HOW TO BE A
STOIC
SENECA, ON THE
SHORTNESS OF LIFE
LECTURE 2
APRIL 2, 2015
LECTURE OUTLINE
1. Brief History of Stoicism
2. Stoicism 101
3. Neo-Stoicism: A Modern Way of Living?
4. Conclusions
Most human beings…complain about the
meanness of nature, because we are born for a
brief span of life, and because this spell of time
that has been given to us rushes by so swiftly and
rapidly that with very few exceptions life ceases
for the rest of us just when we are getting ready
for it… It’s not that we have a short time to live,
but that we waste a lot of it… So it is: we are not
given a short life but make it short, and we are
not ill-supplied but wasteful of it…life is long if
you know how to use it. (1-2)
BRIEF HISTORY OF STOICISM
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Greek Stoicism
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Hellenistic period (300-200BC)
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Athens Market, stoa poikilê (porch)
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Zeno, Cleanthes, Chrysippus
Roman Stoicism
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Ethical focus and the “seasick” (70)
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Slave, Aristocrat, and Emperor
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Epictetus, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius
SENECA
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Lucius Annaeus Seneca
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5BC, Born in Cordoba, Spain (Roman colony)
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41AD, Exiled to Corsica by Caligula
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Studied philosophy, wrote tragedies
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49, Recalled by Caligula’s 4th wife as tutor to her son
Nero
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54-62, Adviser to Nero
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65, Nero orders him to commit suicide
STOICISM 101
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Philosophy is a practical way of life
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Therapeutic—practice, exercise
Goal of Stoicism
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“Good flow of life,” Epictetus
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“Live according to nature”
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Learn what you can and cannot control
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Change yourself, not nature
Promise of Stoicism (31)
In this kind of life you will find much that is worth
your study: the love and practice of the virtues,
forgetfulness of the passions, the knowledge of
how to live and die, and a life of deep tranquility.
(31)
COMPREHENSIVE PHILOSOPHY
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Natural science: Connected physics, logic, & ethics
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“Soft” materialism
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Only bodies act (therefore exist)
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Plenum (no void)
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Monist: Body and soul are one [sort of]
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Pneuma: Animating principle, is a body itself
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Ideas are physical impressions (real)
LOGOS
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The rational principle
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God exists, is nature, is the universe
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We are in nature and of nature
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We are part of god (divine)
Debates on fate and soft determinism
VIRTUE & THE GOOD LIFE
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Eudaimonia (happiness, flourishing)
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End of all Greek philosophy
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Stoic answer: VIRTUE
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Vs. Epicurean answer: Pleasure
Why virtue
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Rational way of being
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Control how you act
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Present vs past and future (15)
The Virtues
THE VIRTUES
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Wisdom (prudence)
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Self-control (justice)
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Courage
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Moderation (temperance, equanimity)
LIFE OF SLAVERY
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“Overwhelmed and rooted in their desires” (3)
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Wealth, greed, profit, possessions
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“Choked on our own blessings” (3)
Dedicated to useless tasks
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Preoccupied (9, 27)
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Busy idleness (96)
Great fear: The public mask (103)
For it is agonizing always to be watching
yourself in fear of being caught when your usual
mask has slipped. (103)
FREEDOM THROUGH VIRTUE
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Freedom is a mental state
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Tranquility of mind (73)
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View of life: “What can happen to one can happen to
all” (94)
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Practice virtue deliberately
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Cultivate virtue-adjacent habits
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Avoid the passions
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Simplicity
We are, therefore, seeking how the mind can
follow a smooth and steady course, well
disposed to itself, happily regarding its own
condition and state of peace with no ups and
downs: that will be tranquility. (73)
PASSIONS
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No passions? Not exactly…
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Passions are “bad” emotions
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False judgments (impressions)
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No passion/reason divide
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About the (in)discipline of reason
Good emotions are valued
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Marcus Aurelius: “Natural affection”
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Joy, delight, caution, hope
SIMPLICITY
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Most things have value but not in themselves
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Indifferents
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Preferred indifferents: Health and wealth
NATURE AND HUMANITY
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Hierocles’ Circles
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Circles of association
Cosmopolitan
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Citizen of the cosmos (world, universe)
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Self is social, connected
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Marcus Aurelius 2.1
Harmony with nature
Say to yourself at the start of the day, I shall meet with
meddling, ungrateful, violent, treacherous, envious, and
unsociable people. They are subject to all these defects
because they have no knowledge of good and bad. But
I…[have] seen that his nature is akin to my own—not
because he is of the same blood and seed, but because
he shares as I do in mind and thus in a portion of the
divine—I, then, can neither be harmed by these people,
nor become angry with one who is akin to me…for we
have come into being to work together, like feet, hands,
eyelids, or the two rows of teeth…To work against one
another is therefore contrary to nature; and to be angry
with another person and turn away from his is surely to
work against him. (2.1)
A MODERN WAY OF LIVING?
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Massimo Pigliucci, scientist and philosopher
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“How to Be a Stoic”
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Life worth living
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Appeal: Practical philosophy, virtue ethics,
mindfulness
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Vs. Buddhism
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Cognitive Behavior Therapy DAILY EXERCISES
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Day’s upcoming challenges, virtues needed
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Hierocles’ circles
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Premeditatio malorum
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Meditate on a Stoic saying
ANCIENT OR MODERN?
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Does Neo-Stoicism make sense?
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Stoicism is a complete system. Can the ethics stand
alone?
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Thinking about the AENEID
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Is Aeneas a Stoic-in-progress?
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What motivates his choices?
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Is Roman duty based on rationality, virtue,
pleasure?