The Philosophies Of Stoicism And Skepticism

The philosophies of Stoicism and Skepticism offer differing ideals that one could almost consider being on opposite ends of the spectrum, yet both believe their way of life leads them to the success and truth humans are after. But which one offers the most logical position? Epictetus presents his thought of Stoicism in The Encheiridion, where he offers advice on how to obtain happiness. David Hume rejects the idea of Stoicism in his essay “The Skeptic”. In the article Hume highlights some of the misleading points of Stoicism while also explaining the ideals of Skepticism. After analyzing the two positions of Stoicism and Skepticism by studying their ideals and implementing both into my everyday lifestyle; Skepticism offers the more true way of life. Epictetus makes it clear that the main objective of Stoicism is to achieve ultimate happiness. He believes that once we are able to remove all suffering from our lives then we will be able to obtain this ultimate happiness. How does one remove all suffering from their life? Epictetus explains that one must …show more content…
The first point that drew myself closer to Skepticism was the view of an object’s intrinsic value. Objects do not hold the same meaning or importance to every single person, but instead people’s desires will determine the value of that object. Hume puts it this way, “but that these attributes arise from the particular constitution and fabric of human sentiment and affection” (Hume, 340). This is a major belief of Skepticism, which is later restated in the essay with the example of how we portray the sun revolving around the earth. We know that this is a false statement through the backing of scientific proof. But when you examine a person’s qualities or desires the concept of truth and falsehood does not apply. Every person has a different set of desires and passions and no one can justify if they are correct or