a belief system based on logic?

Stoicism is a logic based belief system based on logic and reason from first principals more or less. So what are the principles it is based on?


1. Humans are social animals, but not herd like. Each individual is an individual rational or has a rational part, but we are dependent on the remainder of our community for survival. Division of labor, and complexity of the necessary trades, for complex survival, make this essentially true. The insurance company depends on the criminal, as do the police, lawyers, and the court and prison system. It not criminal, the improper actions of others, violation of arbitrary safety rules, or revenue generation rules (eg. slow speed limits on main street, Beaumont, with the ever present photo radar).


To make this work, we all must get along through a unwritten social contract. But then comes traffic, and at aggressive drivers, psychopathic, and sociopaths... 1/2 SD of the population, 1 in 7. Now what?


2. The ultimate human goal is happiness, tranquility and no mental suffering; not fame, fortune, or some other ego thing. This is up one on Buddhism, there is a thought system to end suffering. When we are through all this, we have covered all the ground Buddhism covers, but have not need to meditate to reach the same conclusions that you may reach through meditation. If you which to meditate on this, please do so. These can be reached through a belief system, living in a virtuous manner, living in concordance with nature, human nature, and our personal nature, and adopting a ration process to our thinking process.

In effect we go from being a wild untrained human to a trained human, trained to think in a logical systematic manner in respect to thinking, feeling, behaving, or if you prefer, social, philosophically, psychologically, emotionally, and physically. Ever move, decision, judgement, desire, impulse, opinion will need to be reviewed, going forward knowing that we are right.

It yields such a freedom and power, yet is humble, wise, appropriate and liberating.

More later.