Summary Of Epictetus Courage Under Fire

VADM Stockdale’s “Courage Under Fire” explains his passion for the philosophy of Epictetus and its application to his time as a prisoner of war. The handbook, The Enchiridion, written by Epictetus and given to him by a philosophy professor detailed stoicism, which comes to form through aiming at serenity, letting go of what cannot be controlled, and taking ownership of all that can be controlled. One cannot One must treat his station of life with indifference, willfully acting and making judgements but not regarding the “thing” itself, such as reputation, wealth, and health. As a prisoner of war, Stockdale saw, as Epictetus stated, that shame for destroying the self-respecting man inside you was the greatest and most powerful harm a man could
Stockdale took command of the other prisoners as the highest ranking individual and they looked to him for orders to follow, knowing that they could fight back against only parts of their torture but that they needed to have some control and a sense of self-respect that came from knowing they followed a leader’s orders. Stoicism lead Stockdale, both while as a Wing Commander and in the prison, to sometimes ignore rank and trust instincts. Epictetus saw his classroom as a hospital and Stockdale saw the prison as the laboratory to test Epictetus’s philosophies. Stockdale’s laboratory seemed to prove that shame, instead of pain, brings man down. Also, he saw how you are in charge of your own will, even when being a victim is the most obvious option. He, along with many others, seemed to prove that isolation is far more effective than torture at eroding the human purpose. The final portion of this passage details the note left by Dave Hatcher for Stockdale upon returning from isolation and the hospital, and it reads the lines of the poem Invictus about being the master of one’s own fate and soul, a very Stoic