Stoic Warriors: The Ancient Philosophy behind the Military Mind

by Nancy Sherman

Stoic Warriors explores the relationship between soldiers and Stoic philosophy, exploring what Stoicism actually is, the role it plays in the character of the military (both ancient and modern), and its powerful value as a philosophy of life. Marshalling anecdotes from military history--ranging from ancient Greek wars to World War II, Vietnam, and Iraq--Sherman illuminates the military mind and uses it as a window on the virtues of the Stoic philosophy. Indeed this is a perceptive investigation of what makes Stoicism so compelling not only as a guiding principle for the military, but as a philosophy for anyone facing the hardships of life.

Genres: Philosophy, Military Fiction, Nonfiction, History, Psychology, Leadership

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2005

About the author

My introduction to the psyche of the soldier, in a sense, goes back to my father and my childhood. My dad was a WW II vet who never talked about “his” war, though he carried his dogtags on his keychain for 65 years. The war never left him; he took it to the grave; and he always felt that his burden was private. I suspect I always felt that the burden ought to be shared, or at least, that I ought to understand it better.

The chance came when I was appointed the first Distinguished Chair in Ethics at the U.S. Naval Academy in the mid-nineties. I had been an academic in ethics for most of my career, focused on ethics and the emotions, in ancient and modern philosophy. I also had a background and research training in psychoanalysis. For the first time in my life I became a civilian in a military world, and I began to understand better the secret world of my dad. I started teaching and writing about the moral challenges of going to war and returning home, and have been immersed in that research ever since. The issues couldn’t be more urgent for a nation now fighting wars on two fronts for almost a decade.

The Untold War is my best effort at allowing soldiers to open up their hearts and tell their stories. I have listened to those stories with the ear of a philosopher and psychoanalyst, but also with the ear of a daughter, who always felt that she needed to understand more about what her father went through. And I have analyzed those stories in language that steps outside the academy—in terms my dad would have understood. I talk about the visible and invisible wounds of war; posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and resilience; military suicide and its prevention; military honor, guilt, and shame. Military families need to know that we who do not have loved ones serving are doing our best to understand and help those who do.

Officially, I am a distinguished University Professor in Philosophy at Georgetown and an affiliate at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics. I also teach some semesters at Georgetown University Law Center. I taught at Yale for seven years before coming to Georgetown.

I spend much of my free time outside. I run most days, swim in an outdoor pool a few times a week, and hike and bike on occasion. Here I take lessons from my grown children: My daughter Kala was a competitive swimmer at Dartmouth, and my son Jonathan has cycled across the country for Habitat for Humanity with a Yale group; he also led cycling tours in Europe. But as my daughter once said to me, “Mom, you’re athletic, but no athlete!” As a family, we love to hike-- in the Northeast, the Rockies, the Lake District in England, and in years past, Corsica. But our local Billy Goat trail, on the Potomac, is also a favorite. I adore dancing—modern dance – something I have been doing since college. Come summer, I turn into an obsessive gardener and on a not-too-buggy D.C. day, I like nothing more than losing myself in the mud. Cooking is also a serious family business. My husband Marshall, also known as “chef Marcel,” is a remarkably good cook.

Reviews

[Tg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am currently slowly going through this fine work--Her explanation of Epictetus's Philosophy and application to Admiral Stockdale's predicament as a POW in Vietnam is clear and lucid...….
Nancy does a great job of bringing out the Stoic uses and causes of Emotions
She uses case study after case study...She gets to the most Important point---Epictetus's uses of impressions ---often glossed over in Pop Stoicism books---Nancy goes in depth on probably the most important of Epictetus's points--often just glossed over and rushed through by others.
Great Job in highlighting the fallacies of trying to suppress anger--some of her case studies show people who in an effort to suppress traumatic emotions, try to forget them, hence unaware of unconscious disassociated conflicts--develop compulsive and obsessive rituals.
You can tell yourself.. "this is outside my control"... and this is nothing to us" and still be Screwed up
This is a great look at dealing with anger and war-trauma
Well Done, Well Done---Bravo.... Bravo..

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. Would like to have a little more in compare and contrast with stoic thought. For example while a stoic attitude is valued within military culture, a stoic behavior is not. The calm tactician is romanticized, the in truth it is the emotional, angry behaviors that get rewarded implicitly everywhere in our culture. Our culture is a 'masculine' culture and masculine attitudes, while against 'emotional displays' have also defined emotional displays as anything other than anger. It isn't okay to cry, but it is okay to be very angry, and this is not stoic.

[Matt Leiv · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Even if you should falter again, you may begin again, and, if you once become the victor, you are as one who has never faltered."
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A great analysis of the stoic philosophers and how their system applies to modern warriors. It's a philosophy that focuses on self, and reduces your need for external stimuli.
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"Virtue alone becomes sufficient for happiness, without dependence on external goods or luck. "
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The analysis between modern military circumstances intertwined with ancient ones, was very good and done well. I didn't agree with some of the authors final conclusions but overall thought it was a great read for anyone interested in stoicism, military, or LEO.
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"Be prepared to say that it is nothing to you."

[Danny Jarvis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggle coming up with an overall rating for this work, which is a 4-star lesson delivered in a 2-star manner. This is very academic in its prose, opposed to the easier-to-read styling of say a Ryan Holiday book on the subjects. It reads like a school paper from a STEM major, opening with “in this chapter I will…” and closing “in this chapter I…” The majority of the writing consists of sections expounding on the philosophy itself, which tends to drone and struggles to hold a reader’s attention while using many relevant but disjointed parenthetical statements and opting for scholarly vocabulary instead of more approachable language. However, she also includes direct examples and stories told in a clear, simplistic, and abbreviated manner which succinctly epitomize the point she’s making. Thus, outside of the writing style, the true substance of the book is very informative and helpful in understanding for anyone in a “warrior” field (military, law enforcement, etc), especially leadership, in terms of the benefits to practicing a philosophically stoic approach to the profession.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Engaging and readable without dumbing down or oversimplifying the philosophy. Though it's advertised as "recommending a moderate Stoicism," I read it more as a simple criticism of orthodox Stoicism's perceived hard edges. Sherman describes a sort of unintentional quasi-Stoic philosophy that is prominent in American (or maybe more generally Western) military culture and recommends some ways in which she believes traditional Stoicism can be revised to better serve servicemembers and help them maintain their "humanity." (I found her bloodless and cold characterization of the Stoic sage to be a bit unfair.)

[Ross Cohen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sherman's "Stoic Warriors" is a fair assessment of the abilities and limits Stoicism has in shaping a healthy military. Her background as an Aristotelian keeps her from completely praising Stoicism, but occasionally serves as a facile alternative to some of Stoicism's orthodox stances.

Although the book as a whole is excellent, I wonder if its shortness led to over-simplification, which conflates lower-case stoic caricatures with upper-case Stoic philosophic richness.

[Dave Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I suggest this book for all military leaders and anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the military mindset and motivation. The book offers some good insight into the military's version of stoicism. It will at times go into deeper, more academic philosophical analysis of stoicism; however, the author warns you before she begins her lengthy caveats.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book on both the ancient Greco-Roman philosophy of Stoicism and the thinking of the modern U.S. military, comparing and contrasting the two worldviews. An excellent book that I would highly recommend, but I would warn that this is not light reading - casual readers be warned!

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book.

[Emma]

Thoughtful and interesting, but I may never not be bitter that my professor made us buy her own book and write papers on it for her to grade.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thoughtful and well written book on the application of Stoicism to soldiering. I don’t agree with everything she says but all of her points are well considered.

[Maeby · Rating 1 out of 5]

the military 👎

[kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seneca actively struggled with the conflict of wanting to both minimise the vulnerability to which an emotional life exposes us and to preserve the emotions as the lifeblood of human exchange and fellowship.

very dense and interesting, and sherman's expert tongue just makes this all the more satisfying to read. she applies stoic principles to themes such as emotion, fellowship and morality as it pertains to military personnel but the implications for the rest of us are never far from the surface.

perhaps a lack of "practical application" might disappoint some readers of this book. It won't try to prescribe a solution, you can extract what you will from what speaks to you. good book to provoke thought and the rest is what you do with it.

[Nat and Ryan Petty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the worst book on Stoicism I’ve ever read

There’s a distinct difference between a professor of philosophy and a philosopher. I’m not sure why, unless it’s marketing, the so called experts on Stoicism feel the need to write books purporting to be about the benefits of Stoicism that are filled with criticisms of the subject they’re writing about. The author of this book is a distinguished author of philosophy and seems to subscribe to the myth that Stoicism encourages an unfeeling detachment that is void of emotion which it is not.

[Jens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked reading an academical interpretation of stoicism. Somehow it feels more "pure" or closer to the source when difficult words are used and the interpretation is left more to the reader. Opposed to the mainstream self-help of let's say Ryan Holiday, that is. Yet the subject of the book wasn't interesting. It's not about the soldier mindset affronting challenges. It's about specific relationships with among others bodily harm, anger and grief.

[J. Scott Frampton · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good book that provides insight into Stoicism from a military perspective. Recommend reading more on “basic” stoicism before diving into this book. Marcus Aurelius's “Meditations” or Seneca's “Essays” would be a good first step. Then dive into this one. The reference page was excellent, and the sub-topics were interesting.

[Timothy D. Cook, Jr. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting read

While the subject matter is interesting , this book was somewhat tedious at times. I was hoping for something a little more thought provoking.

[Jenna M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shallow

[L Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Garbage

[Christopher Cagle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book. Good study. Was hoping for more practical application.

[Irena Dzisiewska · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. It stimulated thought and I enjoyed it, sort of. I’d recommend but not strongly!

[Joe Koennecke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is detailed and insightful. It also academic in nature and very difficult to get through. I picked it up because I have a affinity for stoic philosophy. As it turns out I don't enjoy delving this deep into it for an every day read. Would make a great source for anyone researching the topic but should not be undertaken lightly. Not a bad books at all just the wrong book for me at the time.

Interesting use of the Faulklands war as a modern conflict source of coming home from war.

[Alen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't find my book!

*update* - no worries people, found it. It was in my laundry basket.

**update** June1809. Oh god, am I going to finish this book?

[John Castle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still reading, will review when I finish.

[Rachel Bayles · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's best to read each chapter as a stand alone, over a period of time. It's too dense to do all at once.