Prosochē or not prosochē? On Stoic mindfulness

Is Stoic mindfulness a thing? If so, what is it?

Buddha (left) and Marcus Aurelius (right).

“Mindfulness” has been all the rage for some time now. And it has, predictably, been criticized on both philosophical and effectiveness grounds. But I’m not concerned with either here. It’s pretty clear to me that while different philosophical traditions that use mindfulness (e.g., Buddhism) do make philosophically questionable assumptions, those assumptions are specific to each tradition, and need to be evaluated case by case. It’s also clear that although the benefits often claimed for mindfulness are likely exaggerated, the word refers to a panoply of mental techniques that are useful for modest but important purposes, such as calming oneself, paying more attention to one’s thought processes, and so forth. So, I’m going to take it as a given that mindfulness refers to a number of different techniques, that are more or less effective, and that are more or less based on certain specific philosophical and metaphysical assumptions.

What I wish to explore here, instead, is a debate within the Stoic community about our version of “mindfulness.” Specifically, whether it is, in fact, something that the ancient Stoics did, and whether it should be incorporated in modern Stoic practices. The answers, I think, are practically relevant to anyone who is either practicing Stoicism already or is curious about the impact that adopting this ethical philosophy might have on their own lives.

The debate I’m referring to concerns whether the Stoic concept of “prosochē,” usually translated as “attention” or “mindfulness” is: (a) a truly central concept in ancient Stoicism, and (b) best understood as anything like what we mean today by mindfulness. I don’t have a particular stake in this discussion, and I’ve changed my mind about it already a couple of times. Indeed, a major reason to write this essay is rather selfish: I want to clear my own fog about this topic, as I sense that it is important.

While different authors of course have slightly different takes on prosochē, the two basic positions can be summarized in this fashion:

(i) Prosochē is a central aspect of Epictetus’ philosophy, and it is useful to translate the term as “mindfulness.”

(ii) Prosochē is a minor aspect of Epictetus’ philosophy, and it is misguided to translate it as “mindfulness.”

Broadly speaking, on the side of (i) we have classic French scholar Pierre Hadot, “traditional” Stoic Chris Fisher, and author and cognitive behavioral therapist Don Robertson. On the side of (ii) we have my friend Greg Lopez, co-author with me of A Handbook for New Stoics: How to Thrive in a World Out of Your Control. If we were to go by majority opinion, or by weight of published scholarship—and with all due respect to Greg—(i) would win hands down. But this is philosophy, and appeals to popularity or to authority are both logical fallacies, so we are not going to fall for that.