LAUSR

In the Whitehall Study, epidemiologist Michael Marmot found that among male British civil servants in the 1960s and 1970s, and also female civil servants in the 1980s, mortality was lowest in the most senior civil servants, but increased with decreasing grade. The generous pay of civil servants meant this phenomenon was not due to poverty. Supported by subsequent research, it has been called the ‘status effect’. Marmot’s interpretation was that the findings likely reflected the degree that people felt they were in control of their lives. The philosophy of Stoicism has much to teach us about control. Stoicism was initiated around 300 BC by the ancient Greek philosopher Zeno (author of Zeno’s Republic) and refined by the Roman philosophers Seneca (born 4 years before Jesus), Epictetus (an ex-slave) and emperor Marcus Aurelius (whose short book Meditations is probably one of the most influential books ever written). The Stoics emphasise wisdom, courage, moderation and justice. In an eminently accessible book, journalist, author and lawyer Brigid Delaney argues that Stoic philosophy is as relevant nowadays as it was in Ancient Greece and Rome. One of the basic Stoic ideas is to recognise what you can control and what you cannot (the ‘Dichotomy of Control’), and try to stop worrying about the things you cannot control. Delaney herself suggests that we try to apply ‘the control test’ to a situation that is perturbing us. Should we worry about it? Ask yourself, she suggests, is it related to your character, your actions and reactions, or how you treat others? If the answer is yes, then those are things you can control, and you can act. If the answer is no, then it is out of your control, so why worry? Epictetus said: ‘It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters’. Or, as Shakespeare has Hamlet say: ‘There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so’. The way we perceive things as good or bad may be in our control. Stoicism has limits as a whole-of-life philosophy. Arguably, its individualistic, laissez faire approach has relatively little to say on issues we cannot control now, but which might be amenable to collective action, such as climate change or Black Lives Matter. American philosopher Martha Nussbaum has questioned whether the Stoic emphasis on using our reason as a basis for living our lives well and not worrying as much, leaves enough room for human emotions: ‘Can one live in reason’s kingdom, understood in the way the Stoics understand it, and still be a creature of wonder, grief and love?’ Marcus Aurelius certainly