Stoicism And The Warrior-Philosopher

Stoicism, a fairly well-defined, well documented philosophy, is a philosophical school of thought which originated in Ancient Greece, around 300 BCE, attributed to Zeno of Citium. Along with Aristotle’s ethics, and the Rationalists in general, Stoicism forms one of the founding philosophies to virtue ethics. The Stoics are known for teaching that virtue is the only good for humans, and external things, such as wealth and pleasure, are not good or bad in themselves but only have value as material for virtue to act upon.

Conversely, the idea of the warrior-philosopher is not well-defined nor well documented in-and-of-itself, and is not a formally named school of philosophy. In its simplest sense, the warrior-philosopher ideal seeks to blend the qualities of the philosopher and the warrior; an equal blending of knowledge and wisdom on one side, with physical prowess in athletics and personal combat on the other side. Rather than being a formal school of thought, it is more of an implied ideal; however, despite being more nebulous, it is nevertheless discussed throughout many cultures and philosophies.

Too much music softens and relaxes the soul... while too much gymnastics makes it hard and unyielding. Therefore, we must blend the two so that the soul becomes gentle and spirited.—Plato, Republic 3.410c–412a

Do you not think it a disgrace for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable?—Socrates, Memorabilia, Book III, Chapter 12

If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid. Do not eat and drink to excess; don’t sleep too much; avoid sensual pleasures. Submit to your training as you would if you were an athlete. For both the body and the soul require discipline. The athlete does not train for the applause, but to be strong. — Epictetus, 3.12 (paraphrased)

Of particular relevance to this writing are the views of the Stoics on the warrior-philosopher mindset, and what I term, “strategic Stoicism.” All the classical Stoics from Epictetus, to Seneca, to Marcus Aurelius, all of whom respected and strove for intellectual and emotional virtue, equally respected and aspired to physical health and physical prowess in many activities. The stoics strongly believed in a healthy body to strengthen the mind and to provide physical resilience against hardship.

We must exercise the body, not only for health, but also for stamina. The body should be trained to feel hardship—it should not be pampered.— Seneca, Letters to Lucilius 15.2

The warrior-philosopher lifestyle is a duality, striving for equality and balance between two seemingly opposing concepts. The warrior embodies the traits of strength, martial prowess, physical discipline and fitness, victory through conflict, and trains daily to improve in these regards. The philosopher embodies the traits of intelligence, knowledge, education, empathy, compassion, reason, victory through discourse, and studies daily to improve in these regards. In most cases, these traits are disparate, and sometimes in opposition to each other. However, the warrior-philosopher expertly blends these traits into a single philosophy and a single approach to life. If the warrior and the philosopher are the two parts, strategic Stoicism is the glue that holds them together.

Stoicism teaches inner-focus and self-discipline, classic traits of the successful athlete and warrior, as well as the academic. Stoicism requires the acceptance of nature, so we must take some things as given, and work within the bounds of nature. This is an approach taken by all successful warriors, to look at terrain, opposition, and circumstances and take them as given, before deciding what, if anything, to do about them. Similarly, nature is a study of all academicians. The Stoics espoused a strong mind-body connection, asserting that the two influence each other and cannot be separated. So too does the warrior-philosopher need a strong mind-body connection to both learn and execute the art of conflict and combat. This connection can only come from training both equally, the mind in academics, the body in physical training. Resilience and endurance feature predominantly in Stoic writing, and this is the cornerstone of the warrior mindset, to endure what is endurable, and to be resilient to hardship. The Stoics strongly focused on virtue, and for no person is virtue more needed than for the warrior. As an inherently dangerous individual, the warrior must be tempered by virtue or fall into villainy. So too must the academic strive for virtue, as academic integrity is central to the learning process. Finally, and most importantly, the Stoics adhered to emotional restraint. Not that they resisted or suppressed emotions (a common misconception), but that they did not become reactionary to emotion and instead used reason and logic to guide all actions, particularly in the face of strong emotion. For the warrior, this is of utmost importance, as victory in conflict is seldom achieved when driven by anger, jealousy, rage, or reactionary behaviors. For the academic, this is of equal importance, as the truth is seldom what we wish it to be, and personal desires must give way to logic and reason for the academic to be virtuous and true.

A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough.—Bruce Lee

By adhering to Stoic values, the warrior becomes the philosopher, seamlessly blending the traits of both. Warriors learn that through intellectual study, they become more dangerous; through mastery of emotions, they become more strategic; through the acceptance of nature, they become more aware of their surroundings; through temperance, moderation, and self-discipline, they become more fit and physically capable. Without Stoicism, the true warrior-philosopher cannot exist.

He who is only an athlete is too crude, too vulgar, too much a savage. He who is a scholar only is too soft. The ideal citizen is the scholar-athlete, the man of thought and the man of action.—unknown

While Stoicism enables and empowers the warrior-philosopher mindset, the warrior-philosopher does not and cannot strive for perfection in pure Stoicism. Rather, warrior-philosophers uses Stoicism as a guide to bridge the two worlds. By definition, the warrior-philosopher cannot be a pure Stoic, and does not try to be. For example, like the true Stoics, the warrior-philosopher must acknowledge truth to be a high ideal, striving to be honest, honorable, and virtuous in all things. However, the warrior also knows that all conflict necessarily involves deception. Therefore, for the warrior-philosopher, truth lies in victory over an enemy, and deception in conflict is a means to that victory. That is the warrior’s truth. Similarly, while a true Stoic will rise above any disrespect, knowing that injury is suffered only when we perceive injury to be suffered, the warrior-philosopher does not always have this luxury. For the warrior, some disrespect must be answered swiftly and decisively, lest others think it is a show of weakness and seek to exploit that weakness. A true Stoic will master all emotional reactions, and although feeling them fully, will never let emotion rule. A warrior-philosopher must for the most part do the same; knowing there is a time and place to unleash rage and let it rule, if only very briefly, and only when it suits the warrior’s purpose and with focus, control, and discipline. While blind rage is never acceptable, focused rage can be a powerful force driving victory and endurance.

To echo one of the greatest warrior-philosophers of the modern era, pure Stoicism is not in-and-of-itself an achievable end for the warrior-philosopher, but rather it is a guiding light on the path, illuminating the way. It is a battle standard which always points in the right direction, but not necessarily as a goal to be reached in-and-of-itself. The warrior-philosopher who fails to follow this guiding light will degrade to an unthinking, unvirtuous brute, possibly capable of winning battles, but never capable of winning wars. Conversely, focus too hard on the light itself, and not on the path, and the warrior-philosopher becomes the pure academician, a person of thought without action. Therefore, strategic Stoicism for the warrior-philosopher is the guiding and binding quality of both thought and action, adapted to suit the duality of the warrior-philosopher lifestyle. The warrior-philosopher does not serve Stoicism, but rather Stoicism serves and defines the warrior-philosopher.

A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.—Bruce Lee

The relationship between Stoicism and the warrior-philosopher lifestyle is undeniably strong. Clearly, without Stoicism the warrior-philosopher cannot exist because the duality cannot be reconciled. However, while the true Stoic will ever strive for perfection in Stoicism, serving Stoicism, the warrior-philosopher walks with Stoicism as confidant, advisor, guide, and guardian.