Details Epithetical Books Letters from a Stoic
Title | : | Letters from a Stoic |
Author | : | Seneca |
Book Format | : | Paperback |
Book Edition | : | Penguin Classics |
Pages | : | Pages: 256 pages |
Published | : | August 26th 2004 by Penguin Books (first published 64) |
Categories | : | Philosophy. Nonfiction. Classics. History |
Seneca
Paperback | Pages: 256 pages Rating: 4.33 | 18692 Users | 849 Reviews
Ilustration To Books Letters from a Stoic
The power and wealth which Seneca the Younger (c.4 B.C. - A.D. 65) acquired as Nero's minister were in conflict with his Stoic beliefs. Nevertheless he was the outstanding figure of his age. The Stoic philosophy which Seneca professed in his writings, later supported by Marcus Aurelius, provided Rome with a passable bridge to Christianity. Seneca's major contribution to Stoicism was to spiritualize and humanize a system which could appear cold and unrealistic.Selected from the Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, these letters illustrate the upright ideals admired by the Stoics and extol the good way of life as seen from their standpoint. They also reveal how far in advance of his time were many of Seneca's ideas - his disgust at the shows in the arena or his criticism of the harsh treatment of slaves. Philosophical in tone and written in the 'pointed' style of the Latin Silver Age these 'essays in disguise' were clearly aimed by Seneca at posterity.
List Books Conducive To Letters from a Stoic
Original Title: | Epistulae morales ad Lucilium |
ISBN: | 0140442103 (ISBN13: 9780140442106) |
Edition Language: | English |
Rating Epithetical Books Letters from a Stoic
Ratings: 4.33 From 18692 Users | 849 ReviewsAssess Epithetical Books Letters from a Stoic
I think if I were to ascribe to any worldview, I would choose Stoicism. Seneca is one of the reasons why. An eminently reasonable man who continually urges his young charge to self-examination through the light of reason. A fun read with profound insight.In his book concering the time he spent in Auschwitz famous austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl came to the conclusion that when you're no longer able to change the situation you find yourself in, you are challenged to change yourself. Being a best-selling book this ethos dawned the rebirth of stoicism for a society which is desperately longing for a way to cope with all cruelties life serves up. Seneca provided the philosophical foundations and Frankl knew how to transpose them when being faced
Along with his tragedies, treatises and longer dialogues, the philosopher Seneca wrote 124 letters addressed to his friend Lucilius. Whether these letters were actually sent is unknown, but their style indicates that they were intended for publication at some point. These letters are really mini-essays in disguise, discussing Senecas Stoic beliefs and his outlook on life in general. This collection contains about a third of Senecas surviving letters, some of which are abridged.For readers
Stoics saw the world as one single great community and all men are brothers. A man should live in conformity with divine will which means 1, not only question convention and training the self to do without all except necessities, but developing inborn gift of reason which marks us off as different from the animal world; 2, resigning himself completely and uncomplainingly to whatever fate may send him.The ideal or goal of stoicism is called arete in Greek, virtus in Latin, and virtue is an
Its an interesting exercise to read Senecas letters and Homers Iliad at the same time: you get a sense for how arbitrary our categories are. Both of these ostensibly belong to classical literature, though eight hundred years separate them. Seneca and we are divided by a gulf of history more than twice that deep, but his world and our own have so much more in common with one another than either shares with the Achaean armies camped on the beach at Troy. Again and again, while marking up my copy
These letters of Roman philosopher Seneca are a treasure chest for anybody wishing to incorporate philosophic wisdom into their day-to-day living. By way of example, below are a few Seneca gems along with my brief comments:Each day acquire something which will help you to face poverty, or death, and other ills as well. After running over a lot of different thoughts, pick out one to be digested throughout the day. -------- Im completely with Seneca on this point. I approach the study of
I don't buy the criticism you see about Seneca not practicing what he preached. The closest I've ever been to being emperor of anything is the emperor of ice cream, so maybe the guy deserves more credit than the typical accusations of hypocrisy.I had picked this book up again last year just sensing a need for some more sturdy philosophical grounding for resilience in my life and then decided to promote it in my queue at the reco of Tim Ferriss.I slogged through it for a long time. Not gonna lie,
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