VIRTUOUS LIFE AND HAPPINESS IN EPICTETUS, SOCRATES AND STOICISM A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY +h/<$.$+9(&ø IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY MAY 2015 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof.'U0HOLKD$OWXQÕúÕN Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts. 3URI'Uù+DOLO7XUDQ Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts. 3URI'Uù+DOLO7XUDQ Supervisor Examining Committee Members AVVRF3URI'U(UWX÷UXO57uran (Ankara U., Phil.) $VVRF3URI'U(OLIdÕUDNPDQ (METU, Phil.) 3URI'Uù+DOLO7XUDQ(METU, Phil.) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Signature : iii ABSTRACT VIRTUOUS LIFE AND HAPPINESS IN EPICTETUS, SOCRATES & STOICISM Kahveci, Hülya M.A., Department of Philosophy Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ş.Halil Turan May 2015, 107 pages In this M.A. thesis, Epictetus‘ philosophy about virtuous life and happiness will be investigated. His philosophy is shaped by the thoughts of Socrates and Stoicism, therefore, before his main thoughts Socrates‘ and Stoic‘s philosophy under the scope of happiness will be analyzed. Firstly, the focus will be on Socrates‘ philosophy of happiness, but before that, in order to pull the reader out of the blurry thoughts about historical Socrates and Platonic Socrates dilemma, I will try to prove that Socrates has basic ideas on happiness benefitting from different dialogues and writers. Then, with the Stoic views, the acceptance about passion and pleasures are the blockage of virtue actions will be presented. Finally, I will scrutinize the teachings of Epictetus which will show to the reader that a life which is subjected to passion and pleasures cannot be labeled as happiness. Keywords: Happiness, virtue, freedom, passion, pleasures. iv ÖZ EPİKTETOS, SOKRATES VE STOA‘DA ERDEMLİ YAŞAM VE MUTLULUK Kahveci, Hülya Yüksek Lisans, Felsefe Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Ş. Halil Turan Mayıs 2015, 107 sayfa Bu Yüksek Lisans tezinde, Epiktetos‘un erdemli yaşam ve mutluluk felsefesi anlatılacaktır. Epiktetos‘un felsefesini incelemeden önce, onun fikirlerinin ve felsefesinin temelini oluşturan Sokrates ve Stoacılık tanıtılacaktır. Sokratesin mutluluk ile ilgili felsefesinden bahsetmeden önce, okuyucuyu tarihi Sokrates ve Platocu Sokrates belirsizliğinden çıkarmak adına, farklı diyalog ve yazarlardan faydalanarak, Sokrates‘in mutluluk ve erdemli yaşam ile ilgili temelde aynı düşüncelere sahip olduğunu kanıtlamaya çalışacağım. Ardından Stoacı düşünceyle birlikte, haz ve tutkuların ahlak ve mutluluğu engellediğinin kabulünü ortaya koyup, Epiktetos‘un haz ve tutkulara tabi bir hayatla mutluluğun mümkün olmadığını anlatan öğretilerini inceleyeceğim. Anahtar Kelimeler: Mutluluk, erdem, özgürlük, tutku, hazlar. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study was performed under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Ş. Halil Turan. I would like to express my gratitude for his support and guidance. I also thank Assist. Prof. Dr. Elif Çırakman and Assist. Prof. Dr. Ertuğrul Rufayi Turan for their suggestions and valuable comments on this research. Thank you Mom, Hürrem Sultan, I am the luckiest human being for being your little one. Like in the last conversation of ours, I love you, five times. Thank you Dad, Beşiktaşlı Ustura Necati, you are the role model of this research, history can label you as another sage-men with no doubts at all. Thank you my sisters for being there for me and supporting me all the time. Thank you all my teachers and friends for the beauty of your soul and the sincerity of your smile. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM .................................................................................................. iii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................... iv ÖZ ....................................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................. vii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1 2. HISTORICAL SOCRATES VS PLATONIC SOCRATES ................... 5 2.1 Characterization of Socrates.............................................................. 5 2.2 The main themes in dialogues ........................................................... 8 3. SOCRATIC APPROACH TO PLEASURES ....................................... 26 3.1 Protagoras ....................................................................................... 26 3.2 Gorgias ............................................................................................ 29 3.3 Phaedo ............................................................................................. 32 3.4 Alcibiades 1 ..................................................................................... 35 3.5 The Symposium ................................................................................ 37 3.6 The Republic .................................................................................... 39 3.7 Philebus ........................................................................................... 41 4. STOICISM ............................................................................................ 46 4.1 Cosmos ............................................................................................ 47 4.2 Reason ............................................................................................. 49 4.3 Virtue ............................................................................................... 50 4.4 Knowledge and Problem of Externals ............................................. 52 vii 4.5 Sage Man ......................................................................................... 57 4.6 The Art of Living ............................................................................ 57 4.6.1 What is to be done? ................................................................... 59 4.6.2 How do we do it? ....................................................................... 59 4.7 Legacy; To and From ...................................................................... 60 5. A STOIC MORALIST WITH SOCRATIC MARKS: EPICTETUS ... 62 5.1 Dialogues, Elenchus and a Didactic Teacher .................................. 66 5.2 Moral Purpose ................................................................................. 68 5.3 Problem of External Impressions .................................................... 73 5.4 Three Fields of Study ...................................................................... 74 5.5 Dealing with External Impressions ................................................. 79 5.6 Philosopher‘s Task .......................................................................... 81 6. CONCLUSION ..................................................................................... 84 REFERENCES .................................................................................................. 88 APPENDICES A. TURKISH SUMMARY ......................................................................... 95 B. TEZ FOTOKOPİ İZİN FORMU ...................................................... ... 107 viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The meaning and usage of happiness in modern times differs from the ancient one. People in modern societies hold an understanding of happiness that represents a materialistic view. For modern people, an individual‘s degree of happiness is defined by the assets that the person has or by the power that she or he holds in society. A closer inquiry reveals an abundance of examples that demonstrate how pervasive this conception of happiness is. For example, when evaluating the happiness of a mature woman or man, one factor frequently taken into consideration is success or failure in marrying and starting a family. Likewise, when an undergraduate student‘s understanding of happiness is scrutinized, likely answers involve graduating successfully, getting a job with a perfect salary after college, and increasing one‘s standard of living by acquiring more and more material assets. In addition to defining happiness in terms of material things and social position, modern people also conceive of happiness as a temporary state. Both of these views on happiness are shaped by a materialistic perspective, one that is radically criticized by the ancient Greek philosophers. The ancient Greek philosophers regard happiness with different attitudes and ideas. First of all, they hold that eudaimonia–a key term that refers to happiness with relation to the virtues and the fulfillment of human nature–can be achieved only over a complete lifetime. Ancient philosophers share three main ideas regarding eudaimonia: 1 that it results from virtuous actions; that these actions must be integrated with rational principles; and that they must be carried out not only for one‘s inward