Popular Stoics

Was surprised and interested to see Foucault indict the Stoics in latter portions of Care of the Self. His analysis, like so much his other work, counters preconceived ideas. I had pictured these philosophers as characters of resignation; and I concluded that this resignation necessarily prevented them from being influential beyond their kin. But not so, according to Foucault; they were enormously influential. And the moral and ethical conclusions they drew from their insistence on understanding nature and being at harmony with the universe profoundly impacted what would become acceptable ways of living and what affinities would become vilified or otherwise expire with the Age.