Stoic Philosophy: Sayings of Seneca and Introduction

Today we will learn and reflect on the writings of Seneca.
The Stoics were the self-help gurus of the ancient world, and Seneca was
highly regarded by the early Church Fathers.
You may ask, how can we benefit when we ponder the stoicism of
Seneca?
Living a godly and moral life is all that mattered to the Stoic
philosophers. In this video we will ponder what Seneca tells us about
the joys we experience when we truly live the philosophical life, how we
can live a happy and content life, whether we are rich or poor, how we
can avoid groundless fears, and other advice.

At the end of our talk, we will discuss the sources
used for this video, and my blogs that also cover this
topic. Please, we welcome interesting questions in
the comments, sometimes these will generate short
videos of their own. Let us learn and reflect
together!

YouTube Video:
Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic
Philosopher
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http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/
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Seneca was born into the Roman aristocracy and unlike
Epictetus, who lived a life of poverty and was a former slave of a
former slave, Seneca was fabulously wealth with many estates.
Being wealthy and close to the Roman Emperors also meant that
he always lived on the edge, the mad Emperor Caligula ordered
him to commit suicide, which did not happen, and false
accusations made his life dicey during the rein of Emperor
Claudius. Seneca was well educated and was known as a
philosopher, Empress Agrippina, wife of Emperor Claudius, had
Seneca recalled from exile and appointed him tutor to her son,
the future Emperor Nero.
When Nero became Emperor, Seneca was one of his advisors,
and under the direction of Seneca Nero was a good and
competent emperor.

Nero and Seneca, Eduardo Barron, 1904

But then Emperor Nero, drunk by absolute power, also slipped
into mad cruelty. We know the stories of how he insulted and
tormented many of the Senators, how he murdered his mother
Agrippinna after several unsuccessful attempts, including by
sabotaging her boat, she simply swam to shore.
History tells us how the crammed together rickety apartments
inside the walls of Rome caught fire, how much of Rome burned,
and how Emperor Nero, ever the artist, fiddled while Rome
burned, or at least that is how the Roman rumors ran.

Gustav Wertheimer – Shipwreck of Agrippina, painted late 1800’s

The Fire of Rome,
18 July 64 AD,
Hubert Robert,
Painted 1785

Nero did what all dictators do, this was not his fault, so he found
some helpless minority to blame – the Christians. He fed the
Christians to lions in the Coliseum, he even crucified and torched
Christians in his gardens.

The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1863–1883, Walters Art Museum).
A fanciful scene of damnatio ad bestias in ancient Rome's Circus Maximus beneath the Palatine Hill.

Nero’s Torches, painting by Henryk Siemiradzki

As Nero was descending into madness, Seneca chose to retire in
self-appointed exile at a distant estate, thinking if he moved far,
far away Nero would not suspect that he was involved in a plot
against him, because mad dictators think everyone is involved in
a plot against, because everyone is discussing his madness
behind his back all the time, because, well, often they are.
This worked for many years, and Seneca was quite productive in
these forced years of leisure, penning many philosophical works.
But Seneca was worried, we can tell, because he wrote multiple
works about suicide and dying well, because that was on his
mind. Now, if a soldier shows up at your door with a sword and
gives you the choice of suicide instead, that to me is extenuating
circumstances.

Manuel Domínguez Sánchez – Suicide of Seneca, painted 1871

This does not mean that stoicism condones suicide, this is just
not true. In particular, Epictetus stridently opposed suicide.
Many stoic philosophers who were not nervously waiting for the
arrival of Roman soldiers with swords and execution orders from
the emperor opposed suicide, though Marcus Aurelius may have
been ambivalent. We will explore this topic further in a future
video.
Let us look to see where Seneca fits in to the timelines. The first
stoic philosopher, Zeno, and Diogenese of Sinope and the other
Greek Cynic philosophers, preceded Seneca by several
centuries. Although Seneca mentions he studies Zeno carefully,
the writings of these Greek philosophers have been mostly lost,
except for some fragments and the summaries in the writings of
Diogenes of Laertius.

Diogenes of Sinope, born 412 BC, died 323 BC.
Zeno of Citium, born 334 BC, died 262 BC.
Epicurus, born 341BC, died 270 BC.
Cicero, born 106 BC, died 34 BC.
Seneca, born 4 BC, died 65 AD.
St Paul, born 5 AD, died 64-67 AD.
Musonius Rufus, born 20-30 AD, died 101 AD.
Epictetus, born 50 AD, died 135 AD.
Marcus Aurelius, born 121 AD, died 180 AD.
LIFE SPANS, ST PAUL AND PHILOSOPHERS

Cicero precedes Seneca, but we see that Seneca and St Paul
lived at about the same time. There is a cache of purported
correspondence between them, but scholars are unanimous that
it is spurious. We do know that many church fathers admire
Seneca, St Augustine, St Jerome, and even Tertullian, who
famously asked, What has Athens to do with Jerusalem, all three
of these church fathers praise Seneca in their works.
Seneca’s life overlaps that of Musonius Rufus, and its likely that
Rufus and his disciple, Epictetus, studied the works of Seneca.
This is likely true for Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the last of the
classical stoic philosophers a few generations after Seneca.

Some of you might ask, why are you including Epicurus in this list, since he
is the founder of Epicurean philosophy? Isn’t he the enemy of stoicism?
We would first like to warn you about being too detailed in your list of
what “stoicism” believes in. Epicurus recommends withdrawing from
active life to spend leisure time with your friends, and what is true in both
modern and ancient times is that you need to be somewhat wealthy to be
able to afford an Epicurean life of leisure. Epictetus, who lived a life of
poverty, despised the Epicureans and rails against them in his writings.
But Seneca, who was both wealthy and who was forced by Nero to live a
life of leisure, has many positive references to Epicurus and his philosophy
in his letters. I have a blog on Epicurus, and in early 2021 will do a video
on him. My view is we who earn enough to be in the middle class live an
Epicurean lifestyle since we live for the weekend to spend time with family
and friends. So, you could argue that the philosophy of Epicurus is a type
of stoicism lite, though inferior to the stoicism of Epictetus.

We have already cut videos for most of these stoic philosophers, and have
published blogs on all of them except for Cicero, we will have cut videos
for all of them by the end of 2021.
Now that we know the broad outline of Seneca’s life and times, let us get
into what we are really interested in, like, what does Seneca tell us?
We will go through his letters somewhat sequentially. These quotes are
mostly from my blogs, which are all footnoted so you can read the entire
letter that have these thoughts of Seneca.
How does Seneca start his “Letters From a Stoic”, his “Moral
Epistles”? Seneca discusses our most precious possession, our
possession that we can never really possess, that continually slips through
our fingers, the loan we can never repay, the gift we waste through
carelessness, the treasure we should not waste, our most precious
possession, time.

Seneca asks, “What man can you show me
who places any value on his time, who
reckons the worth of each day, who
understands that he is dying daily? For we
are mistaken when we look forward to
death; the major portion of death has
already passed. What years be behind us are
in death’s hands?” Nothing in life is ours
except time, while we postpone life speeds
by, so let us live well, not wasting time.

In his next letter, on the reading of good books, Seneca
compares those who dabble through many books to a traveler
who has many acquaintances in many foreign lands but very few
true friends. Read deeply of the works of a master thinker, get to
know him as you would know a good friend. Each day learn
something new that improves your life, fortifies your soul.

Seneca then shares a thought he learned
from Epicurus, “Contented poverty is an
honorable estate.” Seneca adds that this is
not poverty at all, for “it is not the man who
has too little, but the man who craves more,
that is poor. What does it matter how
much a man has laid up in his safe, or in
his warehouse, how large are his flocks or
how fat his dividends, if he covets his
neighbor’s property, and reckons, not his
past gains, but his hopes of gains to
come? Do you ask what is the proper limit
to wealth? It, first, to have what is necessary,
and, second, to have what is enough.”

Then Jesus told them a parable:
“The land of a rich man
produced abundantly. And he
thought to himself, ‘What should
I do, for I have no place to store
my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will
do this: I will pull down my
barns and build larger ones, and
there I will store all my grain and
my goods. And I will say to my
soul, Soul, you have ample
goods laid up for many years;
relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But
God said to him, ‘You fool! This
very night your life is being
demanded of you. And the
things you have prepared,
whose will they be?’ So it is
with those who store up
treasures for themselves but
are not rich toward God.”
Luke 12:16-21 Rembrandt - The Parable of the Rich Fool, painted 1627

Seneca comments in his letter on Old
Age, “If God is pleased to add to our
lives another day, we should welcome it
with glad hearts. That man is happiest,
and is secure in his own possession of
himself. When a man had said ‘I have
lived!’, every morning he awakes he
receives a bonus.”
Seneca reflects on his retirement, “Life is
most delightful when it is on the
downward slope, but has not reached
the abrupt decline.”

While philosophizing in retirement, in the quiet of his estates, he
wonders, When the mad emperor summon soldiers to visit his
estate? How does he face his fate?

Letter XIII On Groundless Fears
Seneca laments, “sometimes
the sword is checked at the
victim’s throat, sometimes men
survive their executioners. Bad
fortune is fickle, maybe it will
come, but it has not come yet,
so we should look forward to
better days.”
Seneca bounces back, “Life is
not worth living” if we
multiply our sorrows with our
worries. Instead, “temper
your fear with hope.” Weigh
carefully your hopes and your
fears, but believe more in your
hopes than your fears, and
don’t let your fears harass your
soul. “We are too often in the
habit of exaggerating, or
imagining, or anticipating,
sorrows and troubles.”

Professor Luke Timothy Johnson, who recorded a series of
lectures on moral philosophy we will discuss at the end of the
video, observes that for the stoics and cynics, philosophy is an
evangelical enterprise, we should encourage our neighbors to
live the godly life, the observed life, not to lead a selfish life, but
to live a selfless life lived for the good of our neighbors. We can
see this in Seneca’s comments on philosophy.

Letters XVI and XVII On Philosophy. “Philosophy is the study of
wisdom, for as Seneca writes, “no man can live a happy life
without the study of wisdom.” You must study philosophy
every day, “you must persevere, you must develop new
strength by continuous study, until that which is only a good
inclination becomes a good habit.” “Philosophy molds and
constructs the soul; it orders our life, guides our conduct,
shows us what we should do and what we should leave
undone; philosophy sits at the helm of our ship and directs
our course as we waver amid the uncertainties of life. Without
philosophy, no one can live fearlessly or in peace of mind.”

Seneca asks us,
What should be the goal of the philosopher?
He tells us that we should, “Above all, learn how to feel joy.”

Letter XXIII On the True Joy which comes from Philosophy
What is joy? Seneca answers, “Real joy is a stern
matter.” Real joy endures poverty, endures suffering,
endures pain. Real joy is not idle laughter, real joy does
not chase passing pleasures. “Pleasure, unless it is
controlled, tends to rush headlong into the abyss of
sorrow.” “The frail body, although we can accomplish
nothing without it, should be considered as necessary
rather than important. Our frail body involves us in vain
pleasures, short-lived, and soon to be regretted, which
unless are reined in by extreme self-control,” will doom us
to a life of misery.

What is really good in life?
That which “comes from a
good conscience, from
honorable purposes, from
right actions, from contempt
of the gifts of change, from an
even and calm way of living
which treads but one path.”
You must live your life
according to a guiding
purpose, lest you let the trials
of life sweep you along like a
log floating down a swift river.

What Seneca writes about penitence and reformation sounds
like the early Eastern Church Fathers who followed him in
history. He does not mention repentance or the word
repentance here, and this is advantageous, because he is never
interested in the apology, Seneca and the moral philosophers
instruct us to live an examined life so we can improve our morals,
so we can learn from our sins, so we can reform our lives.

Seneca quotes Epicurus, “The
knowledge of sin is the
beginning of salvation.”
Seneca explains, “He who does
not know that he has sinned does
not desire correction; you must
discover yourself in the wrong
before you can reform
yourself. Some boast of their
faults. Do you think that the man
has any thought of mending his
ways who holds up his vices as
if they were his virtues?
Therefore, prove yourself guilty,
hunt up charges against
yourself. Play the part first of
accuser, then of judge, last of
intercessor. At times be harsh with
yourself.”

This echoes the prayer of St Ephrem,
O Lord and Master of my life,
grant me not a spirit of sloth,
meddling, love of power, and idle talk.
But give to me, your servant,
a spirit of sober-mindedness,
humility, patience, and love.
Yes, O Lord and King,
grant me to see my own faults
and not to judge my brother,
since you are blessed to the ages of ages.

Many people are okay with change as long as the other person is
the one who does the changing. Don’t we all want to find
excuses for our faults and failings, but yet be critical of the faults
and failings of our neighbor?
Rather we should see to change our own attitudes and behavior,
and seek to rationalize the faults and failings of others, seeing
they are but prisoners of their past, bound in chains by years of
bad habits and experiences.

What distinguishes the virtuous
soul? Seneca says It is “the soul
that penetrates the whole world
and directs it contemplating gaze
upon all its Phenomena, paying
strict attention to thoughts and
actions, rising above both
hardships and flatteries, yielding
neither to poverty nor to fortune,
rising above all tribulations and
blessings, absolutely beautiful,
perfectly equipped with grace and
strength, unruffled, never
dismayed, unmoved by violence,
neither exalted or depressed by
chance events. A soul like this is
virtue itself.”

Seneca reminds us, nobody
inherits good before evil, evil
inclinations gets first hold on all of
us. “Learning virtue means
unlearning vice. We must free
ourselves from our faults with
courage, for once we attain it the
good can be an everlasting
possession; virtue is not
unlearned.” But since the weak
and diseased mind fears the virtue
that is unfamiliar, the first steps to
attaining steadfast virtue are
toilsome. “The mind must be
forced to make the first step, but
from then one the medicine is not
bitter.” Living a godly life brings
joy and happiness, “the draught of
philosophy is both wholesome
and pleasant.”

Indeed, stoicism not only prepared the world for Christianity,
Christianity echoes stoic thoughts. Indeed, philosophy was to
the ancient Greeks what theology and Scriptures are to
Christians today

Letter LIII: Loving Philosophy,
Seneca tells us, “Philosophy is the
only power that can stir us, the
only power that can shake us out
of our deep slumber, our
apathy. Devote yourself wholly to
philosophy. You are worthy of her;
she is worthy of you, greet one
another with a loving embrace.
Say farewell to all other interests
with courage and frankness. Do
not study philosophy merely
during your spare time.”

Do you every day instinctively turn on the television the minute
you walk through the door, letting this noise fill your days and
nights? Were we put here on earth so we can be mindlessly
entertained by television? Why not read and study Scriptures
and philosophy so every day we can learn how to be a slightly
better person than the day before?

Seneca advises us to “throw aside all
hindrances and spend your time to gain
a sound mind, philosophy is a subject
for daily practice and study, philosophy
is a mistress commanding our
attention.” “Turn to philosophy with
all your soul, sit at her feet, cherish
her. If you do a great distance will
separate you from other venial men.”

We invite you to ponder our next video on Seneca, which includes thoughts on:

SOURCES
My blog includes footnotes for these quotations, you can also search for a phrase
using the WordPress search function.
The Stoic Six Pack includes the writings of Seneca and Epictetus, but their
translation of Marcus Aurelius I found unintelligible, so I used this translation.
These are also available free on the internet. The stoics were the self-help gurus
of the ancient world, their works are both fun and easy to read, as you can tell
from this video.
Professor Luke Timothy Johnson turned me on to reading the stoic philosophers,
we highly recommend these Great Courses lectures, they are not on the Great
Courses Plus.

We have already recorded videos for most of the Stoic and Cynic
philosophers, we plan to record additional videos on Rufus, Plutarch,
Cicero, and other stoics in 2021 and 2022.
PLEASE click on the link for our blog Seneca in the description below.
And please click on the links for our YouTube videos on the Stoic
philosophers, and other interesting videos that will broaden your
knowledge and improve your soul.

To find the source of any direct
quotes in this blog, please type in
the phrase to the search box in
my blog to see the referenced
footnote.
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