since many of you asked I decided to
deliver as a sequel to my video about
jealousy let's talk about Envy what is
envy how should we handle it what can we
learn from the Stoics in regards to envy
and is it really a bad thing
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first of all I want to thank Oliver for
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guys and it helps me to continue this
project now let's dive in I've
previously discussed jealousy and
proposed several solutions based on the
works by stoic philosophers Epictetus
Marcus Aurelius and Seneca there's a
difference between jealousy and envy the
first one comes from a fear of losing
something or someone to another person
the second one is the desire for
something that belongs to someone else
like a car a house looks and social
status in a general sense I would go
along with the consensus that Envy isn't
a good thing but it's a bit more
complicated if we narrow it down we see
that Envy is a form of desire
specifically focused on things that
belong to other people desire means that
we want to reach out for something that
we consider as desirable thus as
something we want for ourselves
when the thing we are envious of is
something external like someone else's
money partner car job etc we desire
pleasure rather than happiness the focus
of our Envy is directed towards what the
Stoics call preferred indifference which
are nice to have but not necessary for
happiness
moreover external things are not in our
control they could be taken away in a
heartbeat which makes them unreliable
and weak when were envious about
something internal like the virtuous
actions of someone else and their inner
peace and happiness it might be a sign
that we have work to do on ourselves
needless to say the Stoics would
encourage the desire of being virtuous
paradoxically when we pursue virtue and
strengthen our own faculties we are
likely to get rid of envy all together
as epictetus stated you may be
uncomfortable if you enter into no
combat in which it is not in your own
control to conquer when therefore you
anyone eminent in honors or power or in
high esteem or any other account
take heed not to be hurried away with
the appearance and to pronounce him
happy for if the essence of good
consists in things in your own control
there will be no room for envy or
emulation and quote unfortunately some
people cling to envy so much that they
engage in immoral behavior like stealing
infidelity and even murder in the Old
Testament and the Quran we find a story
about a rivalry between the brothers
Cain and Abel sons of Adam and Eve Cain
was a farmer and Abel was a shepherd
Cain offered God a part of his crops
while Abel offered God the firstlings of
his flock Cain killed his brother after
God accepted Abel's offerings while he
rejected his the ancient scriptures
don't explicitly mention envy but
interpretations of the story magnified a
theme of envious rivalry between
siblings which is quite common to this
day however the ancient scriptures don't
mention why God did this was he
capricious and treated Cain and Abel
differently for no reason this could be
the case another possibility is that
Abel acted more virtuously by giving God
the best of his flock as well as a blood
offering well Cain's offerings were of
lesser quality interestingly enough both
scenarios are great starting points to
look at Envy from a stoic point of view
and use them as a metaphor for dealing
with Envy in our daily lives
the first scenario is that Abel indeed
acted more in a virtuous way and was
therefore rewarded by God in this case
we can see the blood offering by Abel as
a metaphor for what the Stoics would
call an act of virtue
according to the Stoics virtue leads to
eudaimonia which can be translated as
human flourishing or simply happiness
thus we could say that Cain was envious
of Abel's virtue and the consequences of
that virtue this doesn't make any bad
thing at least not yet
the problem is that many envious people
seek to destroy
whatare envy is off instead of using
envy to lift themselves up so instead of
killing his brother Cain could have used
the spark of Envy to realize that Abel
was doing a better job than him and see
his brother as an inspiration for
becoming more virtuous himself the
second scenario is that God denied gains
of ranks for no reason
which basically resembles the way of the
universe that are quite random and
unfair some people are born in rich
families others in poverty
some people are gifted with great
intelligence others are mentally
disabled this unfairness could have
angered Cain so much that he decided to
act out if Seneca was around at a time
he could have told Cain that the
unfairness of life doesn't influence the
ability to be happy I quote come now
contrast a good man who is rolling in
wealth with a man who has nothing
accepted in himself he has all things
they will be equally good though they
experience unequal fortune this same
standard as I've remarked is to be
applied to things as well as to men
virtue is just as praiseworthy if it
dwells in a sound and free body as in
one which is sickly or in bondage end
quote
so is envy a bad thing it really depends
on what we are envious of and how we
handle it for the most part being
envious because of externals is kind of
pointless there surely nice to have but
they won't obstruct the ability to be
happy on the other hand we can use envy
as a tool to better ourselves
although the Stoics aren't very fond of
pursuing material wealth it's still
possible to use envy as an inspiration
to achieve this if that's what you want
the dark side of envy is that it can
also be an incentive to destroy the
thing or person we are envious of in
this case clinging to envy is a very
dangerous thing personally I think the
best way to treat Envy is by awareness
why am i envious is my Envy justified in
other words does the thing I desire
truly lead to happiness can I use my
Envy to better myself and subsequently
get rid of Envy no matter if you look at
Buddha's
stoicism or Christianity the rule of
thumb is if we just focus on our own
path and be grateful for what we have
there's no reason to be envious of
anything thank you for watching
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you
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