Stoicism In Marcus Aurelius's 'Meditations'

This source focuses on the views on what is the best way to rule a government based on different Stoic views among time. The first era of Stoicism is the Early Stoa. The early Stoa believed in the teachings of non-eclectic Stoicism, which philosophers Zeno and Chrysippus believed in. The Early Stoa’s believed that the good are united in one bond in a society while the bad are alienated from society. They believe in the idea of natural law unlike real law courts. Rules of justice and order of the natural law is the ideal Stoic view. Early Stoa’s believe that ownership of property is missing from the Stoic Republic. Man should not be a citizen of just a certain city or state, but should be a citizen of the whole universe. The second era mentioned

Marcus Aurelius in Meditations, believes that practicing stoicism will bring a person true happiness. Stoicism is an act of independence, and having a state of mind that all things that happen in life are meant to happen. Regardless what happens, stoics do not let it affect their actions or state of mind. Boethius in The Consolation of Philosophy, believes happiness is recognizing that a man’s desires being fulfilled is not true happiness, but having a relationship with God is true happiness. Religion is practicing a healthy relationship with your God. A healthy relationship would be keeping God as a priority. Boethius and Marcus Aurelius both come up with philosophies that are in place for a person to reach a epidemy in life of true

Both Marcus Aurelius and Cicero try to create a guide, based on their stoic views, on how a person is supposed to live a purposeful life. Marcus Aurelius was an emperor and Cicero was a politician, so both serve somebody or something. In Cicero’s “On Friendship” he bases his guides on what he has learned from important people in his life. In Marcus Aurelius’ “Meditations” he bases his guide off of what he has learned as an emperor with stoic views. Some of what he Aurelius has learned is different from Cicero’s view of stoicism; an example of this is in section seven of Meditations. Section seven of Meditations is about what Aurelius learned from his tutor. He states, “Endure hardship, and have few needs; to do things for myself and not

As a slave Epictetus was severely tortured on a rack for another’s mistake and in turn received a broken leg, which never correctly healed. “ See, it’s just as I told you.” I was never more free than I was on the rack.” In addition, Stockdale ‘s leg was also damaged during his various hardships as a POW. Through these brutal hardships Stockdale finds strength in Epictetus words. For example, Stockdale was recognized by his captors in regard to holding a leadership position in the prisoners of war resistance with better hopes of challenging the Vietnamese’s treatment of prisoners. In accordance to Stoicism Stockdale did not take the leadership position with hopes of change but it was principally in his control and part of his essential duty

There have been horrible events throughout history, causing people to do some unfathomable things. This is seen in Elie Wiesel’s Night as well as the graphic novel Maus by Art Spiegelman, through the eyes of Jewish people trapped in the horrors of the Holocaust. In Night and Maus, it is evident that when treated less than human, one can begin to act in unfavorable ways.

Who is Marcus Aurelius? What did he do to make his mark in the pages of history? Why did the people of Rome respect and admire him? To the common person, Marcus was just a man who was an emperor of Rome and just another person who helped shaped this world. Marcus Aurelius was more than that! Anthony Birley writes, “The acquaintance of a man like Marcus Aurelius is an imperishable benefit.” The character of Marcus Aurelius is truly special, but was molded by many important people and figures in his life. With the absence of honor and duty in Rome, influences such as Junius Rusticus, a book called “The Discourses of Epictetus”, and the Roman Emperor Hadrian, led Marcus Aurelius to become one of the most important stoics and one of

When it comes to Platonism, Marcus Aurelius essentially strips away all the extraneous philosophies revolving around that philosophy. Marcus takes a very realistic approach to the world from a leadership perspective. One could say he is the unintentional founder of Stoicism, a philosophy based on accepting the world is not an ideal place and striving to learn from hardships, not complain. In his private journals, Marcus Aurelius makes many statements that I find to be very agreeable to and mean a great deal to my personal way of life. These lines discuss ideas of learning all one can, living everyday as if it were your last, and do not break against the hardships of life.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius was a very insightful group of works written by the Roman emperor. It is a primary source that is a personal journal that allows the reader to peer into the mind of an ancient Roman. Marcus Aurelius explains many themes in his Meditations which include; mortality, reason, virtues, duty, death, existence, relationships with community and the Gods. Aurelius is a Stoic, a type of philosophy, “Stoicism stressed the search for inner peace and ethical certainty despite the apparent chaos of the external world by emulating in one’s personal conduct the underlying orderliness and lawfulness of nature” (Pg. vi). Stoicism is very important throughout the book and is a common theme in it. It is through this stoic philosophy that he writes about issues and events of his day.

As for the differences between the two ethical frameworks, there are areas where the theories contrast from one another. With stoic virtue ethics, the focus is more on “what” and “how” with life. How can an individual live a virtues life? What is good in life and how can it be obtained? That when an individual have positive evaluative beliefs, the outcome should project a positive feeling. This is similar to the deliberation of speaking positive thoughts into the universe. What a person project through evaluative beliefs,

Hume states that in Epictetus’s The Handbook, most of the statements are based upon a mindset where one is simply told to get over it. Hume states that Seneca also makes use of these invalid arguments that do not add any strength to any point trying to be made. An example of this attack is when Hume gives an example where “a man may as well pretend to cure himself of love by viewing his mistress through the artificial medium of a microscope…” (Hume 349). This addresses the idea that finding an artificial solution to a problem does not benefit anyone in the long run. Similarly, artificial arguments that are made does not do anyone any good. The use of an artificial argument completely invalidates the point that is trying to be made. Therefore, since stoicism is based upon artificial arguments, it cannot serve to bring any individual happiness and success in the future. Hume adds that simply being indifferent to all problems and issues in life as Epictetus instructs does not mean that nothing bad ever happens. When one extinguishes the idea of pleasure and pain, he or she also removes the point of living in life. Someone cannot just state whatever happens, happens and be okay with it simply because they did not care about it from the

Plato was a philosopher in Ancient Greece. He wrote about ethics, politics, knowledge, and love. He believed that the physical world is only a representation of the world of ideas. He also believed that the arts are illusions.

Stoicism is similar to Epicureanism: they both share the view that eudaimonia is attained by atraxia, a calmness or tranquility of the mind that comes from apathy, or more specifically, indifference. This indifference has to do with ignoring things related to human life, which is viewed as mundane: things like health, money, political office, and material possessions cause pleasure that is bad, and when you ignore these things and become indifferent, your mind becomes calm. This is similar to Epicureanism in that Epicureanism defines happiness as the absence of pain, like the need for earthly pleasures; in Stoicism, happiness is found in the indifference towards these things. However, the difference between the two is that Epicureanism understands that desires and some external pleasures are part of being human, and

It is not uncommon in today’s society to come across someone who in some way shape or form believes in Buddhism. But what about the ancient Greek philosophy of Stoicism? These two ideologies were created thousands of miles apart, as well as centuries apart, however they bare more similarities than we would initially think. There are three key similarities between Stoicism and Buddhism. They both believe in receiving happiness from an internal source, in the idea that suffering stems from desires, and they also offer a path to a life without said suffering. If a person incorporated these beliefs into their life, they could only expect positive results.

The ideology of Stoicism was brought upon by Greek philosopher, Epictetus. Epictetus was born a slave during the 2nd century A.D. Many people loved and studied under Epictetus, and still value his lessons today. Though he was a great teacher, Epictetus never published any writings of his own. It was not until later that a

Socrates lived his life instructing others on how best to live virtuously. In order to do this, he exhibited several unwaverable beliefs and actions that defined his life as a philosopher. Epictetus’s text The Enchiridion also attempts to instruct readers on how live a life of virtue. This branch of philosophy is labelled “stoicism.” Due to how well the actions expressed by Socrates and suggested by Epictetus seem to align, a modern day examination of both The Enchiridion and several of Plato’s texts written about Socrates could conclude that Socrates himself may be considered a stoic.