A Pragmatic Defense of Mythopoetic Stoic Absurdism

Mythopoetic Stoic Absurdism (MSA) is not a metaphysical doctrine but a practical psychological framework. It is designed as a strategy for living meaningfully and resiliently in a disenchanted, indifferent universe. Its foundations lie not in mystical revelation, but in well-established findings from cognitive psychology, existential therapy, and neuroscience. Below are its three core defenses:

A Defense of Stoic Philosophy

Stoicism, especially as articulated by thinkers like Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, offers tools for emotional regulation and rational self-mastery that anticipate and align with modern cognitive therapies. Central to this tradition is the insight that it is not external events that disturb us, but our judgments about them - a principle that underlies Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT).

CBT, as developed by Aaron Beck, and REBT, pioneered by Albert Ellis, both emphasize identifying and restructuring distorted or irrational beliefs. This maps directly onto the Stoic practice of prohairesis (rational moral will) and the discipline of assent, which involves critically examining impressions before endorsing them. These practices are known to reduce anxiety, increase resilience, and promote psychological equanimity.

Moreover, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a third-wave cognitive therapy, shares Stoicism’s emphasis on accepting what we cannot control while committing to value-aligned action. ACT’s core concept of psychological flexibility - a trait strongly associated with well-being - closely resembles the Stoic ideal of living in harmony with nature through rational choice and virtue.

MSA adopts these practices not as dogma but as empirically validated tools for cultivating serenity, responsibility, and clarity in the face of adversity.

A Defense of Meaning-Making in Absurdity

MSA embraces the Absurd: the tension between the human longing for meaning and a universe that offers no inherent answers. Rather than yielding to nihilism or false consolation, MSA draws upon existential psychology and logotherapy to promote active meaning-making as a resilience strategy.

Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy emphasizes that even amidst profound suffering, individuals can choose their attitude and find purpose. This mirrors the Stoic claim that while externals are beyond our control, our inner faculty of choice remains free. Meaning is not discovered but created - crafted through values, commitment, and reflection.

Psychological research consistently supports this: individuals who perceive their lives as meaningful tend to show higher resilience, better emotional health, and greater long-term satisfaction. By encouraging individuals to orient themselves around freely chosen values, MSA offers an existential antidote to despair.

This active stance toward meaning is not speculative but grounded in established existential theory and therapeutic practice. MSA empowers individuals to endure life’s absurdity not by denying it, but by transforming it into a personal moral project.

A Defense of Mythopoesis

Human beings are narrative creatures. Our brains naturally seek coherence through story, symbol, and metaphor. MSA leverages this evolutionary feature by integrating symbolic storytelling - mythopoeia - as a mechanism for identity formation and value integration. While mythopoetic techniques are not themselves empirically validated therapeutic tools, they draw on the brain’s innate tendency toward symbolic narrative construction - a phenomenon observed in cognitive and developmental psychology

Narrative psychology has shown that individuals who construct coherent personal life stories tend to exhibit greater psychological well-being, motivation, and clarity of purpose. These narratives help organize past experiences, guide future action, and embed values into a stable sense of self. While not empirically grounded, the existential insights of thinkers like Rollo May - particularly his emphasis on the daimonic, responsibility, and symbolic creativity - offer rich conceptual scaffolding for understanding MSA’s mythopoetic stance as a personal moral project in response to the absurd.

MSA uses myth not as literal truth but as psychological scaffolding. Drawing on traditions ranging from Jungian archetypes to Stoic exemplars, it encourages the cultivation of a symbolic narrative - one’s own heroic journey, one’s Daimon, one’s chosen pantheon of virtues. These metaphors serve as heuristics, supporting commitment and moral agency in everyday life.

Crucially, MSA remains secular and scientifically cautious. It treats symbols and rituals as imaginative tools for focusing intention and sustaining coherence, not as supernatural claims. In doing so, it bridges the gap between ancient wisdom and modern psychological insight.

Mythopoetic Stoic Absurdism as a Psychological Strategy

Mythopoetic Stoic Absurdism is ultimately a framework for living, not believing. It integrates the Stoic art of emotional self-regulation, the existential commitment to self-authored meaning, and the narrative coherence offered by symbolic imagination. Every component is grounded in respected streams of psychology and cognitive neuroscience.

By fostering emotional flexibility, inner coherence, and value-guided action, MSA offers a resilient posture in the face of an unpredictable and often indifferent world. It does not promise salvation, but it does offer a compass: rational, poetic, and psychologically pragmatic.

References

Psychology and cognitive (neuro)science

  • Frankl, V. E. (1946). Man’s Search for Meaning.
  • Ellis, A. (1962). Reason and Emotion in Psychotherapy.
  • Beck, A. T. (1979). Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders.
  • Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K. G. (1999). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.
  • Robertson, D. (2010). How to Think Like Socrates, Build Your Resilience, The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT), How To Think Like A Roman Emperor, and Stoicism And The Art Of Happiness.
  • Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness.

Symbolic, artistic, and inspirational

  • Tolkien, J.R.R. (1931). Mythopoeia.
  • Campbell, J. (1949). The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
  • Jung, C. G. (1964). Man and His Symbols.
  • Yalom, I. D. (1980). Existential Psychotherapy.
  • McAdams, D. P. (2001). The Psychology of Life Stories.