Women and Stoicism: From Musonius's Lectures to Today's Female Philosophers
Introduction
In recent years, Stoicism has become very popular on social media, and much of that popularity has presented it as a philosophy for tough men: enduring without complaining, showing no emotion, dominating. That image, which some ironically call "broicism," has little to do with what the ancient Stoics taught and leaves out something important: several of them defended, for their time, surprisingly open ideas about women.
Virtue has no gender, the Stoics said. Reason and the capacity to live well are the same for everyone.
This article explores what ancient texts said about women and philosophy, some female figures linked to the school, and the female philosophers who study and renew Stoicism today.
What Can and Cannot Be Claimed
It helps to begin with a caveat. Antiquity was deeply unequal toward women, and the Stoics were not a complete exception: they shared many prejudices of their time, and almost everything that survives was written by men. Seneca or Musonius cannot be presented as feminists in the modern sense.
What can be claimed is that some Stoics held ideas that were advanced for their context, and that those ideas flowed from a central principle of the school: if virtue depends on reason, and women possess reason just as men do, then they can attain virtue just as men do.
Musonius Rufus: Women Too Should Philosophize
The clearest text comes from Musonius Rufus, Epictetus's teacher. One of his lectures is titled, in essence, "That Women Too Should Study Philosophy." His argument is straightforward: women received from the gods the same reason as men, the same senses, and the same natural inclination toward virtue. If philosophy teaches how to be just, prudent, courageous, and temperate, why should it be only for men?
In another lecture he asks whether daughters should receive the same education as sons, and answers yes in the essentials, because the virtue being sought is the same.
Musonius also responds to an objection of his time: that women who study philosophy become arrogant and neglect their duties. His answer is that philosophy properly understood produces the opposite: greater justice, greater moderation, and greater care for others.
Seneca: The Same Capacity for Virtue
Seneca wrote two of his consolations to women. In the one addressed to Marcia, who had been grieving the death of her son for years, he states that women have the same vigor and the same capacity for what is honorable as men, and that they endure pain and effort equally well when accustomed to them.
In the consolation to his mother, Helvia, there is a moving detail: Seneca regrets that his father, attached to old customs, had not allowed his mother to devote herself more deeply to philosophy, and encourages her to return to the studies she had been able to begin.
Figures of the Era
Ancient sources preserve few names of women linked to Stoicism, and almost always through their fathers or husbands. Some appear in Plutarch's biographies or in the letters of Pliny the Younger, admired for their steadfastness.
Porcia, daughter of Cato the Younger and wife of Brutus, is the best known. Plutarch recounts that, to prove to her husband that she was capable of keeping a secret and enduring pain, she inflicted a wound on herself and hid it for days. The anecdote, which seems unsettling today, was told in Antiquity as proof of a fortitude considered Stoic.
Other women from families linked to the Stoic opposition to the emperors, such as Arria or Fannia, appear in Pliny's letters for their courage in the face of power. Their stories show that women participated in that moral culture, even though their own words were almost never preserved.
Today's Female Philosophers
If female voices in Stoicism were barely heard in Antiquity, today the opposite is true: many of the most important scholars on the subject are women.
- Martha Nussbaum, an American philosopher, studied Hellenistic schools as forms of therapy for the soul in The Therapy of Desire, offering a deep analysis of Stoicism and its limits.
- Nancy Sherman, a philosopher who worked at the United States Naval Academy, wrote about Stoicism in military culture in Stoic Warriors and, later, about its application to everyday life. She has been critical of the version that confuses Stoicism with repressing emotions.
- Margaret Graver, a specialist in the Stoic theory of emotions, showed in detail that the Stoics did not propose coldness, but rather a different kind of emotional life.
- Julia Annas, a scholar of ancient ethics, has worked on the idea of virtue in Greek schools, including the Stoic school.
Thanks to their work, it is better understood today that Stoicism is not a philosophy of repression, but of examining emotions.
The Problem of "Broicism"
The version of Stoicism circulating in some social media spaces has traits that ancient texts do not support: contempt for emotions, the idea that showing vulnerability is weakness, the use of Stoic quotes to justify harshness toward others. A 2022 study found that this "Stoic ideology" is associated with lower well-being.
Rereading Musonius and Seneca is a good antidote: it reveals a philosophy that spoke of affection, justice toward all, and a virtue that does not distinguish between men and women.
Common Mistakes
- Presenting the Stoics as modern feminists. They were advanced for their time, not for ours.
- Ignoring their prejudices. Some texts assign very different roles to men and women.
- Believing that Stoicism is a "man's thing." Their own texts contradict this.
- Confusing the social media caricature with the philosophy. Stoicism never proposed feeling nothing.
Conclusion
Two thousand years ago, Musonius Rufus argued that reason and virtue are the same for men and women, and today some of the best readers of Stoicism are women. If you want to go beyond social media quotes, choose one of these readings this week: Musonius's lecture on women and philosophy, Seneca's consolation to his mother, or a chapter by one of the authors mentioned. Afterward, write down one idea that changes your image of Stoicism.
References
- Musonius Rufus. Lectures, III and IV.
- Seneca. Consolation to Marcia, 16.
- Seneca. Consolation to Helvia, 17.
- Plutarch. Life of Brutus, 13.
- Nussbaum, M. C. (1994). The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics. Princeton University Press.
- Sherman, N. (2005). Stoic Warriors: The Ancient Philosophy Behind the Military Mind. Oxford University Press.
- Graver, M. (2007). Stoicism and Emotion. University of Chicago Press.
- Karl, J. A. et al. (2022). Misunderstood Stoicism: The negative association between Stoic ideology and well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 23, 3531-3547.