They had suffered the political damage of several, including myself, who had acted up, spoken up, and blurted out the truth to the hand-picked audience of foreigners at the press conference. And, more than even that, you’re going to face fragilities you never before let yourself believe you could have–like after mere minutes, in a flurry of action while being bound with tourniquet-tight ropes, with care, by a professional, hands behind, jackknifed forward and down toward your ankles held secure in lugs attached to an iron bar, that, with the onrush of anxiety, knowing your upper body ’s circulation has been stopped and feeling the ever-growing induced pain and the ever-closing-in of claustrophobia, you can be made to blurt out answers, sometimes correct answers, to questions about anything they know you know. “Moral progress results in freedom from inner turmoil. I actually attended the Naval War College as an Air Force Major. I’m going right now from being the leader of a hundred-plus pilots and a thousand men and, goodness knows, all sorts of symbolic status and goodwill, to being an object of contempt. While Stockdale’s example is the gold standard, here’s another small one. His bravery and strength as a POW rightly earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor, which was awarded after his release. Little did Stockdale realize at this time, though, that his education in Stoicism was about to be put to the test in the most gruelling circumstances imaginable. Learning to gain dominion over his emotions, behaviour as well as actions the stoic tries to see the world as purely cause and effect. In 1965, James Stockdale’s A-4E Skyhawk was shot down over Vietnam…Stockdale spent more than seven years in a Vietnamese prison, and he wrote that Stoicism saved his life…While some of his fellow POWs tormented themselves with false hopes of an early release, Stockdale’s Stoic practice helped him confront the grim reality of his situation, without giving in to despair and depression. These actions constantly risked discovery with severe punishment being dealt out to any prisoner caught. “What do I care?” asked Epictetus, “whether all existing things are composed of atoms, or of indivisibles, or of fire or earth? Like Epictetus, who wrote that “Lameness is an impediment to the leg, but not to the Will,” Stockdale suffered a broken leg that left him partially crippled for life, then underwent years of a merciless torture regime designed to break him down psychologically. Frankl, who was Jewish, was incarcerated in several Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz, during the Second World War. As a result, Stockdale and the men under his command forged a set of rules that they would not breach, ensuring they retained autonomy over themselves rather than surrendering to the North Vietnamese. I’ve never really formally studied philosophy, so I wouldn’t know, but I doubt he is much read today. There’s something unique about Stockdale’s way of talking about philosophy, and his personal story, like Viktor Frankl’s, is humbling and inspiring to modern readers. When asked about the ones who didn’t survive, he replied: “Oh, that’s easy. My path to The Art of Living began my senior year in college when I attended a military academy leadership conference at the Naval Academy, and heard Admiral James Stockdale speak. Thoughts of a Philosophical Fighter Pilot isn’t as widely-read or well-known as it deserves to be. Like Epictetus, Stockdale was one of those rare Stoic philosophers who have proven, from their own painful experience, that Stoicism works under the most difficult circumstances. This happens to echo a passage at the start of The Meditations, where Marcus Aurelius writes of his most-beloved philosophy tutor: From Rusticus, I gained the idea that my character was in need of correction and therapy [therapeia]… and finally, it was through him that I came to know the Discourses of Epictetus, as he lent me a copy from his own library. There’s a similar but less well-known story concerning James (or “Jim”) Stockdale, an American naval pilot who was captured and tortured for seven years in a North Vietnamese prison camp nicknamed the Hanoi Hilton. Everyone I’ve ever met who’s read it has been impressed both by its style and content. Stick with your purpose. It brought together all the elements of Greek thought in a final effort of the pagan mind to create a system of morals acceptable to the classes that had abandoned the ancient creed; and though it naturally won only a small minority to its standards, those few were everywhere the best. However, whereas Frankl invented his own philosophy, Stockdale had read the Stoics and explicitly drew upon their ideas as a way of responding to his situation. Stoics typically seek to turn misfortunes into memorable philosophical lessons, and that’s exactly what Epictetus appears to have done in this instance. Diogenes. The Stoics claim that their philosophy has practical applications, and the story of James Stockdale attests to that power. Admiral Stockdale and Epictetus are literally geniuses on the Art of living. I say my “current copy,” because I’ve given several away – and like to start fresh. Alex Oswald. Stockdale’s utilisation of stoicism to confront the challenges he faced provides an example that we can adapt to our own lives. However, the Stockdale Paradox wasn’t coined by Stockdale himself; it was developed by James C. Collins after he interviewed Stockdale.

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