Navigating the Web of Causality

Salutations, seekers of insight. Imagine if you will the tapestry of circumstance, infinitely and randomly woven by armies of spiders. This is Stoic fate, an inescapable structure woven from countless strands of cause and effect. At first glance, we are hopelessly entangled, with no chance of escape. Yet, closer inspection will reveal that at the center of this great tangled web lies the sine qua non of Stoic understanding: our freedom to move inside those boundaries.

Fate, for a Stoic, is not capricious and arbitrary; it is a rational and divine ordering of the universe. The divine ordering, or logos, one may understand to be in accordance with all things that happen through some cosmic plan where each thing is caused by an antecedent. That is determinism, the philosophy shared by philosophers of Stoicism like Zeno of Citium and Chrysippus, in pointing out the interrelatedness of all things within nature.

But the Stoics didn’t see it that way; they didn’t see themselves as puppets to fate. They saw outside of our control the fact that fate dictated our actions, but what comes from the inside—our judgment, desires, and actions—is something we can control. This is a distinction of paramount importance because here lies our freedom and our moral responsibility.

Epictetus, one of the greatest Stoic teachers, put it so beautifully: True freedom is to exercise supreme control over our minds and attitudes. “We can control our reaction to them; not the external events,” would he tell. Thus, we have only what is in our hands; we are going with the order of the universe, towards which our will is directed; attaining serenity and virtue.

This takes us forward to the theory of compatibilism, which is one of the keystones of Stoic ethics. Compatibilism is the belief that determinism and human freedom are not mutually exclusive. Our actions, though determined by a web of causes, also result from our rational deliberation. So our choices are both fated and free. Another famous Stoic sage, Seneca, commented: “Fate leads the willing and drags the unwilling.” By embracing our fate we can continue to navigate the web of causality with grace and a sense of purpose – responding with rationality and virtue.

According to Chrysippus, who introduced the notion, human actions are fated from external causes. But at the same time, he says, human actions spring from our rational natures. We’re not passive victims of fate, but co-workers in the cosmic plan of things.

How does one take that notion and move it into an application toward daily living? To begin with, you accept the things you cannot change. Recognize that the web of causation is large and complicated; most things fall outside human influence. This should not breed a feeling of resignation but make us learn deeply about our position in the world.

Turn your attention to what is within our power: our own thoughts, attitudes, and choices. Cultivate wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance. These are the means by which, properly used, we can navigate the web of causality effectively. We can experience freedom and fulfillment by adjusting our will to the rational order of the cosmos.

Finally, live the process. Life is simply a continuous interaction of outside happenings and interior reactions. Every moment presents itself as a new platform for the exercise of Stoic philosophy and the development of excellence. In living according to nature and reason, we turn the web of causality from a trap into a path to wisdom.

In conclusion, the Stoic view on fate and freedom is that we should see ourselves as actors in a rational and organized world. Even though we find ourselves being caught in the web of causality, indeed we do have mobility within it for steering in a fashion compatible with its designs. Freedom is attained by an embrace of fate, the exercise of our rationality, and a life lived in virtue.

The Stoics’ wisdom may it serve you well on this journey.

In virtue and reason,

The Stoic Elder