Don't mind how people view you because we all die and none of will be remembered eventually

>don't mind how people view you because we all die and none of will be remembered eventually
>but remember to act justly and be a good person etc...
what did he mean by this?
Why does it matter how we act if he also asserts how little it matters how others act?

Because the brief moment of living is more enjoyable if you act justly and be a good person.

Beating, torturing and occasionally genociding minority cultures is really stressful.

thats their problem, not yours

What few people know is that Mark Aurels meditations were never meant to be published.
The book is basically just notes he wrote to himself.

No, user, I need a dead ancient person to justify his behavior. Are you trying to be rational, you pig?

yeah i'm sorry, forgot this was Veeky Forums for a second

>what did he mean by this?
He means Roman justice, hes not going by the christian definition of a good person.

You forgot
>Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.

You don't act justly and be a good person because you want to be remembered, you act justly and be a good person because it's virtuous, and being virtuous brings you joy.

That's the way the stoics see it, anyway. Pleasure from vice is generally superficial and shallow, and usually extrinsic. It's based on externals which can be given to you and taken from you by fortune. Pleasure from right action and discipline can be intrinsically rewarding, and don't require externals to practice.

Just for the record, his meditations weren't an argument with anybody, it was a private journal. He was likely telling himself to stop lecturing people and follow his own advice.

>tfw dont know anything about philosophy but find myself agreeing with stoics
what are some good critics of stoicism?

You must be a woman.

He was a pretty cool guy so his personal insights can still be fascinating even if he wasn't a true philosopher trying to publish his life's work.

Do good because doing good begets a cycle of good. Don't do good because you think it will make others like you. Do things for values and for the big picture and not for individual people.

Yep.

Its meant to be a way of thinking about life, not a code that must be followed religiously. If taken literally and to the extreme you end up with pic related.

He was also a person of superior caliber

>You don't act justly and be a good person because you want to be remembered, you act justly and be a good person because it's virtuous, and being virtuous brings you joy.
>That's the way the stoics see it, anyway. Pleasure from vice is generally superficial and shallow, and usually extrinsic. It's based on externals which can be given to you and taken from you by fortune. Pleasure from right action and discipline can be intrinsically rewarding, and don't require externals to practice.

Pretty much.
And the reason why some of the virtues are virtues is not even that they help others, but rather that they are good for yourself.

That's one of the reasons why some modern people who don't know what ethics/morals meant to the Greeks and Romans sometimes get confused on "why something that doesn't hurt other people is considered morally wrong". Because it is bad for yourself. Becoming a rockstar who has sex with a different person every day will give you pleasure, but will not make you happy.

Stoicism IS a way of life. Marcus Aurelius was not considered a philosopher because of his writing or his speeches. But because he lived like a Stoic. There was a practical component to it, if you wanted to live by virtue.

Name a better man

Al Maarri or Epictetus or Diogenes.

>enjoyment is good
lmao

Stoicism requires one to accept a certain metaphysics, where 'virtue' is existent and ordained by the Logos. Reject that, and stoicism falls apart. This is what you children seem to ignore when you read this garbage.

>a way of thinking about life
So it's a Stupid System like all other self-help trash. Garbage that belongs in the trash.
All trash people.

>like all other self-help trash
The man was literally one of the 5 great Emperors of Rome. Pic related carried a copy of it with him when he was in Iraq.

All emperors were trash, 'pic related' is trash. You're trash. Drop your iconophilia.

Just bee urself

>every thing is trash
Stunning insights user, where can I buy your personal memoirs?

That's not what I said, I said your burgers are trash.

dude nihilism lmao

dude lol if you want it to be then it's true lmao you can decide about reality

Whats exactly wrong with masturbation ?Jesus stop annoying me

You are trash

Both true, i just wanted to give OP some insight as to why some of what he says might come of as poorly thought out and incoherent at times.

>don't be a dick
>also don't bother caring about anything
What a fucking pussy. Yeah, don't be a dick, don't get in over your head with your passions, but come on. Enjoy life. Don't be so fucking dour.
No wonder Commodus was a chode, he was chadbelling against his dad's virginerdiness.