Abstract
Stoic philosophy is widely misrepresented within medicine, often negatively portrayed as a ‘stiff upper lip’. In reality, Stoicism is a holistic philosophy with a primary concern of helping people live engaged, contented lives. In medicine, Stoicism offers a way to process distressing emotions felt as a result of ‘seeing the world from the patient’s point of view’, advocating for recognition of emotional states and subsequent individual re-evaluation of how we judge and label our emotions. Stoicism proposes contemplating what is beyond our immediate control, recommending a rational engagement with, and de-escalation of emotion where necessary, alongside a reflection on acting with a good character. In a professional context, this allows for a process by which to mediate extreme emotional responses in order to decide on a best course of action. As a practical philosophy, elements of Stoicism could be taught in health education curricula. In particular, we note that Stoic philosophy may have applications for the way reflection is taught and practiced within health professions education. We conclude this chapter by offering additional thoughts on how Stoic philosophy might influence research and education in the field.
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Notes
- 1.
The VIA Institute on Character classification of character strengths lists 24 such strengths grouped into 6 virtues, which include the 4 Stoic cardinal virtues.
- 2.
Not only did the Stoics insist there was no tragic tension between prudence and morality, they followed Socrates who argued in Plato’s Euthydemus that virtue was both necessary and sufficient for eudaimonia.
- 3.
See www.modernstoicism.com/research for full details of the SABS v5.0 scale.
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MacLellan, A., Brown, M.E.L., LeBon, T., Guha, N. (2022). The Application of Stoicism to Health Professions Education. In: Brown, M.E.L., Veen, M., Finn, G.M. (eds) Applied Philosophy for Health Professions Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1512-3_22
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