Are there some similarities between Stoicism and Objectivism?

Stephen Hicks Ph.D.

October 4, 2023

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min read

Question: Are there some similarities between Stoicism and Objectivism?

Answer: Yes, both are committed to a causal, naturalistic universe, more of a tendency in Stoicism. There's a notion of fate or perhaps divine reason operative in Stoicism that's not there in Objectivism, which is more robust and naturalistic.

Both are also importantly focused on the distinction between what one can control and what one cannot control, that maps on strongly to Rand's distinction between the metaphysical and the man-made, and being especially concerned with what one can in-fact control.

Both also are committed to the idea of emotional self-management; that one, as a human being, should be rational, and emotions can and properly should be governed by one's reason. And that one's dignity as a human being, the pursuit of wisdom, ultimately requires a philosophical, rational perspective that is achievable by any of us.

Now there are important differences between Stoicism and Objectivism. That's for another question.

About the author:

Stephen Hicks Ph.D.

Stephen R. C. Hicks is a Professor of Philosophy and a Senior Scholar for The Atlas Society.

He is author of The Art of Reasoning: Readings for Logical Analysis (W. W. Norton & Co., 1998), Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault (Scholargy, 2004), Nietzsche and the Nazis (Ockham’s Razor, 2010), Entrepreneurial Living (CEEF, 2016), Liberalism Pro and Con (Connor Court, 2020), Art: Modern, Postmodern, and Beyond (with Michael Newberry, 2021), Eight Philosophies of Education (2022), and Lectures on the Philosophy of Politics (Spanish translation, Publicaciones del Orden Espontáneo, 2026). He has published in Business Ethics Quarterly, Review of Metaphysics, and The Wall Street Journal. His writings have been translated into 20 languages.

He has been Visiting Professor of Business Ethics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Visiting Fellow at the Social Philosophy & Policy Center in Bowling Green, Ohio, Visiting Professor at the University of Kasimir the Great, Poland, Visiting Fellow at Harris Manchester College of Oxford University, England, and Visiting Professor at Jagiellonian University, Poland.

His B.A. and M.A. degrees are from the University of Guelph, Canada. His Ph.D. in Philosophy is from Indiana University, Bloomington, USA.

In 2010, he won his university’s Excellence in Teaching Award.

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