Autumn XIII. Stoics - part 1

Intro & Preface & Contents

Previous: Autumn XII. Death and dying

Many a time, when life went hard with me, I have betaken myself to the Stoics, and not all in vain. Marcus Aurelius has often been one of my bedside books; I have read him in the night watches, when I could not sleep for misery, and when assuredly I could have read nothing else. He did not remove my burden; his proofs of the vanity of earthly troubles availed me nothing; but there was a soothing harmony in his thought which partly lulled my mind, and the mere wish that I could find strength to emulate that high example (though I knew that I never should) was in itself a safeguard against the baser impulses of wretchedness. I read him still, but with no turbid emotion, thinking rather of the man than of the philosophy, and holding his image dear in my heart of hearts.

Of course the intellectual assumption which makes his system untenable by the thinker of our time is: that we possess a knowledge of the absolute. Noble is the belief that by exercise of his reason a man may enter into communion with that Rational Essence which is the soul of the world; but precisely because of our inability to find within ourselves any such sure and certain guidance do we of to-day accept the barren doom of scepticism [existentialism?]. Otherwise, the Stoic’s sense of man’s subordination in the universal scheme, and of the all-ruling destiny, brings him into touch with our own philosophical views, and his doctrine concerning the “sociable” nature of man, of the reciprocal obligations which exist between all who live, are entirely congenial to the better spirit of our day. His fatalism is not mere resignation; one has not only to accept one’s lot, whatever it is, as inevitable, but to accept it with joy, with praises. Why are we here? For the same reason that has brought about the existence of a horse, or of a vine, to play the part allotted to us by nature. As it is within our power to understand the order of things, so are we capable of guiding ourselves in accordance therewith; the will, powerless over circumstance, is free to determine the habits of the soul. The first duty is self-discipline; its correspondent first privilege is an inborn knowledge of the law of life.

Alpha.

Curious that he focuses on Marcus Aurelius and not Seneca. I’m not a huge fan of Seneca, but I’ve always preferred him to Aurelius, who I’ve always thought of as the “talking dog” of antiquity -- a Roman Emperor who had been taught to parrot Stoic phrases. The “philosopher” Emperor who adopted a fool (or villain), and who died (doing what should have been the job of a general) leaving that fool (or villain) to rule Rome.

This isn’t fair, but I always imagine  Quintus Junius Rusticus’s Stoicism lessons with Marcus starting thus, “Now, repeat ethical rule number one.” “Never feed your philosophy teacher to the lions.” “Very good, now we can continue...” 

Much of the Stoic philosophy Marcus Aurelius describes is, regardless of truth, what one would wish an absolute ruler to believe. Aurelius’s Stoicism is rather like Confucianism in this respect, and I can find little fault with it as a guide for rulers or for government officials generally.

Stoicism has much to offer people in general, and maybe people in a position of authority could benefit more than most. But I can’t imagine Alexander or Caesar writing books of philosophical aphorisms. Alcibiades probably could have written something better than Aurelius ever did, but he never would have... unless possibly to amuse Socrates.

Stoicism may still work well even if it’s metaphysical foundation is suspect. People are as they are, and the world is as it is. Coming to terms with this -- finding a kind of peace -- is still a worthy goal even in a world devoid of meaning.

The happy life is a life that is in harmony with its own nature.

The highest good is a mind that scorns the happenings of chance, and rejoices only in virtue.

The wise man will not despise himself even if he has the stature of a dwarf, but nevertheless he will wish to be tall.

-Seneca

But I think Horace made this last point even better:

Tis the first virtue, vices to abhor;

And the first wisdom, to be fool no more.

But to the world, no bugbear is so great

As want of figure, and a small estate.

Personally, as long as we’re on Hellenistic Philosophy, I think Epicurus is just as valuable:

We should not spoil what we have by desiring what we have not, but remember that what we have too was the gift of fortune.

Natural justice is a pledge of expedience with a view to men not harming one another and not being harmed by one another.

...prudence teaches that it is not possible to live pleasurably without living prudently, nobly, and justly, nor to live prudently, nobly, and justly without living pleasurably.

Live quietly.

Next: Autumn XIII. Stoics - part 2.

Spring IX. Independence, forsooth! + annotated books

Intro & Preface & Contents

Previous: VIII. Nature and society

For more that six years I trod the pavements, never stepping once upon mother earth -- for the parks are but pavements disguised with a growth of grass. Then the worst was over. Say I the worst? No, no; things far worse were to come; the struggle against starvation has its cheery side when one is young and vigorous.  But at all events I had begun to earn a living; I held assurance of food and clothing for half a year at a time; granted health, I might hope to draw my not insufficient wages for many a twelvemonth. And they were the wages of work done independently, when and where I would. I thought with horror of lives spent in an office, with an employer to obey. The glory of the career of letters was its freedom, its dignity!

The fact of the matter was, of course, that I served, not one master, but a whole crowd of them. Independence, forsooth! If my writing failed to please editor, publisher, public, where was my daily bread? ... I marvel at the recollection that for a good score of years this pen and a scrap of paper clothed and fed me and my household, kept me in physical comfort, held at bay all those hostile forces of the world ranged against one who has no resource save in his own right hand.

But I was thinking of the year which saw my first exodus from London. On an irresistible impulse, I suddenly made up my mind to go into Devon, a part of England I had never seen. At the end of March I escaped from my grim lodgings, and, before I had time to reflect on the details of my undertaking, I found myself sitting in sunshine at a spot very near to where I now dwell -- before me the  green valley of the broadening Exe and the pine-clad ridge of Haldon. That was one of the moments of my life when I have tasted exquisite joy... The light, the air, had for me something of the supernatural -- affecting me, indeed, only less than at a later time did the atmosphere of Italy...

I had stepped into a new life. Between the man I had been and that which I now became there was a very notable difference. In a single day I had matured astonishingly; which means, no doubt, that I suddenly entered into conscious enjoyment of powers and sensibilities which had been developing unknown to me...

... so intense was my delight in the beautiful world about me that I forgot even myself; I enjoyed without retrospect or forecast; I, the egoist in grain, forgot to scrutinize my own emotions, or to trouble my happiness by comparison with others’ happier fortune. It was a healthful time; it gave me a new lease of life, and taught me -- in so far as I was teachable -- how to make use of it.

Alpha.

I experienced a 20th century equivalent of his life of the “independent” man of letters. For about a decade I made my living as a freelance computer programer. I too was proud not to be a mere employee, only to end up a contractor dependent on a variety of bosses who were pleased to leave me to my own devices whenever there was no work to be done. It all worked out well enough, but the only security was in the knowledge that I was always on my own. Others might be blindsided by a layoff but for me the future was always contingent.

Perhaps this is a bit like the difference between being a theist and an atheist. The theist believes there is a Guiding Hand conducting his life while the atheist realizes he’s on his own. An analogy could be that the atheist is like a free climber on the side of a cliff, carefully negotiating the hand and foot holds, while the theist boldly climbs the rock face secure in his reliance on his safety line -- which is not actually secured to anything.

Beta.

Since my last rereading of Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, I’ve been wanting an illustrated and hyper-annotated versions of all the books I read which are set in an earlier time. Rereading Ford Madox Ford’s Parade’s End added another aspect to this desired annotation, as I also want to know not just what a word like “Tory” means, but what it means to the author. A quick trip to Wikipedia tells you too little or too much in such a case, as the meaning of the term changed from generation to generation and, at times, almost from year to year.

Ideally, I want texts that make clear what the author meant by his use of every word, since the meaning of words changes so quickly. And this doesn’t even touch on the additional issue of a character using a word or term incorrectly. Here’s an example, in The Elegance of the Hedgehog, one of Muriel Barbery’s characters uses the word “Epicurean.” The common usage of that term means the opposite of the word’s original, philosophical, meaning. Epicurus wanted a diet that would be so simple to obtain that there would be little chance of your ever craving something you couldn’t easily supply. The world, however, thinks of an Epicurean as a gourmand, with highly refined tastes.

Given Barbery’s background in philosophy, I’m sure she knows the correct usage. There’s every reason to think her character also should know this, but could Barbery be using it in the more conventional way to be less confusing to her readership? I’m not positive.

There are many other cases where the correct meaning of a term is less certain and where the author or character could well be under the impression that the term means something other than your understanding. If only we could see an image of all the artifacts referenced, hear the music mentioned, and get a quick definition of all the terms used. Is that asking too much?

This is a bit random (joke) but I’m including this Vsauce video here because it discusses the change over time in the use of the word “random”, and also because it talks about Quantum entanglement, something I will refer to later.

Next: Spring X. Salad days