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The Art of Living

Four Threats To Our Judgment

Massimo Pigliucci hails the stoicism of a philosopher-emperor.

According to one version of Stoic philosophy, the most important thing in life is to keep a well-functioning faculty of judgment, because everything else follows from it. If I have good judgment, I will make good use of things and events; but if I have bad judgment, I will make bad use of them. For instance, is wealth good or bad? We’re normally inclined to say that it is good, but the Stoics would object that that depends on our use of it. If we acquire wealth justly and we use it for the betterment of humanity, then yes, it’s a good thing. But if we acquire it by exploiting other people, or use it to corrupt public officials so that we can have our way, it’s a bad thing.

“Don’t mess with the Romans!”
Roman soldier © MatthiasKabel 2005 Creative Commons

The second century Stoic philosopher Epictetus of Hierapolis called the faculty of judgment prohairesis, which is often also translated ‘will’ or ‘volition’. Epictetus was a great influence on another Stoic, the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE). The philosopher-emperor was himself particularly concerned with prohairesis and with its location, which he called hegemonikon, often translated as ‘ruling faculty’ or ‘command center’. In modern terms, we may think of the prohairesis as the brain’s executive function in charge of attention control, problem-solving, working memory, and generally speaking, of planning, monitoring, and executing our goals. Anatomically, it is located most prominently in the prefrontal cortex, which can therefore be considered akin to the Stoics’ hegemonikon.

At one point in his book Meditations (c.175 CE), Marcus is sufficiently concerned about the smooth functioning of his executive function that he jots down a list of four things that may impede it:

“There are four ways above all in which the command center can take a turn for the worse. You should be on your guard against them at every moment, and whenever you detect them, they must be eradicated by your telling yourself, as appropriate for each case: ‘This thought is unnecessary’ or ‘This thought tends to dissolve society’s bonds,’ or ‘What you’re about to say does not come from yourself’ (which you should regard as one of the most monstrous things that can happen). And the fourth aberration for which you need to take yourself to task is when the more divine part of you is overcome by and succumbs to the less worthwhile, mortal part, or in other words the body and the body’s rough and smooth motions.”
(Meditations 11.19, trans. Robin Waterfield)

Let’s take a closer look at this. The first thing Marcus is concerned about is not to indulge in thoughts that are unnecessary. He’s worried about wasting time and mental energy going after things that are not relevant. Our lifespan is limited, and we don’t know how long it extends (in his case, it turned out to be only fifty-nine years).

Second, he worries about ideas that will undermine social bonds. The Stoics were cosmopolitan, meaning that they trained themselves to think of every human as their brother or sister. Bonds with other people are crucial for our society, as well as for our flourishing as individuals, so you don’t want to even think along lines that might undo such bonds.

Third, Marcus wants to not just mindlessly repeat what others say. In order to be true to ourselves, we should only say what we ourselves think, after careful consideration. Notice that he says that contravening this practice is the worst thing one could do. This is because, for all effective purposes, it means that we’ve abdicated the use of our ruling center.

Finally, we should be wary of letting the body or its various emotions and appetites get in the way of the proper functioning of the ruling center, since it’s the most precious thing we have. What might get in the way? Well, a large number of things, as it turns out. If we drink too much we impair our judgment, for instance. The same goes for a number of other over-indulgences that are common in the pursuit of pleasure. Some strong emotions also interfere with the executive function. Anger, for instance, is an unhealthy emotion for the Stoics because it can override reason and bring us to do things we will likely later regret, even in those cases in which our initial angry response to the situation might have been reasonable, as in the case of an attack or a perceived injustice.

So, beware of the four threats listed by Marcus Aurelius, and keep your prohairesis working smoothly and reliably. Everything else in your life depends on it.

Massimo Pigliucci is the K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York. His books include How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life (Basic Books) and The Quest for Character: What the Story of Socrates and Alcibiades Teaches Us About Our Search for Good Leaders (Basic Books). More by him at massimopigliucci.org.