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Are Bodily Desires Good or Bad?
Stoicism & Bodily Desires
Bodily desires are not inherently bad. Hunger and thirst are natural, and we absolutely need to eat to live. However, what are you eating? How often are you eating? And is it controlling your life?
You can’t help but be hungry sometimes. That is not Evil. But letting it control your life IS Evil. Consider your Skip the Dishes order is running late. You haven’t eaten all day, and you feel the hunger pains really kicking in. That is absolutely not a justification to be angry (or “hangry”). It’ll come soon enough, so take a deep breath and have some patience.
“Failure and deprivation are the best educators and purifiers.”
Albert Einstein
Some Desires are Satiable
Some of our bodily desires are different, though. The thing about hunger is that it is natural and satiable. You can eat and then the desire goes away. This desire keeps you alive and well, even though it’s not always accurate. Lust, on the other hand, is not so much.
