now and it's over-rated. Much of the journal (because that's what it is) consists of rambling repetitive themes and self-admonishments to be good without supporting arguments. I often struggle to recall a single standout passage out of the page I just read, let alone 10 pages earlier

It's all right thinking and the thoughts of a man trying to be earnestly just, but not really a deep book

>>28927
Could you go into more detail?

>>29027
if you read it, you'll know what I mean. There's several running themes he has been repeating ad nauseum in different ways throughout the entire 50 pages I've read so far

1) We all are going to die. Live every moment like you're going to die
2) what other people think doesn't matter. fame doesn't matter.
3) Even if people are stupid, it's okay because that's how nature made them.
4) [interspersed cosmic rambling about how we're all part of a harmony]
5) Don't get mad
6) it's always better to be virtuous, because it you think about it that's the best way to live
7) control your daemon

okay, now you've read the meditations of Marcus Aurelius

>>29102
>4) [interspersed cosmic rambling about how we're all part of a harmony]

>>28873
CHRISTIANITY>ALL
>the highest state is to love God and enjoy him forever

>>29288
Oh fuck off.

>>29288
love this dick

>>29312
Epicureanism is hedonism. You are like a pig, not a man.

>>29288
Thomistic Catholicism>All other Christianities

>>29369
I'm not the person you originally replied to, I don't give a shit about Epicureanism. The only reason to read the Bible is to understand works that reference it.

>>29369
>Epicureanism is hedonism

>>29413
that's a weird way of saying Calvinism

>>29467
Epicureanism holds pleasure as the greatest good, how is it not hedonism? Don't give me a spiel about simplification of pleasure and restraint

>>29102
Well you already said it before but it was his personal journals that he never intended to be published so its not like he had an editor going over it to make it flow better. Its basically him writing down little reminders to himself to be a good person which is why people like it.

>>29551
oh yeah, I agree. I would like to be as articulate as aurelius and he is a great man. But this is the sort of thing that makes good day calender reading and not the classic book it's often made out to be

>>29577
I kinda agree, but I feel like its a good book to actually read at least partially after you've actually read about stoicism because it actually shows a real example of somebody living the philosophy not an idealized concept which at least to me was pretty interesting.

>>28927
Here's the thing. To historians it's a wet dream. It's what we wish we had for every great leader.
To normal people it is an over-rated repetitive book.

To fully appreciate The Meditations is you have to understand the time it was written in, the person writing it, the significance the authors actions had on the entire world, and how it shaped the world we live in today.

It's like walking in on the inner monologue episode of a T.V. series 3 seasons in close to the end. A lot is lost without the context.


>consists of rambling repetitive themes and self-admonishments to be good without supporting arguments.
His own actions are his supporting arguments.

>I often struggle to recall a single standout passage out of the page I just read, let alone 10 pages earlier
Because it was not written to be a book. It is just a collection of Marcus's written meditations during various periods of his life.
It's about what you personally take away from it. Not what the text its self says.

>It's all right thinking and the thoughts of a man trying to be earnestly just, but not really a deep book
You are correct. 100% correct.

>>29973
Very informative post anon, thank you

>>29102
>what other people think doesn't matter. fame doesn't matter.

This could be construed as "nothing matters". What does matter?

>>30323
There is a funny double standard with stoic indifference going on. First he'll say, whatever evil others do is okay because it's what nature intended. Then he'll say, I have to act contrary to my nature because it's according to reason.

But it isn't a true contradiction, just convoluted. What matters is being social and just: never lying or holding a grudge and controlling your passions. He justifies this either because of god or the principles that this life is best when considered

>>30830
>First he'll say, whatever evil others do is okay because it's what nature intended.
You have to understand what he means by nature. He's not talking about the modern hippy idea of nature.

I don't have a direct quote but one part that really stuck in my mind was when he was giving an example of a Roman bath. How men shout and splash and steal and that this is the nature of the bath. How if you go to a bath, do not be angered if you are splashed because that is the nature of the bath. You should have accepted that you would be splashed, or have not gone to the bath in the first place.

When he says whatever evil others do is ok because it's what nature intended he's saying that humans can sometimes be violent evil creatures and you have to accept this as part of the nature of being human because you yourself can be the same.

This is mainly a refutation of philosophical ideas that aim to create the perfect human.

>Then he'll say, I have to act contrary to my nature because it's according to reason.
Because this is the person he wants to be. He has accepted the nature of humanity and seeks to act according to reason in spite of nature.


>He justifies this either because of god
Just replace all the talk of gods with "because that's how the world works". He did not really believe in the gods.

Not everything needs to be ideologically justified. At no point in human history has any idea of logic ever been proven perfect.

I don't believe stoicism has all the answers but I think it's a great foundation to build on.

Marcus believed in a set of ideas, and lived his life according to them. He ended up justifying his beliefs by being a great emperor. A sort of might makes right.

>>28563
it's a meme, they have some bad translations