Context is Everything (Meditations 3.15)

Practical Stoicism

Evergreen Podcasts

Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.8 • 662 Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2025

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In today’s episode, I take a close look at Meditations 3.15, which reads: “They have not learnt to know the manifold significance of theft, of sowing, of buying, resting, seeing what ought to be done. This depends not on the bodily eye but on another kind of vision.” Marcus is pointing us toward a crucial insight: context matters deeply. Nothing, not even theft or sowing, is always straightforwardly good or bad. I explore how Stoicism teaches us to see beyond the surface of actions and recognize that judgment requires more than a quick glance — it requires deeper vision. Through everyday examples like stealing food in desperate circumstances, or working late to avoid home responsibilities, I show how the same action can shift moral weight depending on the context. I also reflect personally, sharing my own journey as a new father and how my choices about health and fitness must now serve not just me, but my son and my role as a parent. Stoic practice calls for this kind of honest evaluation of our choices, moment by moment. Finally, I encourage you to examine your own judgments of yourself and others — are they fair, are they just, or are they lazy? Each day offers a new chance to try harder, to see more clearly, and to act more justly. MEDITATION “They have not learnt to know the manifold significance of theft, of sowing, of buying, resting, seeing what ought to be done. This depends not on the bodily eye but on another kind of vision.” — Meditations 3.15 THREE TAKEAWAYS — Context shapes moral judgment far more than surface appearances. — Actions like theft or work can be preferred, dispreferred, or neutral depending on the situation. — Daily, honest self-reflection helps us stay aligned with the Stoic pursuit of Virtue. LINKS Go ad-free: https://stoicismpod.com/members Order my book: https://stoicismpod.com/book Source Text: https://stoicismpod.com/far Follow me on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/tannerocampbell.bsky.social Follow me on YouTube: https://stoicismpod.com/youtube Stoicism QOTD App: https://qotd.tannercampbell.net Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Most of our media are owned by a handful of tech billionaires, but there's one place that still operates like the internet was never invented.
0:10.4	On the new season of the divided dial from On the Media, we're exploring shortwave radio, where prayer and propaganda coexist with news and conspiracy theories, and where an existential battle for the public airwaves is playing out right now.
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0:34.6	Welcome back, Prokaptan. I am glad you've returned. Yesterday was my son's first birthday party,
0:41.2	blue-y-themed and wonderful. I don't know that any of my IRL friends and family actually
0:47.1	listen to this show, but I want to thank them for coming anyway just in case they do. The
0:51.4	atmosphere was warm. It was inviting. It was caring. The food was
0:55.4	off the chain. I have delicious in the script, but that's what I felt in my heart. That's what I wanted
1:00.4	to say just then. The cake was astonishing. And the company was something that my wife and I haven't
1:05.6	been able to experience or enjoy as parents raising a child in the country that is not home to either of them for a really
1:13.1	long time. So to be surrounded by all of you felt like to put it in oikiotic terms and expansion
1:19.9	of the family circle. It was really wonderful. So thank you. Housekeeping before we get started,
1:26.1	I started shipping out coins last week, Society of Stoic
1:29.1	Coins, so people should begin getting them soon, but I want to make something very clear about
1:34.0	these coins. First, they take five pounds apiece to make. That's the individual cost of each
1:40.8	coin. These are not crappy coins of very high quality. And it takes another eight to 11 pounds to ship. Australians, 11 pounds. Everybody else needs to be around eight pounds.
1:48.4	So you will get your coins in your third month of membership. And this is to prevent people from
1:53.4	joining just to get the coin and then canceling their membership. That's partially the reason.
1:58.7	But the main reason is that I don't want to lose
2:00.9	money on every single coin that I send. And if you're doing the math, you know that making your
2:06.4	coin and sending it to you can cost as much as 16 pounds, which is two months of membership in the
2:11.1	SOS, not even counting the fees that the platform itself charges me for having members at all. So
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