Stoics were always very concerned with the motives that would lay behind anyone’s actions, especially their own. Men should not let the desires of worldly life like beauty, fame, power and fortune, among others, guide their steps.
Epictetus once said that we’re slaves to the desires we cannot control. This is addiction. These are desires you’re supposed to control, but end up controlling you.
The concept of addiction
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary highlights two definitions of Addiction; The first is bad – a compulsive, chronic, physiological or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, behavior, or activity having harmful physical, psychological, or social effects and typically causing well-defined symptoms (such as anxiety, irritability, tremors, or nausea) upon withdrawal or abstinence: the state of being addicted.
The other can be related to good things as well as bad ones – a strong inclination to do, use, or indulge in something repeatedly.
Though there is that second possibility, most of the time when we use the word “addiction” we don’t imagine it as a good thing, especially because all excess tends to be damaging at some point.
This is not different to Stoicism. Even the addiction to any of the stoic practices can lead to harm. If not to the person himself, then it harms the ones around him.
How the greats viewed addiction
Seneca, in his letter 83, speaks of drunkenness. He even quotes Zeno, who had said no one trusts a secret to a drunk man. From that letter and this observation, we deduce that stoic thinkers don’t think that a person under the influence of a mind altering substance is reliable.
That conclusion is derived from the fact that stoics focus on inner balance and self-control, and as we can see from their own definition to addiction it’s something the person cannot control.
Would you trust some money to a person addicted to gambling? I’m talking about someone who cannot control his urge to bet.
Importance of self control
Stoics believed that self-control is the most effective form of control. Epictetus said: “No man is free who is not master of himself.” and “Only the educated are free.”
From these quotes we can conclude that stoics see addiction as a form of slavery, and we must agree that it really is. There’s something stronger than the person that leads them into doing something harmful to their own self. This makes no logical sense but people fall prey to their pleasures every single day.
Marcus Aurelius, in Meditations, said: “Only people who cultivate self-control in themselves can bring positive change to others.” That’s how important self-control is for a stoic. It’s the main tool used to help us grow.
Be compassionate
If a stoic sees addiction in someone else, he or she can see it as a disease and therefore feel compassion for a person in such a situation. Seneca sees the care of friends as a strong medicine (learn more on How do stoics console others? on our page). The main point here is not to judge.
Stoics facing addiction would go through a great battle in order to gain self control. The goal would be to conquer thyself, and therefore be able to resist the vices that give pleasure but destroy well-being. The only way to be free is through self control.
The concept of freedom for stoics is very similar to the one of Kant’s. Freedom is not being able to do whatever you want. It’s the ability to live within limitations, by controlling yourself and refraining from your instincts.
We should keep in mind the stoic concept of freedom and slavery (addiction being a form of slavery). It would be nice to mention how a great french novelist dealt with this dilemma, Victor Hugo, he’d say that from time to time, he would place money in front of him and remind himself who owned who.
We can all think of a weakness or two that we need to overcome, the question then becomes, how do we overcome our negative habits? Everyone has addictions, politicians love power, movie stars love fame, businessmen love money, and the list goes on. Think about it. And just like Victor Hugo, put it right in front of you, and make a decision about who owns who.
