Stephen Taylor
Humanities
Epictetus. Enchiridion. Dover Publications, 2004
28 September 2014
The philosopher Epictetus was born ca. 50 A.D. in southwest Turkey. He was a weak and frail bodied slave that resided in Rome. Even as a slave he was allowed to attend philosophy lectures. Eventually he was set free for having opposing views to the Emperor. After expulsion from Rome in 90 A.D. he spent the rest of his days in Greece. This brief history of Epictetus is vital to understanding his works; he was not born privileged and lived according to what he wrote about. Epictetus did not write his own books personally, he had his pupil Arrian take down his thoughts to create his works. His works focus on ethics and showing others how to lead a better …show more content…
People should be aware that all types of bad things can happen in life and you should not be surprised when they do happen. Events that happen in life are not themselves painful or bad in nature. The reason they cause pain and are hurtful is the feeling that they happened for no reason at all. This leaves people feeling sorry for themselves and overall unhappy. We should all accept that everything happens for a reason and whatever happens was meant to be. If someone were to have an accident and lose an eye they should accept that it was meant to be and according to fate. The standard way to perceive this would be anger and a wondering of why this has happened. Epictetus taught that every negative event does not have to be viewed a certain way. You do not have to look at it with a negative point of view. You can instead look at it as what fate had in store for you. Acceptance in what fate has in store for you is an important virtue to leading a happy life. Enchiridion tells you that you should accept things the way they are and be confident that all things in life happen for a …show more content…
Many things in life we have zero control of; you should not harp on these things. One of the biggest things we control is our mind and how we choose to view the world. You have the power to view something as good or view it as negative. That choice is solely your own and will cause you to be content or struggle with the things that you have no power over. You can choose to view a negative event in life as bad or you can choose to look at it as indifferent. If you choose to look at the event as indifferent you can then move on in life and not let it bring you down. The things in life that you cannot control should not be a focal point in your life. These things will only lead to negativity and bring you down. It makes no sense to get down on the things you cannot control as they only hinder happiness. Happiness is learning to control the things in life that you can control and unhappiness is letting things that you cannot control in life control
Humanities
Epictetus. Enchiridion. Dover Publications, 2004
28 September 2014
The philosopher Epictetus was born ca. 50 A.D. in southwest Turkey. He was a weak and frail bodied slave that resided in Rome. Even as a slave he was allowed to attend philosophy lectures. Eventually he was set free for having opposing views to the Emperor. After expulsion from Rome in 90 A.D. he spent the rest of his days in Greece. This brief history of Epictetus is vital to understanding his works; he was not born privileged and lived according to what he wrote about. Epictetus did not write his own books personally, he had his pupil Arrian take down his thoughts to create his works. His works focus on ethics and showing others how to lead a better …show more content…
People should be aware that all types of bad things can happen in life and you should not be surprised when they do happen. Events that happen in life are not themselves painful or bad in nature. The reason they cause pain and are hurtful is the feeling that they happened for no reason at all. This leaves people feeling sorry for themselves and overall unhappy. We should all accept that everything happens for a reason and whatever happens was meant to be. If someone were to have an accident and lose an eye they should accept that it was meant to be and according to fate. The standard way to perceive this would be anger and a wondering of why this has happened. Epictetus taught that every negative event does not have to be viewed a certain way. You do not have to look at it with a negative point of view. You can instead look at it as what fate had in store for you. Acceptance in what fate has in store for you is an important virtue to leading a happy life. Enchiridion tells you that you should accept things the way they are and be confident that all things in life happen for a …show more content…
Many things in life we have zero control of; you should not harp on these things. One of the biggest things we control is our mind and how we choose to view the world. You have the power to view something as good or view it as negative. That choice is solely your own and will cause you to be content or struggle with the things that you have no power over. You can choose to view a negative event in life as bad or you can choose to look at it as indifferent. If you choose to look at the event as indifferent you can then move on in life and not let it bring you down. The things in life that you cannot control should not be a focal point in your life. These things will only lead to negativity and bring you down. It makes no sense to get down on the things you cannot control as they only hinder happiness. Happiness is learning to control the things in life that you can control and unhappiness is letting things that you cannot control in life control