Justus Lipsius: On Constancy

by Justus Lipsius

Justus Lipsius' De Constantia (1584) is one of the most important and interesting of sixteenth century Humanist texts. A dialogue in two books, conceived as a philosophical consolation for those suffering through contemporary religious wars, De Constantia proved immensely popular in its day and formed the inspiration for what has become known as 'Neo-stoicism'. This movement advocated the revival of Stoic ethics in a form that would be palatable to a Christian audience. In De Constantia Lipsius deploys Stoic arguments concerning appropriate attitudes towards emotions and external events. He also makes clear which parts of stoic philosophy must be rejected, including its materialism and its determinism. De Constantia was translated into a number of vernacular languages soon after its original publication in Latin. Of the English translations that were made, that by Sir John Stradling (1595) became a classic; it was last reprinted in 1939. The present edition offers a lightly
revised version of Stradling's translation, updated for modern readers, along with a new introduction, notes and bibliography.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Classics

162 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

1547-1606

Reviews

[Lew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lipsius tries in about 100 pages of text to bridge stoicism to a more contemporary context; tying in with Christianity and through the lens of the political events that were surrounding his life at the time. I think, overall, he does a good job for the length it is given. While Seneca remains to me the forefront of Stoic philosophy, I appreciate what Lipsius was trying to accomplish and think that it's a good read.

[Jared Abbott · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was not impressed at all and found the archaic language fairly difficult (and I the sort of person who enjoys Shakespeare and prefers to read The Pilgrim's Progress in the original 17th century English).

[Michael Baranowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

I admire the attempt to combine Stoicism and Christianity, but you'll get better Stoicism from Epictetus or Seneca, and you'll get better Christianity from all sorts of other places. Some rarely read philosophical works are rarely read for good reason - I'd say this is one of them.

[Enrico · Rating 3 out of 5]

Justus Lipsius was a renaissance Stoic. There is nothing really new about Stoicism in here. He tried to bring the God of Christianity into it, which makes sense considering the time of his writing.

[Annika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eestikeelne tõlge on väga hea ja põhjalik. Kuigi ma tunnen, et hetkel ma ei ole Lipsiuse mudellugeja, siis sellele vaatamata saab üht-teist seostatud ja üles korjatud.