STOICISM ON THE FREEDOM FROM INFLUENCES AND WITHDRAWAL FROM THE WORLD
It had been said by many Stoic Philosophers that the only way to freedom is to have withdrawn from the world. In my perspective as a Stoicism student, this is true but not entirely. Whilst we long for freedom, we are merely social creatures, built by the Higher One for community. It has been long studied that people do well when there is a sense of belonging. When one is part of a big picture. Not only are we socials, but the main point of our being is to serve others in the sense of the four virtues of Stoicism. In Adlerian philosophy, it was stated that our impressions and problems all stem from our connection with other people. If we root out the depths of our problems, we realize that everything we feel and do all comes from how we perceive others and how others perceive us. We feel sad because someone has said something to us, or we feel inferior because we compare ourselves. What if we take out the people? We will still feel sad as we crave human affection. And again, it all comes down to our nature as social creatures. In my perspective, what Seneca was trying to say as to withdraw from the world is to withdraw from the impressions the world has on us. That in whatever we do, we are free from any influences, and constantly flowing with life yet stern in philosophy’s guidance. We will be like waves of water, tossed and turned wherever the wind desires, but as we are, we will remain, Water does not change when a storm comes, nor does it do so in the brightest of the day. A water is still water despite the weather that may come.