Does the stoic philosophy interfere with the development of empathy?

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Emotional trauma is what interferes with the development of empathy. One might turn to stoicism as a coping mechanism and as a coping mechanism, stoicism is pretty good. What isn’t good is just being stone-faced all the time and refusing to show your emotions.

If you get into stoic philosophy you’d know that it’s not about refusing to show emotion. It’s about acceptance of the current moment and not allowing yourself to be controlled by desire for pleasure or fear of pain. Done properly and according to the spirit of the ancient Greeks, stoicism is among the best coping strategies imaginable for emotional trauma.

When you can cope, you can avoid lasting damage to your mind and you can retain the emotional fluidity necessary for empathy.