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The Roman Stoics: Self, Responsibility, and Affection
Roman Stoics of the imperial period developed a distinctive model of social ethics, one which adapted the ideal philosophical life to existing communities and everyday societal values. Gretchen Reydams-Schils’s innovative book shows how these Romans—including such philosophers as Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Hierocles, and Epictetus—applied their distinct brand of social ethics to daily relations and responsibilities, creating an effective model of involvement and ethical behavior in the classical world.
The Roman Stoics reexamines the philosophical basis that instructed social practice in friendship, marriage, parenting, and community life. From this analysis, Stoics emerge as neither cold nor detached, as the stereotype has it, but all too aware of their human weaknesses. In a valuable contribution to current discussions in the humanities on identity, autonomy, and altruism, Reydams-Schils ultimately conveys the wisdom of Stoics to the citizens of modern society.
The Roman Stoics reexamines the philosophical basis that instructed social practice in friendship, marriage, parenting, and community life. From this analysis, Stoics emerge as neither cold nor detached, as the stereotype has it, but all too aware of their human weaknesses. In a valuable contribution to current discussions in the humanities on identity, autonomy, and altruism, Reydams-Schils ultimately conveys the wisdom of Stoics to the citizens of modern society.
224 pages, Paperback
First published February 15, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 3, 2009
An engaging scholarly yet colloquial exploration of the Stoic tradition in Ancient Rome. Clear, serious and fun to read.
December 3, 2024
p. 19: "Self-reliance is essential to Stoic therapy because even if other people can help us along, our progress is ultimately a matter that cannot be entrusted to someone else."
p. 19: "In order to maintain the right hierarchy of values, Seneca and other Roman Stoics recommend withdrawing into and examining oneself in daily exercises, preferably at night before falling asleep or in the morning before starting one's activities."
p. 23: "Souls go through different lives but in any given life do not carry with them memory traces of previous lives."
p. 23: "Simplicius ranks Epictetus's account on the level of ethical and political virtues, which Simplicius defines in terms borrowed from the Platonic dialogue."
p. 24: "Socrates avers that one really cannot do a good job of taking care of one's affairs, both private and public, if one does not first take care of oneself. Taking good care of oneself amounts to making oneself better, to improving oneself. (Apology, 128B)"
p. 25: "In Stoic psychology, there is one, and only one, center of awareness: the 'ruling' hegemonikon, or mind, which controls the seven subordinate, instrumental function--the five senses, speech, and reproduction."
p. 26: "According to the Stoics, four aspects of the rational principle work together: 'reason' is the key function; it works with 'impressions' through an act of 'assent,' thereby shaping 'impulses.'"
p. 36: Meditations 6.13:
"Like seeing roasted meat and other dishes in front of you and suddenly realizing: This is a dead fish. A dead bird. A dead pig. Or that this noble vintage is grape juice, and the purple robes are sheep wool dyed with shellfish blood. Or making love—something rubbing against your penis, a brief seizure and a little cloudy liquid."
p. 43: "The formula of the end (telos) that Diogenes Laertius here attributes to Chrysippus interprets 'living in agreement with nature' as implying an alignment between our own natures and the nature of the whole, and between each man's guardian spirit and the will of the divine principle."
p. 45: "Socrates claims that the gods are our masters and they are in control of our lives; it is not up to us when to it quits."
p. 45: "Death frees our souls to a better purpose."
p. 46: "Five types of circumstances may be intrepreted as a sign from god that suicide is advisable:
1) major emergency that demands the sacrifice of one's life for the sake of friends, kin, or community
2) dishonor, such as when tyrants try to force us to engage in shameful acts and speech
3) the threat of insanity
4) incurable illnesses or, presumably, other bodily conditions that would prevent the soul from using the body as an instrument
5) extreme poverty"
p. 46: "[Epictetus] claims that the treat to have his beard shaved could induce a philosopher to take his leave from life (Disc, 1.2.29)"
p. 47: "[A] good man should live not as long as likes but as long as he ought."
p. 49: "As the doctrine of apatheia stipulates, passions are to be avoided."
p. 51: "In fact, most of the subtypes of the eupatheia 'wish' are feelings of goodwill towards others of some form or other: well-wishing, friendliness, respect, and affection. Even joy, as the outcome of the virtuous life, is the kind of disposition that can be shared by others and enhanced in common undertakings."
p. 54: "Aristotle considers friends to be the 'greatest of external goods'."
p. 60: "In common with 'acquisitions' such as prostitutes or multiple partners, wealth and fame carry the risk of addictive behavior, whereas children, spouses, or relatives do not."
p. 68: "If you kiss your child or your wife, say that you are kissing a human being; for when it dies you will not be upset (Ench 3, trans N.P. White.)"
p. 73: "Follow God."
Epictetus Diss 1.30.4: "‘And the goal of life is what?’ / ‘To follow God.’"
Marcus 7.31: "Wash yourself clean. With simplicity, with humility, with indifference to everything but right and wrong. Care for other human beings. Follow God."
p. 76: "In a restricted sense, a Stoic can say, 'I would have preferred things to turn out otherwise.'"
p. 84: "Stoic Cosmopolitanism" by Eric Brown
p. 85: "In his old age, Seneca had to admit, in a radically un-Stoic manner, that he wasted most of his life because he failed in his attempts to steer Nero and imperial politics in the right direction. And in a strongly pessimistic streak, he draws the conclusion in his reflections on leisure that no real city is ever good enough condition to warrant active participation in politics. Whatever time he has left, he wants to devote not to politics but to a study of the universe."
p. 89: Meditations 6.30: "To escape imperialization—that indelible stain. It happens. Make sure you remain straightforward, upright, reverent, serious, unadorned, an ally of justice, pious, kind, affectionate, and doing your duty with a will. Fight to be the person philosophy tried to make you.
Revere the gods; watch over human beings. Our lives are short. The only rewards of our existence here are an unstained character and unselfish acts."
p. 89: "'Taking care of oneself,' more so than the Delphic injunction 'Know thyself,' firmly connects the project of philosophy to action and political ambition: those who want to rule others had better be able to rule themselves first."
p. 90: Epicurus: "Let no one either delay philosophizing when young, or weary of philosophizing when old. For no one is underage or overage for health of the soul."
p. 97: "[I]t is a very revealing that unlike Hierocles, Cicero puts not the individual but the marital relationship and the family unit at the center of his image of social relationships as concentric circles. Cicero, we have to remind ourselves, is not a Stoic."
p. 115: "Clearly, for Roman thinkers parenthood would be a focal point for any discussion of life's challenges and the moral value of human relationships."
p. 132: "Nature gave us parents, siblings, and children, but no assurance that they be good."
p. 137: "The Stoics allow for 'involuntary reactions' that even the sage would not have under control, such as a sudden pallor of the face, yawning, or even crying. In his reflections on anger, Seneca postulates that 'there is a first stirring that is not voluntary but, as it were, the lead-up to a passion, and a kind of a threat.' These involuntary reaction are no passions in the Stoic sense."
p. 137: "Involuntary reactions of body and soul are mere 'bites' (morsus); they are 'slight and superficial,' mere 'suggestions and shadows' rather than passions as such."
p. 148: "Cicero , who is said to have refused to remarry because 'he could not possibly devote himself to a wife and to philosophy.'"
p. 167: "Men are supposed to rule, and women ought to obey, Seneca states emphatically, thereby endorsing a much less innovative view of the rapport between the sexes than we find in Musonius."
p. 169: "Threatening a philosopher with cutting off his beard can be sufficient grounds for suicide."
p. 19: "In order to maintain the right hierarchy of values, Seneca and other Roman Stoics recommend withdrawing into and examining oneself in daily exercises, preferably at night before falling asleep or in the morning before starting one's activities."
p. 23: "Souls go through different lives but in any given life do not carry with them memory traces of previous lives."
p. 23: "Simplicius ranks Epictetus's account on the level of ethical and political virtues, which Simplicius defines in terms borrowed from the Platonic dialogue."
p. 24: "Socrates avers that one really cannot do a good job of taking care of one's affairs, both private and public, if one does not first take care of oneself. Taking good care of oneself amounts to making oneself better, to improving oneself. (Apology, 128B)"
p. 25: "In Stoic psychology, there is one, and only one, center of awareness: the 'ruling' hegemonikon, or mind, which controls the seven subordinate, instrumental function--the five senses, speech, and reproduction."
p. 26: "According to the Stoics, four aspects of the rational principle work together: 'reason' is the key function; it works with 'impressions' through an act of 'assent,' thereby shaping 'impulses.'"
p. 36: Meditations 6.13:
"Like seeing roasted meat and other dishes in front of you and suddenly realizing: This is a dead fish. A dead bird. A dead pig. Or that this noble vintage is grape juice, and the purple robes are sheep wool dyed with shellfish blood. Or making love—something rubbing against your penis, a brief seizure and a little cloudy liquid."
p. 43: "The formula of the end (telos) that Diogenes Laertius here attributes to Chrysippus interprets 'living in agreement with nature' as implying an alignment between our own natures and the nature of the whole, and between each man's guardian spirit and the will of the divine principle."
p. 45: "Socrates claims that the gods are our masters and they are in control of our lives; it is not up to us when to it quits."
p. 45: "Death frees our souls to a better purpose."
p. 46: "Five types of circumstances may be intrepreted as a sign from god that suicide is advisable:
1) major emergency that demands the sacrifice of one's life for the sake of friends, kin, or community
2) dishonor, such as when tyrants try to force us to engage in shameful acts and speech
3) the threat of insanity
4) incurable illnesses or, presumably, other bodily conditions that would prevent the soul from using the body as an instrument
5) extreme poverty"
p. 46: "[Epictetus] claims that the treat to have his beard shaved could induce a philosopher to take his leave from life (Disc, 1.2.29)"
p. 47: "[A] good man should live not as long as likes but as long as he ought."
p. 49: "As the doctrine of apatheia stipulates, passions are to be avoided."
p. 51: "In fact, most of the subtypes of the eupatheia 'wish' are feelings of goodwill towards others of some form or other: well-wishing, friendliness, respect, and affection. Even joy, as the outcome of the virtuous life, is the kind of disposition that can be shared by others and enhanced in common undertakings."
p. 54: "Aristotle considers friends to be the 'greatest of external goods'."
p. 60: "In common with 'acquisitions' such as prostitutes or multiple partners, wealth and fame carry the risk of addictive behavior, whereas children, spouses, or relatives do not."
p. 68: "If you kiss your child or your wife, say that you are kissing a human being; for when it dies you will not be upset (Ench 3, trans N.P. White.)"
p. 73: "Follow God."
Epictetus Diss 1.30.4: "‘And the goal of life is what?’ / ‘To follow God.’"
Marcus 7.31: "Wash yourself clean. With simplicity, with humility, with indifference to everything but right and wrong. Care for other human beings. Follow God."
p. 76: "In a restricted sense, a Stoic can say, 'I would have preferred things to turn out otherwise.'"
p. 84: "Stoic Cosmopolitanism" by Eric Brown
p. 85: "In his old age, Seneca had to admit, in a radically un-Stoic manner, that he wasted most of his life because he failed in his attempts to steer Nero and imperial politics in the right direction. And in a strongly pessimistic streak, he draws the conclusion in his reflections on leisure that no real city is ever good enough condition to warrant active participation in politics. Whatever time he has left, he wants to devote not to politics but to a study of the universe."
p. 89: Meditations 6.30: "To escape imperialization—that indelible stain. It happens. Make sure you remain straightforward, upright, reverent, serious, unadorned, an ally of justice, pious, kind, affectionate, and doing your duty with a will. Fight to be the person philosophy tried to make you.
Revere the gods; watch over human beings. Our lives are short. The only rewards of our existence here are an unstained character and unselfish acts."
p. 89: "'Taking care of oneself,' more so than the Delphic injunction 'Know thyself,' firmly connects the project of philosophy to action and political ambition: those who want to rule others had better be able to rule themselves first."
p. 90: Epicurus: "Let no one either delay philosophizing when young, or weary of philosophizing when old. For no one is underage or overage for health of the soul."
p. 97: "[I]t is a very revealing that unlike Hierocles, Cicero puts not the individual but the marital relationship and the family unit at the center of his image of social relationships as concentric circles. Cicero, we have to remind ourselves, is not a Stoic."
p. 115: "Clearly, for Roman thinkers parenthood would be a focal point for any discussion of life's challenges and the moral value of human relationships."
p. 132: "Nature gave us parents, siblings, and children, but no assurance that they be good."
p. 137: "The Stoics allow for 'involuntary reactions' that even the sage would not have under control, such as a sudden pallor of the face, yawning, or even crying. In his reflections on anger, Seneca postulates that 'there is a first stirring that is not voluntary but, as it were, the lead-up to a passion, and a kind of a threat.' These involuntary reaction are no passions in the Stoic sense."
p. 137: "Involuntary reactions of body and soul are mere 'bites' (morsus); they are 'slight and superficial,' mere 'suggestions and shadows' rather than passions as such."
p. 148: "Cicero , who is said to have refused to remarry because 'he could not possibly devote himself to a wife and to philosophy.'"
p. 167: "Men are supposed to rule, and women ought to obey, Seneca states emphatically, thereby endorsing a much less innovative view of the rapport between the sexes than we find in Musonius."
p. 169: "Threatening a philosopher with cutting off his beard can be sufficient grounds for suicide."
June 24, 2023
Given the popular contemporary revival and interest in Stoic philosophers, I wish Gretchen Reydam-Schils' works were the more popular choice of consumption than the works of Ryan Holiday. Her scholarship is careful and attentive. I highly recommend those interested in Stoic philosophy considering reading The Roman Stoics: Self, Responsibility, and Affection.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews