Re:Rethinking Fear
by YXNjaGVyZWdlbgo on Wednesday January 26, 2022 @07:13AM
(#30084592)
I still can't wrap my head around how you can say that all stoics advocate retreat especially Marcus Aurelius says that you need to asses if the fear you have is rational or irrational and if it's rational you have to act. The monster under your bed will not eat your feet when they tangle over the edge not one stoic would say curl up in a ball and ignore it. Except Seneca who would say "What are the chances?" they would all say look if there is a monster and if there is not ignore it.
When Nietzsche talks about Amor Fati he is making an even stronger point. People should not just assert control over their own lives and risk things, they should do so even if they know that they are doomed. Love for one's fate and love for life is supposed to be so strong that even imagining the worst outcome repeating forever ('Eternal Return' in Zarathustra), one still ought to say 'yes' and embrace fear, suffering, what have you.
And that is where he parts from the Stoics. Where the Stoics, in the face of fear advocate retreat, or moderation, or some kind of contemplation and withdrawal he makes the case that is it precisely the fear that makes asserting one's will worthwhile.