Curing Human Misery: A Study of Seneca's Moral Philosophy Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Wagoner, Robert Stephen Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 01/10/2021 21:28:23 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/202933 1 CURING HUMAN MISERY: A STUDY OF SENECA‟S MORAL PHILOSOPHY by Robert Stephen Wagoner _____________________ Copyright © Robert Stephen Wagoner 2011 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2011 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Robert Wagoner entitled Curing Human Misery: A Study of Seneca’s Moral Philosophy and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 8/10/11 Julia Annas _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 8/10/11 Rachana Kamtekar _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 8/10/11 Mark Timmons Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate‟s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________ Date: 8/10/11 Dissertation Director: Julia Annas 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: Robert Wagoner 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I could not have written this dissertation without the support and encouragement that I have received from many people at the University of Arizona. My thanks above all go to Julia Annas and Rachana Kamtekar. I do not believe that a student of philosophy could have better mentors than these. Their careful attention to my work, their encouragement, and more generally their approaches to the study of philosophy have not only made this dissertation possible, but have provided models to which I continue to aspire. Thanks also to Mark Timmons for sharing an interest in Seneca‟s texts and for helping me to think and write more clearly about them. Many thanks also to my fellow graduate students. First and foremost thanks to Michelle Jenkins both for reading and discussing with me many drafts of chapters and for being a kind and supportive friend throughout my graduate career. Thanks also to Emil Salim and Kristin Hulburt for their thoughtful and helpful comments on a number of chapters. Thanks also to all of the graduate students and faculty whose support through reading groups and seminars have helped shape my dissertation. My eternal gratitude, finally, to Dena for her constant support, love and friendship. Thank you for making the difficult times a little easier and the good times even better. 5 DEDICATION For Dena & Charlotte 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... 8 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 1: SENECA‟S PRESENTATION OF PHILOSOPHY ............................. 23 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 23 2. Seneca and the Stoic Tradition ............................................................................ 24 3. The Presentation of Philosophy ........................................................................... 30 4. The Division of the Parts of Philosophy .............................................................. 36 5. Philosophical Progress ......................................................................................... 40 6. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 44 CHAPTER 2: SENECA ON MORAL PROGRESS .................................................... 46 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 46 2. Stages of Moral Progress ..................................................................................... 48 3. Moral Progress: Obstacles and Candidates .......................................................... 53 4. Progress in Philosophy ......................................................................................... 64 5. Seneca on Progress .............................................................................................. 72 6. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 77 CHAPTER 3: SENECA‟S USE OF RHETORIC ........................................................ 79 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 79 2. The Antithesis of Philosophy and Rhetoric ......................................................... 80 3. Seneca‟s Use of Rhetoric ..................................................................................... 85 4. Olberding: Seneca‟s Violent Imagery as Death Erotica ...................................... 88 5. Senecan exempla and Moral Reasoning .............................................................. 91 6. Reading and Re-reading exempla: a Two-level Approach ................................ 100 7. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 106 CHAPTER 4: PHILOSOPHY AS THERAPY ........................................................... 108 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 108 2. Philosophy and Therapy: The Medical Analogy ............................................... 109 3. Philosophy and Therapy: The Breakdown of the Medical Analogy.................. 114 4. Seneca‟s Conception of Therapy ....................................................................... 121 4.1 Preliminaries: The Benefits of Philosophy .................................................. 122 4.2 Therapy of the Passions ............................................................................... 125 5. Immediate Relief ................................................................................................ 135 6. Therapeutic Arguments ...................................................................................... 136 7. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 138 CHAPTER 5: THE THERAPY OF GRIEF: THERAPY IN THE CONSOLATION TO MARCIA ...................................................................................................................... 141 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 141 2. The Aim of the ad Marciam .............................................................................. 143 3. The First Dialectical Section: natura and opinio: ad Marciam 7.1-8.3 ............. 145 4. The Second Dialectical Section: Praemeditatio Futurorum Malorum & rerum natura: ad Marciam 9.1-11.5 ............................................................................. 150 5. The Third Dialectical Section: ad Marciam 12.1-19.4 ...................................... 158 7 6. Grief and Philosophy ......................................................................................... 162 7. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 164 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................... 167 8 ABSTRACT In this dissertation I outline and argue for a new approach to Seneca‟s moral philosophy – with particular emphasis on the notion that human misery can only be eliminated through philosophy. I argue that a careful reading of Seneca‟s philosophical texts reveal that a concern for philosophical progress dominates Seneca‟s writing. This concern manifests itself both in what might be called practical projects in Seneca‟s philosophical work – including his approaches to reading, writing, teaching, and advising his audience – and in his more theoretical accounts of the nature of philosophy and its role in producing a sound mind. Seneca‟s concern for philosophical progress shapes his works both substantively