Seneca on leading a life of virtue

Seneca's recipe for achieving a balanced life

Cooking recipes are hard to carry out perfectly the first time if the process is too complex. Even if the recipe is described in great detail, one must deal with variability in the ingredients in terms of quality and freshness, cooking temperature, etc. Seneca gave philosophical recipes that are not any easier to carry out than haute-cuisine recipes. He did write down his recommendations with profuse detail, but we must nonetheless adapt those to our own circumstances. In his 77th and 101st Letters to Lucilius, Seneca provides an important clue about how to achieve balance. He encourages us to look at life from the perspective of death, so that we can identify those things that are really important, and those that waste our time. Seneca’s advice can help us acquire serenity, first of all. His writings do not speak about a balanced perspective, but if we get the numbers right, we would automatically strike the right balance. It all starts with our being realistic regarding our life expectancy. We should not make an assumption that is too short because it would destroy our motivation to do anything productive. I would not expect a high motivation from people who believe that they have no future. In the Middle Ages, especially in the ninth century, some people were convinced that the world was about to end. As a result, those people stopped labouring the fields, building new homes, and all other productive activities. Seneca was trying to prevent individuals from adopting an exaggerated short-term attitude. Barring a strong reason, it is not rational to think that we are about to die, or that the world is about to end. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/senecas-recipe-for-achieving-a-balanced-life/

Seneca on dealing with pain and suffering

Seneca made some worthy recommendations about how to deal with pain and suffering. Unfortunately, he also dispensed plenty of irrational, harmful ones. It’s important to tell the difference between his good and bad advice. For instance, Seneca offered solid advice for addressing pain and suffering when they are mental constructs, but does his method work in cases of physical pain? In his 13th Letter to Lucilius, he affirms that “we are more frequently afraid than hurt; and suffer more from our fears than from real injuries.” I can only wonder if Seneca had forgotten all victims of the cruelty inflicted by emperors such as Nero (54-68 AD). We are talking about vast numbers of individuals being sent to exile or executed. How could Seneca possibly argue that the suffering of those victims was predominantly a mental construct? Was their pain and anxiety a figment of their imagination? Did those people suffer just because of their negative thinking? Seneca was wrong, but his error is not obvious. Through the centuries, many readers have taken him seriously and adopted his insights. They have confronted pain and suffering by telling themselves that those emotions are mostly imaginary. They were convinced that Seneca was telling them the truth, but over time, they were forced to recognise reality. Their pain and suffering eventually became so acute that they could no longer be categorised as imaginary. I would have asked Seneca to recheck if his philosophical recommendations have universal applicability. Human pain and suffering arise mostly from harmful situations, not from delusion or imagination. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/seneca-on-dealing-with-pain-and-suffering/

Seneca's best advice for dealing with pain and suffering

Seneca wrote hundreds of pages about how to grief and fear in difficult times. Modern readers can benefit from Seneca’s wise recommendations for dealing with pain and suffering. I am going to summarise those recommendations to the extent that we can still apply them today. Emotional overreaction should be avoided because it’s a sure recipe for disaster. In his essay “On the Constancy of the Wise,” Seneca calls for moral strength in the face of trouble. In this context, I equate “moral strength” to “equanimity,” that is, the capacity to keep an equal temper in good and bad times. If we face severe problems, we should strive to keep a cool head, so that we can identify the best solution. Panic reactions tend to prove counterproductive. Without sufficient serenity, it is simply not possible to assess the facts and weigh the alternatives correctly. Since few problems are really life-threatening, we should take time to reflect. Seneca regards it as particularly foolish to react heavily to insults or moral injuries. We should refrain from reacting in a manner that makes problems worse. Risk prevention and diversification, in modern terms, can provide us with solid protection against life’s misfortunes. Seneca does not employ a modern set of terms concerning risk management, but uses “self-sufficiency” and “self-discipline.” Those words are not equivalent. They are pointing to two strategies that are complementary. In the 66th Letter to Lucilius, Seneca gives a wide meaning to the term “self-sufficiency.” In our century, I find the words “self-reliant” and “independent” better aligned with the ancient meaning. When Seneca speaks about how to protect ourselves against the ups and downs of life, he is calling for serenity as much as he is calling for risk prevention. If we do not get into troubled waters, we do not need to fear shipwreck and drowning. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/senecas-best-advice-for-dealing-with-pain-and-suffering/

Seneca on leading a life of virtue

The term “virtue” has become so overused that it is healthy to look at it with suspicion. Unfortunately, it often happens that people will invoke virtue to further their personal interests and then try to portray themselves as ethical paragons. Indeed, we should be sceptical of their high motives. Seneca had good intentions, but created ethical confusion. Although he routinely portrayed himself as a philosophical guru, he invoked virtue to promote a humble lifestyle. In doing so, he steered large numbers of people in the wrong direction. Am I exaggerating when I say that Seneca created ethical confusion? Not in the least. In his Letters to Lucilius, he gave the word “virtue” various meanings that are far from identical. Let us review the different meanings employed by Seneca in those letters. Seneca defined virtue as “living in accordance with nature.” He did so, for instance in his 5th Letter to Lucilius. His explanation of “nature” is equivalent to a lifestyle of simplicity. I would personally translate it as poverty or semi-poverty. Seneca employed the term “luxury” as opposed to the term “nature.” He must have assumed that a modest lifestyle, one without any luxuries, is the normal destiny of human beings. I wonder if Seneca had overlooked the fact that humans find “natural” to work and earn money. Why should we categorise our achievements and our wealth as “unnatural”? Why should we favour a lifestyle without any luxuries instead of a pleasant one? Seneca also employed the term “virtue” to mean “living in accordance with reason,” but what did he mean by “reason”? I am afraid that he did not mean “logic” or “consistency”? Seneca was giving rationality a meaning incompatible with the teachings of Aristotle (384-322 BC) in his “Nicomachean Ethics.” While Aristotle had meant “logic” and “consistency,” Seneca made “reason” equivalent to “passive acceptance.” Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/seneca-on-leading-a-life-of-virtue/

Practical advice from Seneca on leading a life of virtue

Although Seneca employed the term “virtue” inconsistently, his incoherence did not prevent him from making profound observations about human nature, virtue, personal success and happiness. In his 71st Letter to Lucilius, he uses a beautiful metaphor to define a virtuous life. He compares good persons to archers who choose their target carefully. Good individuals are able to shoot their arrows in the right direction, taking the wind and other elements into account. In contrast, foolish people are like unskilled archers that will shoot without choosing their target carefully. They do not pay attention to an essential factor. At some point, their arrows will be wasted or attain the wrong target. That’s what happens to individuals who get carried away by their emotions, explains Seneca. What should we do to become good archers? Seneca is giving us great hands-on advice in his 40th Letter to Lucilius. I regard this letter as one of Seneca’s best in terms of practicality that possesses permanent value. Let us pass review to the messages conveyed in this Letter. Harmony is an indicator of a well-functioning lifestyle, explains Seneca, and disharmony indicates the opposite. Fear and anxiety are signals that we should not ignore. When our mind is not at peace, it is giving us a warning that we are doing something wrong. Our emotions are not precise enough to tell us what to do in order to achieve our goals, but they can surely help us identify our errors. When we feel anxious or fearful, we should take a step back and figure out what we are doing wrong. Seneca frequently employs the term “universal order” as a synonym for “virtue.” His thesis is that we grow more resilient and happier when we live in harmony with the universal order. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/practical-advice-from-seneca-on-leading-a-life-of-virtue/