A Balance of Stoic Wisdom and Modern Intelligence
- Cassandra Burrows
- May 29
- 5 min read
Updated: May 29
By Cassandra Burrows
Consciousness is a major topic of discussion: with progressing artificial intelligence technology displaying a level of intelligence, it creates confusion to who and what is conscious. The current consensus is that consciousness is a subjective awareness in the mind, although there are countless alternative theories. American neuroscientist Christof Koch believes the study of consciousness is “one of the biggest, and most long-standing, intellectual challenges of humanity: the Mind-Body Problem” (Dueweke). The mind he refers to is cognitive or higher brain processes, and the body instinctual or lower brain processes. Boston-based psychiatrist Bessel van Der Kolk believes a balance must be struck between the two, especially concerning trauma. In his book The Body Keeps the Score, he speaks of reconnecting with the body to process trauma and manage emotions. However, managing emotions is far more difficult than simply increasing awareness. An understanding of their roots and implications is necessary.
Enter an unlikely candidate to this discussion (due to modern bias labelling it “emotionless”): Stoicism holds a deep understanding of emotional intelligence and processing. Margaret Graver, Aaron Lawrence Professor in Classics at Dartmouth College, reveals its true nature in her 2007 book Stoicism and Emotion, describing a desire for truth and presence, in the pursuit of wisdom. The stoically wise mindset supports healing trauma both individually and collectively—encouraging reflection of the unconscious while maintaining conscious awareness. Stoicism deems the wise to have “apatheia…[meaning] one becomes able to control…emotions…[and] ceases to experience [them] as we know them” (Graver 35). Stoic belief may initially come across as harsh, so understanding its true intent is wholly important.
I found historican and philosopher of science Michel Boureau helpful on this point. According to him, relating philosophy and science is key to “avoid the fragmentation of knowledge” and connect concepts across subjects. Practicing mind-body connection requires creativity, especially with emotional processing and its biological roots in the body. Stoicism makes a specific distinction between emotion and feeling, explaining that emotions arise from “ascriptions of value,” rather than the reality of nature, which is not concerned with concepts of “good” or “bad.” Feelings, or “subjective awareness of a physical change,” arise after emotions (Graver 35). Stoics therefore believe there is no control of emotions, though there is of feelings, through understanding and acceptance.
Similarly, modern psychology often understands that emotional reactions occur for evolutionary purposes, determining if something is beneficial and detrimental. External factors are uncontrollable—unlike internal states, which are manageable. Various therapies such as cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) support this effort, by “changing self-defeating thinking [and] changing behavior” (Myers 610). CBT aligns with the stoically wise mindset displaying its foundational nature within psychology and therapeutic potential.
Despite psychology’s current status as a soft science, it incisively views human beings through a biopsychosocial lens, allying itself first to sociology and biology, and subsequently to all hard sciences. This connection is evident in Van der Kolk’s work as he investigates trauma responses. He compares the brain before and after a stress trigger, noting that the fear center or amygdala becomes active, shifting the mind’s focus to instinctual processes. Upon activation, the body enters survival mode and nearly stops higher cognitive function, “[driving] us to the edge of comprehension” (Van der Kolk 43). This shift to a survival state makes rational communication and processing nearly impossible, bringing about higher reactivity, and with frequent activation, a state of long-term stress. Prolonged stress leads to a decrease in mental capacity, vulnerability to illness, and ultimately a reduction in lifespan (Myers). Trauma impacts the body and changes cognitive ability, causing emotional suffering.
In turn, concerning grief, which is in itself traumatic, Margaret Graver underscores how pain diminishes over time—and yet, as she notes, “a person whose circumstances were unusual might fail to make this adjustment [back to normalcy] and so become locked into the emotion for a long time” (79). If the mind cannot come to accept reality and continue living, it forces the body to enter survival mode. If the mind does not reawaken relatively quickly, the body suffers the consequences of long-term stress.
Trauma is societal, generational, and collective. Chapter 10 of Van der Kolk's The Body Keeps the Score is entitled “Developmental Trauma: the Hidden Epidemic,” and here the doctor explains that there are “hundreds of thousands of children” (151) facing trauma every day. Healing trauma requires intentional, conscious actions. Events themselves are unchangeable; however, “what can be dealt with are the imprints of the trauma on body, mind, and soul” using a creative combination of therapies “to restore the proper balance between the rational and emotional brains” (Van der Kolk 205 and 207). Specifically, it is important to use therapies that address the biological changes that trauma creates. Balance, both a philosophical and scientific concept, is the beginning of healing. Activating the nervous system, and thereby sending signals from the body to the brain through movement and breath, creates the feeling of safety. Similarly to the wise stoic, who faces emotion from above rather than within, we might conclude that it is necessary to feel emotions in the body, while not identifying with them in the mind.
Beginning such a stoic journey creates room for co-regulation tending to the “natural orientation to our own bodies… [and] to other human beings.” In connecting, sharing, and understanding, there is potential for “wise friendship [which] is in essence a ‘sharing’ or commonality which involves treating the other as oneself” (Graver 175 and 179). Developing relationships brings the realization that trauma is not an individual and lonesome journey—rather, it is a part of the collective human experience. Healing has a ripple effect, as it creates a noticeable change in interactions with self and others, as emotional awareness grows.
Graver reminds us that Stoicism is an encouragement to practice “careful reflection on the nature of intellectual and moral excellence… [and] be completely free of intellectual and moral error” (174). This is not a judgement of mistakes or false belief, but a beacon of hope for those seeking solace from a lower state of being. It promotes living with a commitment to “nature’s intentions for the species” (Graver 101)—which is not to suggest a disregard of technology, rather a living in accordance with our intuition and connecting it to the logical mind. It encapsulates understanding across the sciences and incorporates them in a philosophy that encourages growth using perception and awareness. A wise person’s apatheia is not a disconnect from emotion, rather a deep comprehension and application of science and logic. It creates a hypothesis, a “realization of structural possibilities” (Graver 173) for humanity, aiming to use natural endowments as tools for progress.
Healing trauma, accordingly, requires understanding its subconscious source, seeking out the emotions within the body, and adjusting the feelings surrounding it. It is with relief that we discover that by helping us to challenge fear, anger, and other basal and reactionary emotions, Stoicism ignites an active questioning of the mind—for both personal and collective improvement.
Works Cited
Bourdeau, Michel. “Auguste Comte.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford
University, 27 Jan. 2022, plato.stanford.edu/entries/comte/#ClaSciSci.
Dueweke, Liz. “Landmark Experiment Sheds New Light on the Origins of
Consciousness.” Allen Institute, 30 Apr. 2025, alleninstitute.org/news/landmark-
Graver, Margaret R. Stoicism & Emotion. University of Chicago Press, 2009.
Myers, David G., et al. Psychology. Worth Publishers, Macmillan Learning, 2024.
Van der Kolk, Bessel A. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of
Trauma. Penguin Books, 2015.
Cassandra Burrows is a sophomore at CT State Tunxis.