Epictetus Discourses and Selected Writings

Epictetus discourses and selected writings Continue Discourses By Epictetus Discourses has been divided into the following sections: Book First Book 190k Book 209k Book Three 220k Book Four 186k Download: 598k text only version available for download. Epictetus, a Greek stoic and freed slave, ran a thriving philosophical school in the Nicropolis at the beginning of the second century AD. His animated discussions were noted for their rhetorical witchcraft and were recorded by Arrian, his most famous student. Together with Enchiridion, a guide to his core ideas and fragments collected here, The Discourses argue that happiness is to learn to perceive exactly what we can and cannot change, and in accepting our destiny to live in harmony with God and nature. In this personal, practical guide to the ethics of stoicism and moral self-improvement, Epictetus tackles issues of freedom and imprisonment, disease and fear, family, friendship and love, and leaves an intriguing document of everyday life in the classical world. Discourses / Fragments / Enchiridion'I must die. But do I have to die roaring? Epictetus, a Greek stoic and freed slave, ran a thriving philosophical school in Nicopolis at the beginning of the second century AD. His animated discussions were noted for their rhetorical witchcraft and were recorded by Arrian, his most famous student. Discourses argue that happiness is to learn to perceive exactly what we can and cannot change and not to accept our destiny in order to live in harmony with God and nature. In this personal practical guide to the ethics of stoicism and moral self-improvement, Epictetus tackles issues of freedom and imprisonment, disease and fear, family, friendship and love. Translation and editing with introduction by Robert Dobbin Discourses Elizabeth Carter translation, 1759AuthorEpictetusOriginal titleThe Discourses of EpictetusCountryGreeceLanguageKoine GreekGenrePhilosophyPublication date2nd CenturyTextDiscourses at Wikisource The Discourses of Epictetus (Greek: Ἐπικτήτου διατριβαί, Epikt'tou diatribai) - a series of informal lectures by the stoic philosopher Epitibai. Four books out of eight original still exist. The philosophy of Epictetus is intensely practical. He directs his disciples to focus on their opinions, anxieties, passions and desires, so that they can never get what they want and not fall into what they avoid. True education is to learn to distinguish between what belongs to us and what does not belong to us, and in teaching us to retreat properly or disagree with external impressions. The purpose of his teaching was to make people free and happy. The discourses have been influential since they were written. They are mentioned and quoted by Marcus Aurelius. Since the 16th century they have been translated into several languages reprinted many times. The title and dating books have no official name in ancient times. Although Simplicius called them Diatribai (Διατριβαί, Discourses), other writers gave them titles such as Dialexis (Διαλέξεις, talks), Apomn'moneumata (Ἀπομνημονεύματα, Records),3 and Homiliai (Ὁμιλίαι, Conversations). The modern name comes from the names given in the earliest medieval manuscript: Diatribay Epicteta (Greek: Ἀρριανοῦ τῶν Ἐπικτήτου Διατριβῶν). The Greek word Diatribai literally means informal negotiations. As for the date, it is generally accepted that the discourses were composed sometime in 108 AD Epictetus refers to the coins of Trajan, which shows that he taught during this reign. Arrian was consul around 130, and since forty-two were the standard age for this position, he would have been at the right age of about twenty years at 108. In addition, the commissioner of free cities to which Discourse iii. 7 is believed to be the same man Pliny the Younger addresses his letter viii. 24, a letter dated around 108. Originally there were eight books, but now only four remain in their fullness, as well as a few fragments of other books. In the foreword attached to the discourses, Arrian explains how he came to write them: I did not write these discourses of Epictetus in the way a person could write such things; and I don't make them public myself because I declare that I don't even write them. But whatever I heard him say, the same thing I tried to write down in my own words as close as possible, with the aim of preserving them as monuments to myself then thoughts and free speech Epictetus.- Arrian, Prefatory Letter. Discourses pretend to be the real words of the Epictetus. They are written in Greek koine as opposed to Attic Greek Arrian in his own compositions. Differences in style are very noticeable, and they depict a bright and separate personality. The exact method used by Arrian to write discourses has long been the subject of intense debate. Extreme positions were held in the range from the point of view that they pretty much own Arrian's compositions to the view that Epictetus actually wrote them himself. The basic view is that discourses report the real words of the Epictetus, even if they cannot be a pure verbatim record. AA Long writes: Most likely he (Arrian) made his detailed notes, and used his memory to fill them out. No doubt it worked up the material in a more finished form. In some cases he may have relied on others' reports, or checked his own record with Epictetus himself. However Arrian has actually made up discourses, there are numerous internally to the text, for taking the essence of his record to be completely authentic to the style and language of Epictetus own. These include a distinctive dictionary, the repetition of key moments throughout, and a startlingly urgent and vivid voice, quite different from Arrian's other works. The discourses are set in Epictetus's own classroom in Nicopol, and they show him talking to visitors and reproaching, admonishing and encouraging his students. These students seem to have been young people like Arrian, with a high social standing and considering entering the public service. Discourses are neither official lectures nor part of an appropriate curriculum. Regular classes included reading and interpreting characteristic parts of stoic philosophical works, which, like ethics, were to incorporate learning into logic and physics, which were part of the stoic system. The discourses instead record conversations that followed the formal instruction. They dwell on points that Epictetus considered particularly important, and which gave him the opportunity to be friendly with his students and discuss their personal affairs. Therefore, they are not an official presentation of stoic philosophy. Instead, the discourses are very practical. They are concerned about the conscious moral problem of a proper life, and how life should be carried out well. The Themes of the Three Parts of epictetus philosophy divides philosophy into three areas of learning, with a special application to ethics. Three fields, according to Epictetus, are desire (1) (ὄρεξις); (2) Choice (ὁρμή); (3) Consent (συγκατάθεσις): There are three areas of learning in which people who will be good and excellent must first be trained. The first deals with desires and disgusts that they can never fail to get what they want and not fall into what they avoid; second with cases of choice and refusal, and, in general, with the duty that they can act in an orderly manner, for good reason, and not carelessly; third with avoidance of errors and recklessness in judgment, and, in general, about cases of asent.- Discourses, iii. 2. The first and most important practice is aimed at our passions and desires, which in themselves are only types of impressions, and as such they will present and force us. Thus, they require constant practice to counteract them. To this first practice must be added a second, which is aimed at what is appropriate (duty) and the third, the object of which is certainty and truth; but the latter should not pretend to oust the former. Avoiding the bad, striving for good, the direction to the appropriate, and the ability to retreat or dissent is a sign of the philosopher. Scientists disagree whether these three areas refer to the traditional stoic division of philosophy into logic, physics and ethics. The third field clearly refers to logic, as it concerns actual reasoning and certainty in judgments. The second area is related to ethics, and the first area, by desires and disgusts, seems to be preliminary in relation to ethics. However Pierre Hadot argued that this first field relates to physics since for Stoics the study of time was part of the broader question of the nature of things. The true education before us is to learn to distinguish between what belongs to us and what does not belong to us. But there is only one thing that is completely our own, that is our will or choice (prohairesis). The use of external impressions is our main concern, and the right use depends solely on our happiness. Although we are not responsible for ideas that present ourselves to our consciousness, we have absolutely responsibility for how we use them. In the realm of judgment the truth or falseness of the external impression must be solved. Here we take care to accept the true impression, reject the false and suspend the judgment against the indefinite. It's an act of choice. Only what obeys our choice is good or evil; everything else is neither good nor evil; it concerns us no, it is out of our reach; it is something external, just an object for our choice: in itself it is indifferent, but its application is not indifferent, and its application is either consistent with nature or contrary to its nature. This choice, and therefore our opinion of it, is in our power; We are free in our choice. nothing the outer of us, not even zevs, can overcome our choice: he himself can control himself.

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