The myth of modern stoicism. Tracy Llanera | Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut, and author of Richard Rorty: Outgrowing Modern Nihilism. “Everything happens for a reason,” “it’s meant to be,” “it is what it is.” These cliches express an increasingly popular form of Stoic fatalism. The underlying idea is that “Reality” just is a certain way, determined by God or physics. This superficially tough realism comforts us by absolving us of responsibility: whatever happens was bound to happen. But this makes it dangerous, argues Tracy Llanera. It leads to resigned inaction in the face of geopolitical strife, injustice, and our personal lives. Instead, we must recognize that there is no higher being responsible for us: we must take responsibility for each other and the world we live in.
https://iai.tv/articles/everything-doesnt-happen-for-a-reason-auid-3073
