I’m personally a big fan of this philosophy, but I think the “accept and move on” aspects are a tough sell on the whole. We do love to revel in our feelings, for better or for worse.

On the flip side, we invented Pragmatism which certainly owes Stoicism a nod.

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  2. I’m reading the Daily Stoic. Year long daily readings from Stoic Philosophy.

    It’s an interesting philosophy but not one I embrace completely. There’s certainly a lot of truth in it though.

  5. America has a strong ethic of personal responsibility, which lines up nicely with Stoicism.

    I’ve been an American and Stoic my whole adult life, and I’ve never found them to be in conflict.

  6. I think most Americans would consider themselves stoic, but the nature of the modern commercial and political America is one of creating outrage and victimization rather than self control.

  7. I’m not incredibly well versed on it, but I did read Meditations a few years back and I really enjoyed it and found myself admiring Marcus Aurelius’ outlook.

    I think the biggest hang up I have with it is that my opinion on determinism is *wildly* inconsistent, which is a problem with me as opposed to the philosophy.

  8. I think being stoic is definitely expected of from more so men than women in this country, although I’m sure that’s the case in many other countries..

  9. The US still has a fairly large Judeo-Christian population and the two philosophies have some overlap. “Accept and move on” within Christianity is all about forgiveness. You forgive those who wronged you and then you move on. Also, being slow to anger is mentioned several times in scriptures. Obviously the two philosophies aren’t identical but that aspect of stoicism (keeping your emotions in check) is something a lot of Americans would agree with. I do think that that aspect of our culture is on the decline.

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