Episode 230 - Rebelling Against the Body

You may consider your body to be yours, but the Stoics had a different perspective on this. It is “yours”, in one sense, as it constitutes a part of you. At the same time, making the mind strong is what Stoicism is all about. In fact, you could look at many of the Stoic doctrines as a kind of rebellion against the body.

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Introduction

You may consider your body to be yours, but the Stoics had a different perspective on this. It is “yours”, in one sense, as it constitutes a part of you. At the same time, making the mind strong is what Stoicism is all about. In fact, you could look at many of the Stoic doctrines as a kind of rebellion against the body.

What Are Our Bodily Desires?

We must contend with bodily desires daily. The list is long – hunger, thirst, lust, comfort, immediate joy, etc. Let’s break a few of these down.

Hunger is a simple enough one. We become hungry when we do not eat. Sometimes, if we overindulge regularly, we never stop becoming hungry. Just because you are hungry doesn’t mean that you should eat, after all. Thirst is similar in some ways, though normally you should drink when you’re thirsty. However, that doesn’t mean that you should drink 10 cups of coffee, though, nor 18 bottles of beer.

There’s lust – we are all human at the end of the day, and we have raging hormones compelling us to spread our genes to the next generation. Comfort is a bit more of an abstract one, but it’s that desire to stay under your bedsheets in the morning, or to not go out for a walk because it’s cold, or to stay on the couch when you need to get to the gym.