Saving modern Stoicism

Can it be rescued from the Andrew Tate grifters? Does it need to be?

An image from Aperture’s excellent new documentary ‘How Stoicism became the world’s biggest scam’

15 years ago, I was part of a tiny, eccentric movement to revive the ancient philosophy of Stoicism in modern life. That movement gathered more and more momentum, more and more people jumped on the bandwagon, and now we’re deep in the enshittification stage, with one ‘Stoic coach’ – Andrew Tate – currently on trial for human trafficking.

And he’s not even the only ‘Stoic coach’ to face charges for sexual misconduct.

Is this just what happens when things go viral, or are there aspects of Stoicism that are also to blame? Some thoughts below, plus a fantastic new YouTube documentary that explores how modern Stoicism went wrong.

I first encountered Stoicism as a teenager, but got deeply into it in my early 20s, when it played a crucial role in helping me recover from social anxiety and post-psychedelic trauma.

In 2008, I started a blog called the Politics of Well-Being, focused on the revival of ancient Greek philosophy and its influence on modern psychology, particularly Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Positive Psychology.

I started to track down and interview modern Stoics, and wrote the newsletter for an organisation called the Stoic Registry – the first Stoic group on the internet. In 2010, we organized a small gathering in San Diego – we joked it was the first gathering of Stoics for two thousand years. There were only 12 of us, yet we still managed to fall out – there was a schism between the atheist Stoics and the theist Stoics.

In 2012, I published my first book, Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations, which shared stories of modern Stoics (and modern Epicureans, Cynics, Platonists, Sceptics and so on). The same year, I attended an 12-person seminar on ‘Stoicism Today’ at Exeter University, along with people like Donald Robertson, Christopher Gill, John Sellars and Tim LeBon. We launched something called Live Like A Stoic For A Week, and organized the first ‘Stoicon’ that year. We were trying to imagine if it was possible not just to study ancient Stoicism, but to follow its life-philosophy today.

That was basically the launch of Modern Stoicism as a movement, although Alain de Botton had done a lot to revive popular philosophy with his book The Consolations of Philosophy and his School of Life, and others played a significant role, such as Stoic author William Irvine and Stoic Admiral James Stockdale.

Modern Stoicism grew out of three things – the accessible wisdom of Stoicism (which has always had its fans throughout history), the evidence-based efficacy of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (the principal ideas of which came from Stoicism), and finally, the internet. There had always been isolated Stoics, but the internet – like the Logos – allowed us to find each other, connect, and construct a cosmopolis stretching across time and space.

However, the internet also meant Modern Stoicism was beyond anyone’s control, and could spread, evolve and mutate in whatever direction people wanted it to. And boy did it mutate.

I began to shift out of the Stoic movement in 2013 – I was exploring ecstatic experiences, briefly became a Christian, and then went deeper and deeper into New Age spirituality (God help me). I was basically trying to become less independent, less detached, and more open to being in a loving interdependent relationship  – less Stoic, in short.

Meanwhile, Stoicism was growing online. A big part of its success was due to Ryan Holiday, a genius marketeer who was also a Stoic. He wrote a book called The Obstacle is the Way, which took Stoicism into the boardrooms and locker rooms of America. Then he launched The Daily Stoic, a collection of Stoic maxims and an online store selling Stoic courses and even gold Memento Moris. I’ve met Ryan and liked him, and – as I say in this new documentary – I’m jealous of his business savvy!

More and more celebrities started saying they were Stoics or into Stoicism. I stopped keeping track. Back in 2005, it was very rare to find any celebrity mentioning Stoicism. Now I just Google it and find (one moment…) Rory McIlroy,  Jack Dorsey, LL Cool J, Brie Larson, Mark Cuban, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Jerry Seinfeld…

Stoicism became especially popular during the COVID pandemic. Sales of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations went up 356% in the first month of lockdown – it’s the perfect philosophy for prison, with its messaging of focusing on what you can control, accepting what you can’t, and learning to cultivate inner freedom as an escape from external adversity.

But as it went viral, it started to evolve, mutate and get freaky. Maria Konnikova wrote a book detailing how she used Stoicism to win a poker championship. Blogs and coaches started to offer ‘Stoic advice on investing and becoming rich’ . There’s even Stoic dating advice – go out with me! No? Fine, see if I care!

Stoicism is particularly popular with men, surprise surprise. Men don’t always like to go to psychotherapy, because that can feel a bit weak to them. But Stoicism gives men a way to learn the principles of CBT for themselves. Its DIY therapy plus gladiator metaphors.

For that reason, Stoicism started to pop up all over the ‘Manosphere’ –the internet’s stinky locker-room filled with men’s rights advocates, poker hustlers, pick up artists, self-development coaches, gaming, porn, martial arts, cars…and Marcus Aurelius! Sorry Marcus.

The dank lord of the manderworld is Andrew Tate, cage-fighter turned coach for confused young men, with a roaring side-trade in human trafficking.

After the paywall: a great new documentary called ‘How Stoicism Became the World’s Greatest Scam’. Plus some more links from the net, and three book recommendations.