Does Happiness Write Blank Pages? On Stoicism and Artistic Creativity

by Piotr Stankiewicz, Lawrence C Becker (Foreword by)

Overview

Stoicism is coming back in a big way. Seen as a remedy for the craziness of the times we live in, it is experiencing a great surge in academic and cultural interest. Yet, can one live stoically and be a creative artist at the same time? Delving into its underlying tenets, obscure restrictions and limits of applicability, Stankiewicz critically explores Stoicism and its complex association with artistic creativity.
Stoicism and artistic creativity are two great displays of the human spirit. Yet, there are multiple reasons to suspect that they are at odds with each other. Popular culture encapsulates this problem in the figure of the rational, yet emotionally remote Stoic, who achieves serenity through withdrawal, and the contrasting figure of the “cursed poet,” “tormented artist,” or simply a rock star, who lives in a whirl of creative energy, yet falls short of quietude. Is this contrast valid? Other disciplines, including psychology, have explored this problem. But it has never been done philosophically.
Pioneering in its philosophical approach, this book discusses how artistic creativity and its problems of identity, expression and self-creation serve as a great testing ground for Stoicism, as well as its theoretical challenges and practical limits. Stankiewicz presents a detailed investigation into the stereotypes of Stoic life that seeks to explain the cause of Stoicism’s modern revival. This book is an essential read for anyone captivated by Stoicism’s complex allure.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781622734467
Publisher:	Vernon Press
Publication date:	10/24/2018
Series:	Philosophy
Pages:	182
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.44(d)

About the Author

Piotr Stankiewicz PhD (b. 1983) is a philosopher, author and teacher specializing in Stoicism. He is captivated by the idea that Stoicism is not only a school of philosophy from an antiquity textbook, but a viable philosophy of life for modern times. This idea, alongside with the attempt to critically evaluate the premises and promises of the Stoics, has been fuelling his work. Stankiewicz has a background in both philosophy and science. He is a member of the "Modern Stoicism" team, an international network of scholars and authors promoting Stoic philosophy. He is based in the Warsaw, Poland.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Stoicism, Happiness, and Tormented Artists

Stoic Happiness and Happiness in General

Why Stoicism?

Challenges Facing Stoicism

Why Artistic Creativity?

Remarks on Methodology



The Argument

1. Stating the Problem

2. Defining Creativity

3. Why is Artistic Creativity a Challenge to Stoicism?

4. Methodology

5. The Theme of Fame

6. The Profit Theme and the Ascetic Misinterpretation of Stoicism

7. The Theme of Description and Preservation

8. The Expressive Theme

First variant. Artist’s self is created through the creative act

Second variant. Artist’s self exists prior to the creative act

9. The Cognitive Theme

10. The Revolutionary Theme and the Conservative Misinterpretation of Stoicism

11. The Axiological Theme

12. The Autotherapeutic Theme

The hypothesis of cooperation

The hypothesis of contradiction

13. The Didactic Theme

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

Endnotes

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

This is a compact book that addresses an interesting but neglected question and does so with admirable precision. It examines the apparent conflict between the images of the tormented poet and the tranquil sage. It offers a critical discussion of some key ideas in Stoicism and an analysis of artistic creativity that draws on a wide range of examples, from high art to popular culture. It shows the ways in which the Romantic image of creative genius is at odds with the Stoic ideal of rational contentment, while also pointing to other models of artistic practice that might be more fitting for someone trying to combine Stoicism with artistic practice.

Dr John Sellars

Wolfson College, Oxford, UK

From the Publisher