On the other hand, Epictetus’s Enchiridion is the way stricter than Christianity. Epictetus is a Greek stoic philosopher who was born as a slave. However, since he got a great chance to study stoic philosophy under Musonius Rufus, he became free from the slave. He later even established a school in Nicopolis in Epirus(Brown). Like Jesus, Epictetus wrote nothing, but his teaching wrote down and published by his disciples in The Enchiridion. Epictetus taught that philosophy is a way of life and not just a theoretical discipline. To Epictetus, all external events are beyond individual’s control; everyone should accept everything that happens in daily life. However, individuals are responsible for their own actions, which they can examine and control through rigorous self-discipline.
Different from Christianity, Stoicism …show more content…
Stoicism’s definition of the true happiness is self-contained and defines happiness as a state that not dependent on any external circumstances. In this Greek philosophy, Nature can make people rational, and people should use reason to improve themselves. Meanwhile, the Epictetus teaches us: “Do not wish to be thought to know anything” (Epictetus par.13), and “Never call yourself a philosopher, nor talk a great deal among the unlearned about theorems, but act conformably to them” (Epictetus par. 46). Stoicism’s goal is to control ourselves, and it also teaches us to control our arrogance. When people free from not only external surroundings but also the inner desire for pleasure and even pain, everyone can finally gain the true happiness. It is interesting that in the Stoicism, they considered “passion” as “suffering”. “For most of Western history, from the time of the ancient Greeks until about the middle of the eighteenth century, what people now commonly call emotions were commonly referred to as passions. As traditionally conceived, a passion is anything a person ‘suffers’” (Averill). Passion is kind of
Different from Christianity, Stoicism …show more content…
Stoicism’s definition of the true happiness is self-contained and defines happiness as a state that not dependent on any external circumstances. In this Greek philosophy, Nature can make people rational, and people should use reason to improve themselves. Meanwhile, the Epictetus teaches us: “Do not wish to be thought to know anything” (Epictetus par.13), and “Never call yourself a philosopher, nor talk a great deal among the unlearned about theorems, but act conformably to them” (Epictetus par. 46). Stoicism’s goal is to control ourselves, and it also teaches us to control our arrogance. When people free from not only external surroundings but also the inner desire for pleasure and even pain, everyone can finally gain the true happiness. It is interesting that in the Stoicism, they considered “passion” as “suffering”. “For most of Western history, from the time of the ancient Greeks until about the middle of the eighteenth century, what people now commonly call emotions were commonly referred to as passions. As traditionally conceived, a passion is anything a person ‘suffers’” (Averill). Passion is kind of