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Ethics 18 Notes 04 BARRY STOCKER (Dr) Faculty of Science and Letters Assistant Professor Department of Humanities and Social Science ([email protected]) https://barrystockerac.wordpress.com ETHICS. SPRING 2018 İTB 219E NOTES: WEEK FOUR Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (1BCE-65CE). Seneca was born in Cordoba, a major Roman centre in southern Spain. His father (Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Elder) was a member of the lower Roman aristocracy (known as knights or equestrians, the senators were the upper aristocracy) who moved to Cordoba and was himself a well known rhetorician (public speaker and debater, thinker about speech and argument). He sent the younger Seneca to be educated in Rome where he rose to become tutor to the future emperor Nero and then adviser when Nero became Emperor. Before he became teacher to Nero (reigned 54-68CE), Seneca had some experience of the dangers of being close to power in the Roman Empire, when he was exiled to Corsica by the Emperor Claudius (reigned 41-54CE) due to accusations from the first wife of Claudius of an affair with a relative of the Emperor. He was recalled to Rome after Claudius had married his second wife, the mother of Nero. He had problems before then with the Emperor Caligula (37-41CE), who was famously cruel and paranoiac. Seneca did well at first from his association with Nero, and was also able to become very rich, partly as a major money lender of the Empire. It has been suggested that his demands for repayment and interest had a negative affect on the economy of Britannia (Roman England and Wales), contributing to the revolt of Queen Boudica. Nero’s increasingly unbalanced behaviour led Seneca to retire from state service and lead a private scholarly life. However, a conspiracy against Nero led to a purge of Nero’s enemies real, and imagined; and Seneca was forced to commit suicide. Nero’s irrationality led to a military uprising and he committed suicide himself to avoid execution. Seneca wrote philosophy in the form of literature in essays and letters (sometimes referred to as dialogues). He also wrote tragic plays which are not often staged, but are often read and influenced later dramatists including Shakespeare. His nephew Lucan was also a major literary figure, one of the major Roman poets. ‘ON TRANQUILITY OF MIND’. Seneca’s moral ideas were Stoic in nature, but also refer to the Cynics and Epicureans. Very little survives from the early Greek Stoics, so we will study Stoicism through Seneca. The Stoic School was founded by Zeno (334-262 BCE) of Citium (Larnaka in Cyprus). Zeno moved to Athens and the school was named after the Stoa (porch) in the colonnade in the Agora (market place) of Athens. Zeno’s less well known successor as head of the School was Cleanthes (died 232 BCE) of Assos (Aegean Anatolia). Cleanthes’ successor was a major Stoic philosopher, Chryssipus (born in Anatolia around what is now Adana, then moved to Athens) who wrote huge numbers of books, none of which have survived. What can be inferred from references in ancient texts is that the Stoics had a view of ethics based on behaving rationally and following nature. They also developed philosophies of the physical universe, logic, and signs in nature and speech. That Seneca was a major figure in the Roman state, as well as in philosophy, shows the influence Stoicism had on educated Romans. This is confirmed by the visit the Emperor Hadrian (117-138) made to the school of the Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus (his Discourses is one of the major Stoic classics) who was a tutor in Rome before founding his school in Greece, and even more so by the Stoic Meditations (written in Greek, still widely read) of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180). Seneca presents his philosophy in ‘On Tranquility of Mind’ through a dialogue with his friend Serenus, who lacks such tranquility. The dialogue just consists of a short discourse from Serenus, followed by a long reply from Seneca. Serenus outlines the ideal of a simple life. Serenus’ idea of a simple life is to have only a few slaves who are dressed simply and to only own silver inherited within the family. This idea of a simple life is that of an aristocrat who avoids ostentatious luxury. The life of politics can be part of the life which brings tranquility as well as the simple country life mentioned by Serenus. Seneca also refers to the merits of an isolated contemplative life in the countryside. The danger of the contemplative life is that the mind is easily bored and needs new ideas all the time. In an isolated life this can lead to unhealthy obsessive desires for power and revenge disturbing the gains of a contemplative life. The same problem of boredom appears in the city with !2 the kind of individual who is rushing round the city and wants to seem part of all important aspects of its life, but is not in reality accepted by any group in the city and has no influence. Boredom arises from no activity, but also from too much of the wrong kind of activity. The goal should be to concentrate on limited tasks and not lose yourself in endless varied activities.Seneca refers to the danger of revealing the self, when leading the kind of life that means putting on a mask. Seneca refers to very showy kind of people. Seneca refers to the three founders of Stoicism mentioned above and the importance of following them. He also mentions Diogenes, meaning Diogenes (404-323BCE) of Sinope (Sinop, Black Sea coast of Anatolia). Diogenes is the most important representative of Cynic philosophy. Cynic comes from the Greek word of dog (Kynos), and the school had this label because they believed it was admirable to live without property or social manners.What Seneca mentions about Diogenes is that he got rid of all his property.This protected him from influences beyond his control, and suffering from bad fortune. In having no property, or social status The important thing is to recognise that we come from nature, that our life and everything we have, is something that nature can take from us at any moment; or a cruel Emperor, as Seneca mentions in a reference to Caligula (under his proper name of Gaius, Caligula was a nickname). Tranquility of mind requires us to be ready to lose everything including life, and that enables us to live rationally and without boredom. He was thinking of the way that they all placed justice and morality above political authority and admired the person who resists the bad ruler, though not violently. Tranquillity of mind does not depend simply on philosophical ideas and having the right intentions. We need variety Seneca thinks, though he gives priority to private contemplation. Rest, holidays, travel, changes of activity prevent is from becoming restless and bored. Serenus reports that when he looks into himself, he sees some vices on the surface. Some are more hidden, and some are completely hidden but will come back. This kind of introspection is not as obvious in Seneca’s time as now, there was less sense of an inner self of an infinite consciousness hidden from introspection without great effort, and maybe not even then. The emergence of this way of thinking about the self has ethical implications, how can we master our vices, following virtue and reason as all the ancient ethicists hoped. Serenus finds the vices which have apparently disappeared the most dangerous, because it is difficult to know when they will return and strike. Serenus thinks of this in terms of the danger of a country being invaded. Serenus thinks of the state of mind in which he is afraid of the return of vices, as irritable and argumentative, in between illness and health. Serenus also emphasises the in between nature of his state of mind. Serenus expects Seneca to reply that virtues take habit to grow and that it takes effort time to acquire virtues, and overcome vices. Serenus puts this in terms of achieving something admired by others. In particular he mentions eloquence/rhetoric, and important skill for the antique aristocracy. Over time we may end up using eloquence for bad purposes, an important fear in antiquity. Serenus expressed the supposed preference of the old Roman aristocracy for simplicity. However, he says that when he sets himself up in the countryside according to the life of a virtuous old style landowner, his thoughts turn to greater luxury. Serenus says he resorts to political interests but just feels the same negative state of mind and returns to county matters. When he retreats into himself, Serenus says his thoughts become over excited and are expressed in exaggerated language in order to impress others. Serenus finishes by saying that his condition is not a danger to others, but only to himself. He says that he is afflict by sickness rather than a storm at sea. Seneca starts his reply by comparing Serenus’ condition with someone who has overcome a long and dangerous illness, but still has fever and pain. Even when the symptoms disappear, they feel anxious and are very ready to complain to a doctor if they feel hot. These are not people whose bodies failed to heal, they are people who are not used to health. Seneca returns to the model of the sea, suggesting that a calm sea after a storm still has ripples. Radical cures in which we threaten and block ourselves are not the answer. The solution is self-confidence, and belief that we are on the right path.
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