Neostoicism
Neostoicism was a philosophical movement that arose in the late 16th century from the works of Justus Lipsius, and sought to combine the beliefs of Stoicism and Christianity.
It was the discrimination made by Lipsius, that the materialism and determinism of the Stoics should be largely rejected, that opened up the possibility to present a neostoicism more compatible with Christian beliefs.
[8] During his time in the Northern Netherlands (Leiden, 1578–1591), Lipsius published his two most significant works: De Constantia ("On Constancy", 1583, full title De constantia libri duo qui alloquium praecipue continent in publicis malis) and Politicorum sive Civilis doctrinae libri sex (1589), short name Politica.
[9] They explore aspects of contemporary political predicaments by reference to the classical Greek and pagan Stoicism, in particular, that found in the writings of Seneca the Younger.
[11] Montaigne, however, became more of an opponent of Stoicism, a development towards scepticism that Charles Larmore regards as gradual and linked to his writing of the Essays.
[12] Lipsius was introduced to Seneca by Muretus, a celebrated stylist of humanist Latin, who wrote that some of Stoic doctrine was foolishness.
Both Lipsius and his reading of Seneca provoked criticisms of Stoicism in general, which later scholarship has countered by the recovery of original Stoic texts.
[16] The work of Guillaume du Vair, Traité de la Constance (1594), was another important influence in the neo-stoic movement.
[18] Bement wrote: No rigidly consistent doctrine emerges from the neostoic revival, but two important strains develop, one confirming the contemporary predilection for the active life, the other finding expression in retreat and isolation from the world.
[19]According to Hiller, Lipsius utilized both Seneca and Tacitus to create a coherent system for the management of public and private life in war-torn northern Europe.
"[27] But in fact in De Constantia Lipsius follows Boethius (Consolations of Philosophy Book IV) and later Christian teachings to distinguish between divine providence and fate, the prima causa in nature.
[32] In contrast Richard Tuck described (1993) the effort of Benito Arias Montano, a Familist collaborator of Plantin and long-term friend and correspondent of Lipsius, as influencing in Spain Pedro de Valencia and engaged in theoretical work to go beyond the "Stoicism and scepticism of the Lipsian circle".
[38] Francisco Sánchez de las Brozas promoted neostoicism in Spain, as an editor of an Epictetus edition published in 1600.
[40] Nicolaus Vernulaeus who became historiographer to Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor drew in his Institutiones politicae on neostoicism and its revised version by Adam Contzen, a Jesuit follower of Lipsius.
[36] Thomas Gataker published in 1652 an edition of the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius with a large Biblical apparatus intended for Christian readers.
Post-Lipsius and the requirements of public life in a time of crises ruled by fate, there were the basic ideas of living by virtue and values, disabused of worldly wisdom and superficials.
[50] It was also seen in portraiture of royalty and nobility: "the full-length or three-quarter-length lifesize format, the static pose, and the impassive facial expression associated with the characterological ideal of neo-Stoicism.
[52][53] In the background is a bust belonging to Rubens, at the time thought to be of Seneca: it is now believed to represent the Greek poet Hesiod.
[58] Peter Burke writes "The self-discipline recommended by Seneca and Lipsius was transformed into military discipline in the age of drill.
"[3] Lipsius published a study of the Roman army, De Militia Romana (1595–96), which was influential in a number of European countries.
[59] Lipsius himself did not contribute to an ongoing debate over "reason of state" and national interest, but it took natural steps from his concept of prudentia mixta (mixed prudence).
It grew in the same climate of development based on scepticism, Tacitus and the thought of Machiavelli from which his political ideas and military doctrines arose.
[62] The beginnings of Enlightenment history of philosophy were bound up with reactions to the ideas of Baruch Spinoza, questions about the extent to which they were repackaged Stoicism, and serious criticism of the Christianising approach of Renaissance humanists to ancient Greek thought.
Jakob Thomasius, Jean Le Clerc and Pierre Bayle found the neostoicism of Lipsius a serious distortion of the Greek Stoics, with imposed spirituality and neoplatonism.
