Essays on Stoicism

King Solomon who wrote the “Book of Proverbs” and Lucius Annaeus Seneca, who is better known by his cognomen Seneca was the author of “The Moral Essays”. Solomon’s “Book of Proverbs” was a guide that told the Hebrew people how to live for over a thousand years. Proverbs addresses many areas that are important to being able to live peacefully with one another such as moral behavior, values of oneself, the family and the community. It also deals with the meaning of life and submission to the will of god. In “the Moral Essays” Seneca like Solomon gave ...

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

-Martin Luther King, Jr. This statement invokes a feeling that speaks of the fine line between living and dying. Right away a line from a favorite movie, the Shawshank Redemption (1994), comes to mind. The quote, spoken by Andy Dufresne, who is portrayed by Tim Robbins, goes “Get busy living, or get busy dying.” The quote is not too far from being similar to the words spoken by Dr. King, as they also speak to the necessity of staying busy and finding the time to care about life and what really matters. If a person simply sits and waits ...

Alain de Botton in his book, ‘The Consolations of Philosophy’ attempts to help his readers understand and deal with everyday problems by quoting six philosophers- Nietzsche, Seneca, Socrates, Montaigne, Epicurus and Schopenhauer- and interjecting their teachings with anecdotes and his ideas. Botton deals with the topics of unpopularity (Socrates), not being rich (Epicurus), Frustration (Seneca), Inadequacy (Montaigne), Heartbreak (Schopenhauer) and Difficulties (Nietzsche). The book is a veritable mix of the philosophies exposed by these philosophers as well as anecdotes and quips from the author. In the chapter about Seneca, Botton not only explains Seneca’s views on frustration and ...

Discuss the conflict between pietas and furor in the relationship of Aeneas and Dido. How does the concept of Stoicism in Rome help you, as a modern reader, to understand the conflict of duty and love as a conflict of pietas and furor? Pietas and Furor are quite complicated philosophical phenomena. Pietas symbolises peace, calmness and a strong devotion to doing one’s duty. In Rome it was believed that an ideal citizen should first of all think about how to carry out the duties and not about the fulfilment of his own needs. Those duties concerned the devotion ...

The contemporary world is rigged with a vast array of social challenges that affect our daily lives. These challenges include depression, eating disorders, substance use, personality disorders as well as anxiety disorders. In light of these challenges, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy commonly referred to as CBT was conceived in a bid to curb these challenges. This essay thus seeks to provide a succinct and in-depth analysis of the central western concept of CBT and its relation to nonwestern cultures. Foremost, Cognitive behavioral therapy is a blend of behavioral as well as cognitive therapy. Changing an individual`s emotions directly is undoubtedly a difficult task. ...

Faulkner remains one of America’s iconic writers still studied in higher education today for his style of writing engaging the reader in his characters. His characters in “As I Lay Dying” are no different in their challenge to the reader placing their symbolic meaning in the themes Faulkner incorporates in this story of a sequence of tragedies. “As I Lay Dying” exhibits an almost textbook example of a dysfunctional family of poor white Southerners on a farcical journey where the reader becomes familiar with the characters through Faulkner’s use of them several of them as the narrator of this tale. ...

Knowledge is a philosophical concept which has been quite challenging to understand. Over the years, philosophers came up with diverging ideas about it. Precisely, it took a very long time for them to agree on the sources of knowledge. This sparked a very hot debate amongst the philosophers. Zeno emphasized on the role of "moral and intellectual perfection” in the acquisition of knowledge. According to his school of thought, reason can also be considered as a source of knowledge. To the stoicism, the acquisition of the right knowledge can be instrumental in identifying the truth and distinguishing it from a fallacy. However, this is ...

The concept of the secular saint is continually given meaning as part of an ongoing and wide-ranging philosophical and academic debate. The secular saint is defined by the degree to which he, or she, participates in the debate that shapes meaning and identity. To truly embody the qualities of the secular saint and live a life of meaning, it is important to maintain balance within oneself, to keep in harmony those aspects of the spiritual and secular that give one direction and purpose. By striving to maintain balance, the secular saint creates meaning in life. Some of the greatest philosophers ...

1. Discuss the cultural connections and parallels between Classical Greece and the Hellenistic world and the Roman Empire in terms of art, literature, religion and philosophy. The Eastern Roman Empire (later the Byzantine Empire), was Greek-speaking and Hellenistic in culture, and contained two-thirds of the population and some of the largest cities like Alexandria, Constantinople and Antioch. Poltically, culturally and economically, it was the most important part of the Empire and survived until 1453, for nearly 1,000 years after the fall of the West. In pagan times before the 4th Century AD, all of the Roman gods ...

In 1941, the influential critic and academic Oscar Cargill wrote what may be one of the most misleading analyses of The Sun Also Rises. While praising what he considered a remarkably symbiotic achievement in style and content, Cargill concluded that Hemingway’s initial entry into the literary milieu was limited in meaning and philosophical depth (Hays, 19). The Sun Also Rises was conceived as a modernistic contemplation of the post-war generation, yet many have criticized it as nihilistic; a self-indulgent, anti-intellectual response to the post-war generation and to the more elaborate style of writing that characterized the Gilded Age and the post-war ...

1. Introduction This thesis shall be limited to a critical analysis of Alain de Botton’s book, The Consolations of Philosophy; of the year 2000 which introduced a new perspective not only to the study of philosophy but also its application in our day to day lives. It is significant to point out that this book was a follow-up of the original Consolation of Philosophy that was written by Boethius in 524 A.D. basically, Boethius personified philosophy as a woman whereby he asserted paradoxical relationship between fortune and misfortune especially in relation to the phenomenon of human happiness. Therefore whilst the latter ...

The Impact of Stoicism

Stoicism was one of the most influential philosophies of its time in Greek philosophy, culture, and politics. It appealed to both the common man as well as the educated man, and successfully gained respect from surrounding nations. Its influence endures even today.

Greek Society, Politics, and Culture

Stoicism was one of the most influential philosophies of the Hellenistic age, continuing for centuries from the time of its founding by Zeno (c 336-264 BCE) to Epictetus (c 50-138 CE); in fact, the philosophy endures among some groups even today (Connolly). There are several important reasons why Stoicism was such a popular and influential philosophy for the ...

Although Chrysippus created the first account of Stoicism, the Greek Zeno is considered to be the founder of Stoicism, running his own school in Athens. The name “Stoicism” comes from the location where the members of the school gathered, the stoa poikilê, the porch (Baltzy). Perhaps the most appealing thing about Stoicism’s teaching is that a man can reach a state of perfection, infallibility, and therefore happiness.

Stoic philosophy is made up of three parts, including physical theory, logic, and ethics. The physical theory is complex, with God being seen as a material thing. The stoics see the material world as ...

Writing as Social Therapy: Camus’ The Plague and Vergil’s Aeneid

Eric Blair attended secondary school at Eton, where he made a series of decisions that would affect not only his personal life, but also his future writing. Instead of working hard on his assignments and pursuing top marks, Blair decided instead to stop doing serious work and just do what he needed to get through. He did make a number of friends who would become influential in British letters, but he did not get the grades he would need to earn a university scholarship. Since his parents did not have the money to pay for his tuition, he went instead into the ...

The philosophy of Epicureanism was founded around 307 BC and it was based upon the teachings of Epicurus, a Greek philosopher. The philosophy of Epicureanism was that pleasure was the greatest good and the means of doing so were by leading a modest life, knowing the limits of one’s desires, understanding the workings of the world as well as through friendship. By doing so, a person would achieve a state of tranquility (ataraxia) and be free from fear as well as physical pain (aponia). Hermarchus carried on the philosophy of Epicurus and also headed his school after his demise. The existing writing ...