I would agree with you in choosing this principle as one of the most personally helpful in applying Stoicism (or ancient virtue ethics in general) to life. Not only does it provide another incentive to act virtuously, even when the consequences are minor, but it also seems to be true. I'm no neuroscientist, but my lay understanding is that we do indeed reinforce a particular neural network every time we engage in a certain sequence of thoughts, feelings, and actions. Every time we make a particular excuse for an unvirtuous act and follow it up with action, we reinforce that neural pathway. Every time we choose something different, we reinforce a different pathway.
The principle of focusing on the virtuousness of each small action in the moment also relieves the anxiety that comes from trying to imagine all the consequences of every possible choice, estimate their likelihood and choose the best one.
For me personally, I think the MOST impactful principle is eudaimonism - the idea that virtue is the surest path to happiness/flourishing. I know it more from Aristotle than from the Stoics. I haven't encountered as much discussion of eudaimonia in my study of the Stoics so far. If there are particular texts that discuss the idea in depth, I would love some recommendations!
They all reference eudaimonia or felicitas, all over the place, I’m guessing you don’t read the Stoics in Greek or Latin. Standard English translation for those terms are “happiness”
Indeed, so far I can only pick my way through the Greek very slowly with a lot of help from Perseus, although I hope to do a more intensive study of Ancient Greek at some point in the future. I'll pay closer attention, and check the original Greek more frequently.
Well you can do that. You can also just read the English translations, and realize, like I said, where "happy" or "happiness" is being referenced, you've got what you said you weren't finding. Seneca has a whole work called "On The Happy Life"
I would agree with you in choosing this principle as one of the most personally helpful in applying Stoicism (or ancient virtue ethics in general) to life. Not only does it provide another incentive to act virtuously, even when the consequences are minor, but it also seems to be true. I'm no neuroscientist, but my lay understanding is that we do indeed reinforce a particular neural network every time we engage in a certain sequence of thoughts, feelings, and actions. Every time we make a particular excuse for an unvirtuous act and follow it up with action, we reinforce that neural pathway. Every time we choose something different, we reinforce a different pathway.
The principle of focusing on the virtuousness of each small action in the moment also relieves the anxiety that comes from trying to imagine all the consequences of every possible choice, estimate their likelihood and choose the best one.
For me personally, I think the MOST impactful principle is eudaimonism - the idea that virtue is the surest path to happiness/flourishing. I know it more from Aristotle than from the Stoics. I haven't encountered as much discussion of eudaimonia in my study of the Stoics so far. If there are particular texts that discuss the idea in depth, I would love some recommendations!
They all reference eudaimonia or felicitas, all over the place, I’m guessing you don’t read the Stoics in Greek or Latin. Standard English translation for those terms are “happiness”
Indeed, so far I can only pick my way through the Greek very slowly with a lot of help from Perseus, although I hope to do a more intensive study of Ancient Greek at some point in the future. I'll pay closer attention, and check the original Greek more frequently.
Well you can do that. You can also just read the English translations, and realize, like I said, where "happy" or "happiness" is being referenced, you've got what you said you weren't finding. Seneca has a whole work called "On The Happy Life"