Epictetus was the first Stoic author to split the philosophical practice into 3 different disciplines (also known as the 3 topoi): perception, action and will. You can think of them as the 3 essential skills one needs to develop in order to live a happy life according to Stoic principles. Keep reading to find out what each discipline means, what you’ll gain by pursuing it, what exercise you can do to practice it, as well as how they relate to the 4 Stoic virtues.

Why Are the 3 Stoic Disciplines Important and Where Do They Come From?

Even though the 3 Stoic disciplines can be traced back to Epictetus, the way we interpret them owes to Marcus Aurelius and his scholar, Pierre Hadot. In his book The Inner Citadel, Hadot describes the Meditations as a series of spiritual exercises that broadly follow the 3 distinct themes put forward by the Discourses of Epictetus, a text which Marcus was very likely familiar with, having received it from one of his philosophy teachers. 

The words of the Roman emperor himself support the fact that practicing the 3 disciplines are essential to a Stoic and provide a glimpse into their meaning:

“All you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment; action for the common good in the present moment; and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment of anything that comes your way.” – Marcus Aurelius

What Marcus implies is that a Stoic has to find alignment between what they think, what they do and how they relate to what is happening to them if they want to live a good life. Notice that all of this has to happen in the present moment, since this is the only thing that is truly within our control. No amount of good intentions can change our thoughts and actions from the past, or guarantee their outcome in the future.

The 3 disciplines are like a 3-legged stool; just as the stool cannot maintain stability without one of its legs, Stoic philosophical practice cannot be successful if one of its 3 aspects is neglected. For example, even if you commit to always doing the right thing, failing to understand the situation objectively (certainty of judgment) means that you might not find what the right thing is in the first place. Without a sense of gratitude for everything that happens (good or bad!), you are not able to see things for what they are; opportunities in disguise will escape you and you will not be able to mitigate the hidden risks of what appears to be a fortunate turn of events.

So far, we’ve only hinted at what the 3 Stoic disciplines are. It’s time to give them a name and to look at each of them in more detail to discover the practices that might be helpful in applying them to our own lives.

What are the 3 Stoic disciplines (Topoi) and How Can You Practice Them?

Different authors give different names to the 3 Stoic disciplines. For this post, I chose to use the terminology that makes the meaning behind the principles most transparent and easy to apply, but I will mention the alternative names for each discipline in case you encounter it in your other readings. In the end, what matters most to me is that you understand the essence of these disciplines and manage to live a more tranquil life, not that you are able to argue with others about what they should be called (even though naming is important in its own right). 

Thinking back on the previous quote, the 3 Stoic disciplines are: perception (“certainty of judgment in the present moment”), action (“action for the common good in the present moment”) and will (“an attitude of gratitude in the present moment”).

Perception – AKA Stoic Acceptance

Sometimes called the Stoic discipline of Desire, the discipline of perception requires us to see things for what they are – in other words, to have no illusions about reality, but rather to do our best to remain objective under any circumstance. This is easier said than done, as we will most certainly encounter situations that will be so difficult to face that we would rather tell ourselves they don’t exist. Mustering the strength to make peace with them requires accepting that a lot of what happens to us lies outside of our control, which is why this discipline is also referred to as Stoic acceptance. 

The best way to meditate on the discipline of perception is through an exercise called amor fati, which invites us to love our destiny and to wholeheartedly embrace the unpredictable trajectory of existence. 

More practical approaches include striving for rationality, for example, by discovering and being aware of the cognitive biases that our human condition comes with. Generally, seeking to find objective truth even when it might contradict our own beliefs is also a good way of developing Stoic perception. Staying up to date with the (social) sciences is also a good idea, as it allows us to keep refining our mental models of reality based on hypotheses that have been rigorously proven to be true.

Action – AKA Stoic Philanthropy

The discipline of action governs our relationship with others and invites us to always consider the greater good and to commit to treating people fairly. Also known as Stoic philanthropy, the discipline of action is a fundamental principle of the philosophy because Stoicism places value on a cosmopolitan stance to life and recognizes that each of us has to live among others. Since ivory tower escapism is not an option, it follows that we have a moral obligation to be just in all of our interactions with others, and to recognize the humanity in them even when they cannot see it for themselves.

To strengthen your Stoic philanthropy muscle, think of the people you dislike or disagree with and play devil’s advocate: try to find reasons for why they behave or think the way they do in order to gain more empathy for them. Train yourself to assume that people have a good reason for what they do and that it’s usually not to hurt or offend you.

Will – AKA Stoic Mindfulness

Last, but not least, the Stoic discipline of will reinforces the need to adjust our attitude towards things that are not within our control. Also known as Stoic Mindfulness, it invites us to consider the broader context of our lives and to be thankful for everything that happens, as it presents an opportunity to build character and show that we can be virtuous. 

To practice this discipline, consider adding a negative visualization exercise to your Stoic routine, which will help you train yourself to face adversity before it actually happens, thus robbing it of its power. To take it one step further, try subjecting yourself to some voluntary discomfort, so that you aren’t blindsided when things turn out less than ideal. By exposing yourself to controlled amounts of trouble, you will be better prepared to handle it and thus you will have some mental space left to find the opportunity in disguise.

3 Stoic Disciplines, 3 Pillars of Stoic Philosophy and 4 Stoic Virtues. What’s the Connection?

Are the 3 Stoic disciplines the same as the 3 pillars of the philosophy? And are they really virtues, in which case, why do some people say that there are 4 of them? SO, what’s the catch?

I admit, it can be confusing for a new Stoic to keep up with all the novel concepts and categories of the philosophy. Bridging the gap between them seems to help, and I find the dialogue between Massimo Pigliucci and Donald Robertson to be very useful in figuring out the connection between the 3 Stoic disciplines, the 3 pillars of Stoicism and the 4 Stoic virtues. 

Massimo has created an intuitive infographic to illustrate how all these fit together, which you can find here. 

The gist is this: each of the 3 pillars of Stoicism (physics, ethics and logic) is related to a discipline one can practice. Think of the pillars as areas of philosophical focus – a topic, if you will – and the disciplines as the action you have to perform to become knowledgeable on the topic. The virtues are desirable qualities that you develop within yourself by practicing the disciplines and you can develop more than one virtue per discipline. 

Let’s take the pillar of “Ethics” as an example. Through the discipline of action, which deals with how we treat others, you are expressing your ethical beliefs. If you do it well, you develop the virtue of justice, which will guide you in treating your fellow humans fairly in the future. When done correctly, it’s a self-reinforcing loop, which proves that there is no contradiction between the 3 terms; they complete each other.

If you’re interested in reading the original reasoning for the interpretation you can refer to Massimo’s post here and Donald’s post here.