What is a Stoic Sage?
Episode #306
In moments of reflection on what we are doing with our lives, the thought can creep up: Am I doing enough? Could I be doing more good in my life? The Stoics have their fair share of radical ideas, but one that may be tremendously useful in the contemplation of this question is that there is no such thing as the idea of doing “more good” in Stoicism. Wherever you are right now is where you are supposed to be, and you can only act appropriately - no more, no less. Of course, unless you are a Sage. But what is a Sage? And is this idea in Stoicism a useful one, or does it simply hold back our ambitions?
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The Stoic Sage
In Stoicism, a Sage is a person who, by definition, can “do no wrong”. It does not mean that they are perfect because the idea of perfection isn’t really a Stoic one. The Sage is a person of virtue; someone who acts for oneself, the common good, and Nature simultaneously.
There are disagreements about whether or not the Sage is a realistic proposition; I tend to think that it is not. However, I do believe that many of us can get a good idea of what the Sage was to the Stoics by referencing someone in our lives.
Many people I talk to know of someone in their lives who seems to be, put simply, a good person. They always have a wise thing to say, they are never or are rarely angry, and they are kind and gentle, yet strong - these are qualities that more-or-less define the Stoic Sage.
When we look at such people, we consider them to be people who are just good; they can do no wrong. Of course, in practicality, we all know that the person who can truly do no wrong likely doesn’t exist, but I personally know of a few candidates.
In fact, the Stoic Sage types tend to be older people in my estimation. That could be seen as rather obvious; it takes time to gain wisdom and strength. However, Sages do not necessarily need to be older people (by definition).
In any case, the person who can seemingly do no wrong is the Sage. An aspect of this that’s interesting is that the Stoics were wise enough to understand that two different Sages could, in theory, be very different from one another! One Sage could be fighting on the opposite side of a war as another Sage. That’s right - two Sages could be fighting each other!
It all gets down to the context of the situation; why are they fighting? What obligations do they have? Who is included in their circles of concern?
Taking away this perhaps extreme example, Sages can have completely different personalities. Sages are not “introverts” or “extroverts”, nor “agreeable” or “disagreeable”. All Sages must live according to communal nature and Mother Nature. They also must live according to their personal nature, and every one of us has a different personal nature.
Acting Virtuously Versus Appropriately
We've established that the Sage can “do no wrong” and that there is no cookie-cutter approach to defining what a Sage is in detail, other than that they must live according to Nature.
But let’s consider for a moment that a Sage exists. Let’s assume, for argument’s sake, that Socrates was a Sage.
If Socrates were alive today, we could look at every action he does - from eating his barley soup to throwing handfuls of salt on his icy driveway to smiling at the child at McDonalds to dying nobly - as a virtuous act.
We would know his acts were virtuous because, well, he did them, and we know that Soc’ is a Sage!
But let’s take the example of a Stoic learner that is not a Sage. We have many more examples of this type! Let’s use the Strong Stoic podcast listener “Stove Ickus”, whom we can nickname “Stop Ick”, or “Sto” for short.
Sto is not a Sage; he is simply a Stoic learner. Because he is not a Sage, he is not virtuous. And because he is not virtuous, he cannot act virtuously.
Now: when we say things like “acting virtuously”, “more virtuously”, and “being virtuous” - as examples - we’re not really using the correct phrasing, according to Stoicism.
Unless you are a Sage, you are not virtuous, and so you cannot act virtuously. Period.
So what do the rest of us do? Well, a phase that Dr. Kai Whiting termed, which I like, is “acting appropriately”.
If we are not Sages, all we can really do is “act appropriately”. That means acting in such a way that is appropriate, given the context of the situation, our personal natures, the laws of the Cosmos, our obligations, and so on.
So, Sto, I’m sorry, but you cannot act virtuously. You cannot be virtuous. You can only act appropriately.
Doing Good or More Good
Finally, we get to the idea of “doing good” or doing “more good”.
A Sage, by definition, can do no wrong, regardless of whatever she is doing. If she is clipping her toenails, she is being virtuous. If she is being stern with a coworker, she is virtuous. So the idea of “doing more good” in Stoicism isn’t really a Stoic idea.
That is, a Sage is always doing good (by definition), and a Stoic, like Sto, is either “acting appropriately” or “acting inappropriately”. There’s no such thing as “acting more appropriately”; it’s either an appropriate act or it’s not!
Let’s look at an example.
Is yelling bad? Of course not! It’s indifferent. Sto can yell at his kids because he had a bad day at work - that’s acting inappropriately. Modern-day Socrates can yell at a pedestrian crossing the street about to be hit by a car, and that would be virtuous.
Acting appropriately means doing what the situation demands of you, just as it does for the Sage; the difference is that the Sage does it all of the time, while Sto misses the mark often.
Comparing Sages
To hit this idea home, let’s assume we have two Stoic Sages. Sage 1 is a politician fighting for the people. They do the best with what they have. They always make the right decision, because they are Sages. Of course, that doesn’t mean that everyone likes them, but it means that they are doing the virtuous thing for the cosmos.
Sage 2 is a member of a small community in Iceland of 200 people. They are the person that everyone goes to for advice. They spend their day helping others and working for the community.
Both of these Sages - if they are, in fact, Sages - are virtuous. They can do no wrong. One isn’t more virtuous than the other. No, they are both simply virtuous.
You could make the case that Sage 1 - the politician - is “doing more good” because their actions affect more people, but that isn’t a Stoic case to make. In Stoicism, the outcome is irrelevant to our goodness. The only thing that matters is our character, and if our character is a virtuous one, then there’s no such thing as being more virtuous.
If we look at a similar example with Stoics who are not Sages, we could say that some people act appropriately for more hours of the day than others, but even that isn’t really the Stoic way of looking at it. The Stoic way of looking at it is that this present moment is the only thing you have. The past is the past. The future isn’t guaranteed. So all that you can do is act appropriately - not virtuously - at this present moment.
And that’s wonderful, because it means, regardless of what you’ve done in the past, whether that was 10 years ago or 5 minutes ago, you can still act appropriately right now. You may not be a Sage, but, heck, so may not anyone else.
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Brandon Tumblin is most well-known for his podcast, The Strong Stoic Podcast, where he discusses philosophical ideas (solo and guest episodes).
Brandon is also a writer for THE STOIC, the official journal of The Stoic Gym.