AAP 2026 CONFERENCE

The human condition is inherently challenging. Our lives are coloured by toil, limitation, pain, illness, impermanence, and death. Added to these obstacles is an apparent lack of moral economy in the universe. These circumstances render us susceptible to mental disturbances such as despair, nihilism, anxiety, and grief. Ancient spiritual traditions aim to provide a bulwark against these afflictions by reframing the human condition in a manner that allows us to face it with equanimity and courage. In the Western context, two traditions have been particularly influential. Christianity teaches that while the human condition is fundamentally bad in several respects (e.g., suffering, sin, death), thanks to God’s grace, the faithful can look forward to an afterlife that is free from the woes of terrestrial existence. Stoicism proceeds by challenging common assumptions about value and well-being; pain, illness, and death are not bad for us because well-being depends solely on virtue. In this paper, I argue that accepting the Stoic account of well-being, which is the core Stoic doctrine, is ultimately a matter of faith, and that we have good reasons to cultivate this faith. I also argue that Stoic faith is more attainable and stable than conventional religious faith.