Wisdom and Other Feelings: Affect, Knowledge, and the Senecan Subject
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Wisdom and Other Feelings: Affect, Knowledge, and the Senecan Subject by Chiara Graf A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Classics University of Toronto © Copyright by Chiara Graf 2020 Wisdom and Other Feelings: Affect, Knowledge, and the Senecan Subject Chiara Graf Doctor of Philosophy Department of Classics University of Toronto 2020 Abstract Much of the scholarship on the Senecan emotions has treated affect primarily as an obstacle to be overcome by Stoic reason and self-control. Placing Seneca’s philosophical, scientific, and literary works in dialogue with modern affect theory, I argue that emotions can provide routes to knowledge and define the subject’s relationship to the cosmos. The first three chapters of this dissertation treat the role of affect in Seneca’s meteorological treatise Natural Questions. In Chapter 1, I argue that the Senecan sage defines himself through an enchanted and joyful identification with the cosmos. In the subsequent two chapters, I explore the didactic potential of affect for epistemically compromised subjects who have not yet attained sagehood. Chapter 2 demonstrates the paradoxical solace to be found in stupefaction and anxiety, and Chapter 3 argues that even forms of wonder rooted in ignorance can guide imperfect subjects towards apprehending a logic underlying the cosmos. Chapter 4 turns to Book 20 of Seneca’s Epistles, treating the role of wonder in our understanding of the good (bonum) and honorable (honestum). I argue that, as the book unfolds, technical Stoic definitions of the good and honorable prove to be circular and inadequate, and that Seneca presents wonder as the only viable way of grasping these concepts. Finally, in Chapter 5, I turn to Seneca’s Troades, arguing that the heroine Andromache finds solace in extreme grief and hopeless. In doing so, she exposes rationalistic methods of consolation as idealized abstractions, whereby violence and suffering are mined for ii lessons and meaning. Ultimately, I argue that affect is able to paint a fuller picture of the universe than the one afforded by reason alone. iii Acknowledgments First and foremost, thank you to my supervisor, Erik Gunderson, for always asking the best questions. Erik has an uncanny ability to draw out the most interesting part of any argument, and it has been an incredible privilege to receive his incisive feedback. Though I am nowhere close to wisdom, I credit whatever progress I have made to his truly mirabile exemplum. My sincere thanks go to Alison Keith, whose comments have greatly improved my writing, and who has always gone out of her way to support me in myriad ways. Thank you also to Jarrett Welsh. Among many other canny pieces of advice, he first encouraged me think critically about Senecan miratio, a topic which would eventually be central to this dissertation. I am grateful for the extensive feedback I received from George Boys-Stones and Alessandro Schiesaro. Victoria Wohl has been an invaluable mentor and teacher. Her graduate seminars have been a lesson to me not only in lateral and creative thought, but also in rigorous and compassionate pedagogy. I would like to thank Lorenza Bennardo, Katherine Blouin, Boris Chrubasik, and Regina Höschele for their unflagging encouragement and kindness. My research has benefitted greatly from doctoral fellowships at the Northrop Frye Centre and the Jackman Humanities Institute. I am grateful for the space and time to write, as well as for the stimulating interdisciplinary discussions, provided by these fellowships. I could not have progressed through my graduate degree without the hard work of Ann- Marie Matti and Coral Gavrilovic—thank you for running our department smoothly and efficiently. iv Thank you to the members of the Classics Graduate Theory Reading Group, for the chocolate and conversation. A warm and supportive community made this project not only possible, but enjoyable. I am deeply grateful for the friendship of Adam Barker, Eliza Brown, Kat Clarke, Nicole Daniel, Marion Durand, John Fabiano, Kat Furtado, Joseph Gerbasi, Brad Hald, Matt Henson, Jesse Hill, Caitlin Hines, Tajja Isen, Alexander Kirby, Rachel Mazzara, Emily Mohr, Madeleine Northcote, J. Oliver, Philip Sayers, and Matt Watton. Over the last six years, they have been my comrades, my interlocutors, my fiercest advocates, and my steadiest sources of affirmation and support. I truly could not have completed this project without them. I would also like to thank my youngest friends in the Classics department, Daniel Bing and Alexander Chrubasik, who have lifted my spirits and made me laugh when I needed it most. To Ted Parker, my favorite person to talk and think with: thank you for providing me with enough joy and humor to carry me through all the ugly feelings. Most of all, thank you to Daniela Bartalesi-Graf, Michael Graf, and Livia Graf, la mia squadra vincente. For my whole life, you have encouraged my curiosity, taught me to think critically, and believed, unfalteringly, that I could do anything. v Table of Contents ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................... II ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................................................................... IV EDITIONS OF WORKS CITED ......................................................................................................... VII INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 1 AFFECT AND EMOTION: WHERE AND HOW ARE WE “MOVED”? ............................................................ 1 PHILIA, SOPHIA, AND EVERYTHING IN-BETWEEN ................................................................................. 11 SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS ....................................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 1: THE JOY AND ENCHANTMENT OF THE SAGE ................................................... 18 INTRODUCTION: SUBLIMITY IN SENECA AND KANT ............................................................................. 18 WONDER AND DELIGHT AS APPROPRIATIVE AFFECTS .......................................................................... 29 THE ENCHANTED TURN TOWARDS THE SELF ....................................................................................... 32 RATIO AS A MARVELOUS MEASURING-STICK ....................................................................................... 43 HOSTIUS QUADRA AND THE ONTOLOGY OF DELIGHTFUL IMAGES ....................................................... 46 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................................... 56 CHAPTER 2: NATURAL DISASTER, STUPEFACTION, AND ANXIETY .................................. 57 INTRODUCTION: ALTERNATIVES TO SAGEHOOD ................................................................................... 57 “STUPLIMITY” AND THE PARALYZED SUBJECT ..................................................................................... 61 NATURAL QUESTIONS 3: THE FLOOD ...................................................................................................... 64 NATURAL QUESTIONS 6: EARTHQUAKES ................................................................................................ 77 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................................... 88 CHAPTER 3: COMETS AND SENECA’S DOUBLE MIRATIO ....................................................... 90 INTRODUCTION: MODELS OF WONDER ................................................................................................. 90 SENECA’S DOUBLE MIRATIO .................................................................................................................. 99 THE RELATIONSHIP OF COMETS TO SENECAN DOUBLE MIRATIO ....................................................... 106 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................ 126 CHAPTER 4: WONDER AND EXEMPLARITY IN THE EPISTULAE MORALES ................... 127 INTRODUCTION: CONCEPTUALIZING THE GOOD ................................................................................. 127 THE PROBLEM WITH OBJECTIVITY ...................................................................................................... 129 UNDERSTANDING THROUGH AFFECT .................................................................................................. 136 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................ 161 CHAPTER 5: HOPE, FEAR, AND THE FUTURE IN SENECA’S TROADES ............................. 163 INTRODUCTION: TROUBLING FUTURES IN TRAGEDY AND PHILOSOPHY ............................................ 163 ANDROMACHE’S RESENTFUL OPTIMISM ............................................................................................. 173 NO FUTURE: ASTYANAX’S DEATH SCENE .......................................................................................... 191 EROTIC VIRTUE: POLYXENA’S DEATH SCENE .................................................................................... 201 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................................