Discourses of Epictetus
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page 9
EPICTETUS
of Epictetus little need be said.
His
his
and
this
lies
character,
open in
biography is
the
OF
life
where the fine spirit of an earnest and
He was born in Phrygia, about
first
the
of
middle
the
century. His mother was a slave;
his father is unknown.
Epictetus is not his name, but is
a Greek word which denotes his servile condition. In his
youth he became the property of Epaphroditus, a freedhis books,
noble soul still breathes.
man of Nero's, who permitted him to attend the lectures
of
Musonius Rufus, one of the most celebrated teachers
in Rome.
Having acquired freedom, he began himself to
give lessons; but he was soon sent into exile, together with
the other philosophers, by the Emperor Domitian.
Settling at Nicopolis, in Epirus (the modern Albania),
he opened a school, and continued to teach the doctrines
of stoicism to the time of his death, at the age, it is sup-
posed, of nearly a hundred years.
He was feeble in body,
lame, poor, and unmarried, living alone until he took an
old woman into his house to care for an orphan whom
he had adopted.
He wrote nothing, but talked with his
pupils in a familiar way of whatever concerns the conduct
of
life.
Arrian, his favourite disciple, took notes of his
conversations, not with a view to publication, but for his
own use.
When, however, without his knowledge, they
had fallen into the hands of several, he edited them him-
page 10, segment 1/2
EPICTETUS
iv
Thus we owe to an accident the existence of these
self.
"
Discourses," which form one of the world's vital books.
"
is a collection of aphorisms taken sub-
The " Manual
stantially from the larger work.
Epictetus was not the founder of a new philosophy.
Zeno, the originator of the Stoic system, was his master,
and Zeno himself derived his fundamental principles from
Antisthenes, the author of the cynic school and the friend
of Socrates.
The Greeks are the creators of philosophy, and their
attempt at systematic thought was an effort to
understand Nature. But they soon learned that it was
earliest
necessary to begin from within, since to know anything
man must first know himself. Thus the problem of the
conduct of life forced itself upon them.
stant preoccupation of Socrates,
dred years before Epictetus.
This is the con-
who was born five hun-
He taught that the good is
to be sought not in outward things, nor in the indulgence
which for him, however, is an
than
a
moral
habit.
His calm and raintellectual rather
of appetite, but in virtue,
tional
temper led him to the belief that man always acts
in accordance with his knowledge, does what insight shows
him to be useful to himself.
He who does evil, does it from
a mistake of judgment.
Sin is error. Virtue, then, being
knowledge, may be taught, and to teach it is the
philosopher's life work. But Socrates moved in a circle
from which there was no escape. To know the useful is virtue. But what is the useful? That which makes for virtue.
Antisthenes does not attempt to determine the mean-
chiefly
He simply declares that virtue is the
ing of the good.
his view, virtue is the intelligent conin
only good, and,
life.
duct of
Right life is the essential good; virtue is its
own reward, and one
page 10, segment 2/2
need not look to its results.
The
It
is,
midst of whatever vicissitudes, a sure possession.
virtuous man is independent of events, and stands
in the
page 11, segment 1/2
EPICTETUS
secure against fate and fortune.
V
The world is full of things
he does not need; he seeks not wealth, nor fame, nor honour, nor pleasure.
Zeno, the Stoic, born in Cyprus about 340 B. c., is the
heir of the Cynics.
The sage, as he conceives the truly
wise and virtuous man, is first of all independent of the
world, since only on this condition can he be free and find
happiness in himself alone; and as what is external is but
little subject to human will, he must overcome the worlcT
within himself by gaining the mastery over the feelings
and desires which
it
excites.
To be self-contained and
self-sufficient, to remain unmoved in the presence of good
or of evil fortune, imperturbable though the universe be
the goal he must strive to reach.
If he can
not defend himself against the excitations of feeling, he
shattered,
is
and thereby prevent them
His ideal is apathy, absence of
will at least refuse his assent,
from becoming passions.
emotion.
The course of things may bring him pleasure
and pain, but since he holds that the one is not a good,
the other not an evil, he retains his equanimity. Virtue
is his sole good, and the only evil is to permit passion to
conquer reason. This withdrawal of the individual within
himself, however it may be modified and supplemented, is
an essential element in the Stoic's conception of life.
Reason, from his point of view, is not only man's nature,
but that of the universe, while the impulses of the senses
The soul, as part of the World-Reason,
are irrational.
must therefore exclude from itself all excitation of feeling.
"
To live in harmony with Nature is to rise into a sphere
where the senses cease to trouble; it is to live in communion with the cosmic power, from which all things
proceed, in cheerful obedience to
page 11, segment 2/2
the eternal destiny,
which, being the will of God, is the divine law. The wise
>rnan accepts this life as his first
the task which Reason imposes
and highest duty.
upon him.
It is
The Stoics,
page 12, segment 1/2
EPICTETUS
vi
however, holding that man is by nature social, require
that he lead a social life. The social ideal of the sage is
that of a universal ethical community, and he is indifferent to forms of government and to actually existing states.
He is a citizen of the world, demands justice and sympathy
;
and refuses to recognise the division of mankind
Greeks
and barbarians.
^into
The chief stress is laid upon the worth of moral personfor
all,
;
upon the paramount value of the good that lies
within, though the duty of co-operating with one's fellowmen for the general welfare is inculcated. The metaphysality,
and involves fatalism; but the
Stoics, preoccupied exclusively with moral ideas and interests, cared little for logical consistency, and stoutly asserted the freedom of the will, holding fast to liberty of
choice and to the universality of causation.
Though of Greek origin, stoicism attained its highest
practical significance in Rome, where its doctrines seemed
to be suited to the character of the people. Those stern,
self-controlled, and brave men were attracted by a system
which emphasized the value of independence, courage, and
imperturbability. They found in it a source of the moral
enthusiasm which the pagan religions had no power to
inspire.
They were drawn to the society of the philosophers, received them into their houses, and became their
disciples.
By daily intercourse with these earnest and
austere teachers, such men as Scipio and Laelius, as Brutus,
Cato, and Cicero, were formed. The prestige and authority
of the preachers of stoicism were heightened by the general
corruption which was undermining the state, and the public
calamities which were becoming more and more frequent.
ical principle is pantheistic,
The noblest souls, despairing of the
page 12, segment 2/2
cause of liberty,
withdrew from politics, and sought consolation in a philosophy which taught them how to bear the ills of life
and how to die. In Rome, where only what is practical
page 13, segment 1/2
EPICTETUS
vii
was rightly appreciated, little attention was given to the
metaphysical presuppositions of stoicism, and the great
teachers, losing sight of the logical requirements of the
system, took what seemed to them true and to the pur-
pose wherever it was found. Indeed, contradiction and
inconsistency did not repel, as we have seen, the early
Stoics, and in its
Roman development the philosophy be-
came more and more eclectic.
Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius are the three
famous names of this later school of stoicism, and they are
all
teachers of the conduct of life, in love with inner per-
fection, and comparatively heedless of mere speculation.
In the midst of the general decadence and threatening col-
lapse of the civilized world, they sought to rouse conscience; and as the pagan religion could do nothing for
them, they strove to give a kind of sacredness to human
wisdom. To derive profit from their works it is not necessary to understand their theories. All that is required is an
open mind and a tractable heart. What is speculative disappears in the presence of the practical worth of the truths,
they utter. To read them aright we need an attentive and
devout spirit rather than an acute and curious intellect.
Of these three teachers of the later stoicism, Epictetus is
the noblest character and the greatest authority.
His life
more completely in harmony with his doctrine. He rises
in moral elevation to the level of his maxims and precepts.
is
His purity equals his insight.
He is the venerable sage.
He is the saint of a philosophical religion, a man who from
an abject condition raised himself to the worthiest dispositions of mind and heart, who in the midst of a corrupt society remained unstained and faithful, his thought
fixed on the
page 13, segment 2/2
highest moral ideals, and following to the
end his vocation as a preacher of righteousness a slave,
a cripple, a pauper, as his epitaph declares, but dear to the
gods.
He has drawn for us an ideal of the Stoic sage, in
page 14, segment 1/2
EPICTETUS
yiii
which his own character is portrayed.
He accuses neither
God nor man; he controls desire; he knows not anger, nor
resentment, nor envy, nor pity; he fences himself with virtuous shame. He has nothing to conceal; he does not fear
exile or death, for wherever and
however he is there also
But it is not enough that he be good in and for
himself.
He is a messenger sent by Zeus to instruct men
concerning good and evil, to point out to them that they
walk in wrong ways. He must cry out: " Oh, mortals,
whither are ye hasting? Why do ye tumble about, like
is
God.
the blind?
The good is not in the body; it is not in wealth,
or power, or empire;
it lies
in yourselves.
you one to teach you by his example.
God has sent
Take notice of me
that I am without a country, without a house, without an
estate,
without a servant:
I
lie
on the ground; have no
wife, no children, no coat, but have only earth and heaven
and one poor cloak.
And what need I?
Am I not with-
Am
I not free?
out sorrow, without fear?
Did
blame God or man? Did I ever accuse any one?
I
ever
Have
any of you seen me look discontented?" Epictetus is
His style is bare
direct, plain, and earnest in his speech.
of ornament, vigorous, and incisive. He is always serious,
He does not deliver
often stern, and at times pathetic.
finished discourses, is heedless of rhetorical ornament, and
wholly intent on improving his hearers by inciting them
to the love and practice of virtue. He is not so much an
orator as a brave, genuine man, whose whole being vibrates
words, which are vital and electric. They are the
honest and fearless expression of what he thinks in his
in his
heart, of what he feels and lives.
They are the utterance
is deepest and permanent in man, and therefore
lose the
page 14, segment 2/2
power to stimulate and nourish faith in
never
they
of what
the worth of a
life
led in obedience to the divine
com-
mands. The simple and straightforward manner in which
he speaks the highest truth has made him a favourite not
page 15, segment 1/2
EPICTETUS
with scholars merely, but with all classes of readers.
ix
Who-
ever is persuaded that life is chiefly conduct may derive
Only the learned can read Plato with
help from him.
profit, and the fewest of these
mind may
study him, but an ordinary
and teacher, for his
of the most practical character and easily
find in Epictetus a friend
philosophy is
understood. Wisdom consists in knowing how to distinis our own and what is not ours.
our
Our will,
opinions, desires, inclinations, and aversions
are ours; the rest body, possessions, honour, and reputa-
guish between what
The divine law bids us hold fast to what
is not ours.
our own, and make no claim to what is not ours. God
in endowing us with free will gives us control over what
is ours, but other things he has not placed in our power*
tion
is
A man's business is with himself, with learning to think
Here he is master, here he has
rightly and will wisely.
him
Let
full control.
give heed to this, and in other things
resign himself with a cheerful heart to the guidance of
the all-wise Father, who rules the whole.
Since we can
not determine the course of Nature, it is our duty to
ac-|
Is\
cept with courage and resignation whatever befalls.
money, or friend, or wife, or child taken from us, let us re-
member that they never were ours; they were but lent
to us, and have been returned to the owner.
Shall we
complain when he asks us to restore what belongs to him?
But it lies with us to have an independent soul and a victorious will, to remain imperturbable, serene, reverent, and
thankful, despite disgrace and misfortune, which can not
touch our inmost being or deprive us of freedom and
virtue.
These are the sole good, and so long as they are
Will that things happen as
and
shall
happen contrary to thy