Dignity and Injustice

Following up on reader comments

We had a number of questions about How to deal with tyrants – Michael took them on in the comments – but they deserve a letter of their own too.

First, a quick summary of the Stoic position. It’s perfectly captured by Epictetus:

But it is a man’s own opinions which disturb him: for when the tyrant says to a man, I will chain your leg, he who values his leg says, Do not; have pity: but he who values his own will says, If it appears more advantageous to you, chain it.

Discourses 19.1

Other people do not determine your happiness. Ultimately, that is up to your decisions and judgements.

Yes, other people can constrain your liberty – but ultimately they cannot limit your freedom:

And what is freedom, you ask? It means not being a slave to any circumstance, to any constraint, to any chance; it means compelling Fortune to enter the lists on equal terms.

Seneca, Moral Letters 51

Epictetus tells the story of Helvidius Priscus refusing to shut up just because the emperor demanded it. Why? Because the job of a senator and philosopher is to speak his mind – not give it up just because an emperor threatens him.

Stephanie asked, “Can tyrants take away our dignity?” With such philosophical questions, it always depends on what we mean – and as the SEP says “dignity is a complex concept.” For the Stoics, it is essential to distinguish between other people wronging you and causing you to suffer.

Other people can wrong you – and that requires a response. The Stoics certainly do not deny that. But again, they cannot make you suffer. Here is Marcus Aurelius:

If you take away your opinion about that which appears to give you pain, you yourself stand in perfect security.

Meditations 8.40

So, other people can treat us unjustly. They may affront our dignity. But they cannot impinge on the inner citadel. That’s our own.

This, of course, is consistent with defending ourselves and others from tyrants. Stoics died resisting tyrants themselves – think of the Stoic opposition to Nero or Cato’s war against Caesar.

It’s Stoic practice that cements our dignity in any circumstance. Helvidius Priscus acted with courage because he believed no emperor held power over him. People who are slaves to fortune sell their soul for the sake of rewards or the fear of punishment.

But if Stoics believe others cannot ultimately harm us – what grounds our rights? This is a deep question, perhaps deserving of another piece. Here I’d just like to reframe it as a separate matter from the point that Michael is making is his post:

Tyrants control the domain of externals. And if we worship externals, the things not to us, then they will control our happiness and our emotions.

The purpose of the game of life is to play it well. No one can prevent you from doing that to the best of your ability. It doesn’t matter whether others play dirty, play fair, or hold a better hand. If you do your best, for the Stoics, that is genuine happiness.