[Day 9] Living in agreement with Nature

Stoicism defines the chief goal of life as "living in agreement with Nature" or following Nature. The word for goal, telos, is sometimes translated as "end" or "purpose", and arguably comes close to what we call "the meaning of life". This didn't mean moving to the countryside or hugging trees, though! Following Chrysippus, the Stoic way of life was interpreted as being in harmony with nature at two levels. On the one hand, Stoics try to live according to their own human nature, as inherently rational and social creatures, by excelling in terms of wisdom, justice, and the virtues of self-mastery. The Stoics assumed that Nature is goal-directed and that our ability to reason suggests the possibility of its own completion or perfection, i.e. of attaining wisdom.

On the other hand, following Nature also means accepting our place as part of a whole, the nature of the universe, and welcoming our fate, insofar as it is beyond our control to change it. However, these two tasks are complementary because we require virtue to be able to rise above adversity and welcome whatever life sends us. The "promise" of Stoic philosophy is that by living in agreement with nature or living virtuously and accepting our fate, we shall attain eudimonia, complete personal fulfillment, wellbeing, and Happiness.