ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the premeditation of adversity, one of the most widely-recognized psychological techniques in ancient philosophy, especially Stoicism. It clearly resembles a number of mental rehearsal or imaginal exposure type techniques found in CBT and so many detailed comparisons can be made between the two approaches. The Stoic technique of premeditation is first described, during which various common misfortunes in life (in the ancient world) such as exile, poverty, and illness, are imagined as if happening now in order to rehearse viewing them with indifference and overcome emotional distress. This is compared to a variety of mental rehearsal techniques found in Beck’s cognitive therapy as well as the behavioural technique of imaginal exposure therapy. Rational emotive imagery (REI) from Ellis’ REBT provides another good analogy for Stoic premeditation. The use of a similar technique in Spinoza’s philosophical “remedy for the emotions” is described, which appears to be derived from the Stoics. Also a modern philosophical account, influenced by Spinoza, is clearly described by the philosopher Bertrand Russell in The Conquest of Happiness.
