The Philosophical SOS

Once upon a time, in some out of the way corner of that universe which is dispersed into numberless twinkling solar systems, there was a star upon which clever beasts invented knowing. That was the most arrogant and mendacious minute of “world history,” but nevertheless, it was only a minute. After nature had drawn a few breaths, the star cooled and congealed, and the clever beasts had to die. One might invent such a fable, and yet he still would not have adequately illustrated how miserable, how shadowy and transient, how aimless and arbitrary the human intellect looks within nature.

— Friedrich Nietzsche (“On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense”)

The Scream by Edvard Munch (1893), is one of the most iconic works in art history. Originally titled Skrik (Norwegian for “Scream”) and first exhibited as Der Schrei der Natur (“The Scream of Nature”), its anguished figure symbolises the anxiety of the human condition. The piece, along with Munch’s wider body of work, had a profound influence on the Expressionist movement.

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I was first introduced to philosophy, and, Stoicism like many others in today’s world: through a snappy and digestible video by Ryan Holiday. If you’re unfamiliar with his work, he authored international bestsellers like The Obstacle is the Way and Ego is the Enemy. His works have undoubtedly repopularised the ancient philosophy of Stoicism. It has experienced a remarkable resurgence in modern culture and it’s often hailed as a roadmap for resilience, virtue, and self-discipline.

And yet, with popularity comes dilution. This essay is a defence of Stoicism, my biases are clear — I found it in…