To understand Seneca when he quotes Epicurus “to be free, one must make oneself a slave to philosophy.” (Letter VIII) it is necessary to recognize his Stoic foundation. The Stoic believes to be free is to live virtuously, and the pursuit of a virtuous life is to live in accordance with both wisdom and nature. Assuming providence, the Stoic argues nature is perfectly ruled by divine logos with divine purpose. This divine logos is something we take part in as logical beings, and extends farther than man’s use of it. Seneca declares a man’s freedom is bound to his use of this reason- or lack thereof.
All things considered, it may be helpful to inquire how nature is related to freedom for Seneca. If reason is of nature, why does it need to be pursued? Seneca establishes that desire and emotion oppose reason in nature, and must be actively corrected. The collection of many desires threaten a man’s freedom, these illogical indulgences including distress, fear, appetite and pleasure. Too often, our minds teeter totter from the past to the future- ignoring both reason and the divine balance in the present:
Wild animals run from the dangers they actually …show more content…
To be free we must conform our will to the rationally governed universe. To be free we must challenge our emotion with philosophy. It is significant to note that Seneca does not admonish against feeling emotion altogether as he clarifies, “our wise man feels his troubles but overcomes them, while their wise man does not even feel them”(Letter XI), rather he advocates appropriate emotional response through applying rationality. In this quote, he speaks on the differences between Epicureanism and Stoicism, which he does often throughout his letters. Though Seneca defends Stoicism avidly, he welcomes truth and embraces philosophy separate from his own, which models the pursuit and application of philosophy, common property to all, in
All things considered, it may be helpful to inquire how nature is related to freedom for Seneca. If reason is of nature, why does it need to be pursued? Seneca establishes that desire and emotion oppose reason in nature, and must be actively corrected. The collection of many desires threaten a man’s freedom, these illogical indulgences including distress, fear, appetite and pleasure. Too often, our minds teeter totter from the past to the future- ignoring both reason and the divine balance in the present:
Wild animals run from the dangers they actually …show more content…
To be free we must conform our will to the rationally governed universe. To be free we must challenge our emotion with philosophy. It is significant to note that Seneca does not admonish against feeling emotion altogether as he clarifies, “our wise man feels his troubles but overcomes them, while their wise man does not even feel them”(Letter XI), rather he advocates appropriate emotional response through applying rationality. In this quote, he speaks on the differences between Epicureanism and Stoicism, which he does often throughout his letters. Though Seneca defends Stoicism avidly, he welcomes truth and embraces philosophy separate from his own, which models the pursuit and application of philosophy, common property to all, in