John Vespasian

Seneca on living simply

Historians seldom remark that exoticism or strangeness adds value to the advice of ancient philosophers. I mean exoticism and strangeness in the sense of “Verfremdung,” the concept coined by Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) in his theatre theory. By “Verfremdung,” Brecht meant that acerbic criticism will meet less resistance if conveyed on stage through exotic stories and characters. The public will still get the message, but subtly and metaphorically. Otherwise, they would have rejected it. Seneca provided plenty of good advice, but I doubt that his ideas would be palatable without their exotic, strange flavour. Readers are receptive to Seneca’s prescriptions for a simple life because he lived more than two thousand years ago, in the times of ancient Rome. When placed in such an exotic, strange setting, an agrarian lifestyle looks appealing. I maintain that Seneca’s prescriptions benefit from the effects of “Verfremdung” because people today would not listen to them if dispensed by a peasant living in poverty. Seneca was himself extremely wealthy, but wrote profusely against wealth. His 25th Letter to Lucilius recounts that wealthy people tend to feel anxious because they fear losing their assets and being forced to live in poverty. The argument employed by Seneca is fallacious. Indeed, he may have known some wealthy people who lived in anxiety, but there are many who don’t. In fact, there is no objective argument to affirm that wealthy people have to feel anxious, worried or fearful. There are ways to protect one’s assets and keep anxiety at bay. I am referring to relocation, insurance, asset diversification, geographical diversification, just to name a few methods used in modern times to protect one’s assets. Seneca’s argument about anxiety doesn’t hold water. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/seneca-on-living-simply/

Practicability of Seneca's advice to live simply

Despite being himself wealthy, Seneca wrote extensively about the advantages of living simply. He came up with dozens of examples that support his advice, but is Seneca someone we can trust? And is it workable to put his advice into practice in our century? In his essay “On the Shortness of Life,” Seneca recounts the story of a wealthy man who had devoted his life to working and investing. The man had devoted decades to accumulating his fortune, working every day, with little spare time for sports, hobbies or anything else. According to Seneca, that wealthy man had wasted his life. He had been working too much, leaving no time for enjoyment or happiness. The wealthy man, says Seneca, was complaining that “he had never truly lived.” Seneca reminds us that “life is short” and that we should adopt a simple lifestyle that enables us to live happily. He strongly condemns the pursuit of excessive wealth, and urges us to use our time wisely. I regard Seneca’s advice as contradictory and unrealistic. In the case of the wealthy man, what was Seneca recommending exactly? Would the man be happier if he had lived in poverty all his life? Of course not, I hasten to answer. Seneca’s admonishment against “time-wasting activities” is a rhetorical device. He does not explain why we should regard work as a waste of time. In fact, Seneca himself did not heed his own advice because he devoted decades to multiplying the assets he had inherited from his parents. He worked assiduously and went from millionaire to multimillionaire, and eventually became one of the wealthiest men in the Roman Empire. If such a person advises us to embrace a simple, modest lifestyle, should we believe his words? Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/practicability-of-senecas-advice-to-live-simply/

Perspectives on Seneca's advice to live simply

I find it surprising that so many people equate living simply with living in poverty. They regard deprivation and discomfort as the prerequisites of simplicity. They abhor high ambitions in particular, because they require complex planning. Seneca contributed to the confusion because his 89th Letter to Lucilius advises readers to prepare for death, meditate daily on their mortality, and stop worrying about the trivialities that fill their days. It’s easy to preach simplicity to people who spend their days meditating about death, but the rest of us need to solve all kinds of problems, plan for the future, and pursue our dreams. In other writings, Seneca added to the confusion by condemning the pursuit of wealth, which he regarded as “a slave to the wise, but a master to the fool.” In his eyes, a simple lifestyle motivates us to grow in wisdom, while luxury and comfort have the opposite effect. I must however regard with suspicion the fact that Seneca judged luxury and comfort incompatible with simplicity. His dire admonitions against wealth set the prelude to medieval asceticism. Even if Seneca’s call for simplicity was well meant, I would be reluctant to endorse, for instance, the extreme asceticism of Francis of Assisi (1181-1226). Francis had drawn inspiration from the Gospels to adopt a lifestyle that corresponds one hundred per cent to Seneca’s recommendations. Nevertheless, I am reluctant to categorise such a lifestyle as simple just because it entails poverty. To grow and harvest wheat seems to me a simpler way to secure food than living in the forest and picking fruits and berries. Similarly, to acquire valuable skills and pursue a productive career seems to me a simpler path to happiness than meditating six hours a day, sleeping on the ground, and eating very little. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/the-practice-of-senecas-advice-to-live-simply/

Seneca on achieving a balanced life

When people advise me to embrace a balanced lifestyle, I’m always interested in hearing the details. What do they mean by “balanced”? Do they mean that I should allocate equal time to work, sleep and play? Or that I should balance out my interests or my friends, and devote equal time to each of them? In his writings, Seneca often repeated his recommendation to achieve a balanced life. We can find this call for balance in a few Letters to Lucilius, and in his essay “On the Shortness of Life.” I would describe Seneca’s definition of “balance” as quasi-mathematical. His exhortation to achieve a balanced lifestyle is accompanied by a strong admonition against wasting time. He is urging us to increase useful activities and decrease worthless ones by the same amount. As examples of wasteful activities, Seneca names the time spent on trivialities and entertainment, the pursuit of popularity and the pursuit of a high social status. Instead, Seneca urges us to devote more time to learning and practising philosophy. In modern terms, I would translate his advice into acquiring new skills, and pursuing personal development, self-improvement and spiritual harmony. Seneca’s advice to achieve a balanced life has become very popular, but when we look into the details, his formula doesn’t add up. His recipe is imprecise, and leaves too many questions unanswered. For instance: Why does Seneca condemn entertainment as a waste of time? Why does he view meditation or contemplation as great? Why should we give priority to skills acquisition over productivity improvement? Why is Seneca against the pursuit of an ambitious career? Instead of giving solid answers, Seneca reminds us that life is short and that we should use our time wisely. His repetitions though fail to add clarity to his advice. In the Letters to Lucilius, there are passages where Seneca’s advice to lead a balanced life becomes outright questionable. I am referring to his exhortations to live in poverty. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/seneca-on-achieving-a-balanced-life/

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/