Introduction
The Good Life in Ancient Philosophy is a module devoted to precisely that: ancient ideas about how to live a good life. In it we shall focus on the ancient philosophy of Stoicism. We shall not only examine a whole series of Stoic ideas but also attempt to put them into practice ourselves, to see if they really do contribute to a good life. The course will invite you to think like a Stoic, at least for a while, not in order to indoctrinate you, but, on contrary, to enable you to assess directly whether Stoicism really can offer useful lessons about how to live well.
This is a 30-credit course running for 20 weeks over both terms. In the first term we shall explore the foundational ideas of Stoic ethics (and the ways in which they connect with ideas in Stoic physics and logic). We shall touch on topics such as self-preservation, living in accord with Nature, virtue, and the emotions. Then we shall look at some central themes in the work of the Stoic philosopher Epictetus (c. 50-130 AD), such as control, freedom, and social roles. In the second term we shall devote all our time to reading the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD). The Meditations is consistently one of the best-selling philosophy books. It is highly accessible yet deceptively simple. We shall explore its key themes by placing them within the wider context of Stoic philosophy, always with an eye on what practical lessons we can learn for how to live well today.
This is a 30-credit course running for 20 weeks over both terms. In the first term we shall explore the foundational ideas of Stoic ethics (and the ways in which they connect with ideas in Stoic physics and logic). We shall touch on topics such as self-preservation, living in accord with Nature, virtue, and the emotions. Then we shall look at some central themes in the work of the Stoic philosopher Epictetus (c. 50-130 AD), such as control, freedom, and social roles. In the second term we shall devote all our time to reading the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD). The Meditations is consistently one of the best-selling philosophy books. It is highly accessible yet deceptively simple. We shall explore its key themes by placing them within the wider context of Stoic philosophy, always with an eye on what practical lessons we can learn for how to live well today.
Background Reading
To get a preliminary sense of what this will all be about, the following short online articles (by me) may be helpful:
Our core texts for the course will be Epictetus’ Discourses and Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. For both, there are good translations by Robin Hard in the Oxford World’s Classics series. Buy these two books:
- ‘Want to be happy? Then live like a Stoic for a week’, at https://theconversation.com/want-to-be-happy-then-live-like-a-stoic-for-a-week-103117
- ‘The Enduring Appeal of the Stoics’, at https://antigonejournal.com/2021/06/enduring-appeal-stoics/
Our core texts for the course will be Epictetus’ Discourses and Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. For both, there are good translations by Robin Hard in the Oxford World’s Classics series. Buy these two books:
- Epictetus, Discourses, Fragments, Handbook, Translated by Robin Hard and Introduction and notes by Christopher Gill (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), https://global.oup.com/academic/product/discourses-fragments-handbook-9780199595181
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, with selected correspondence, Translated by Robin Hard and Introduction and notes byChristopher Gill (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), https://global.oup.com/academic/product/meditations-9780199573202
1. Introduction to Roman Stoicism and Stoic Week
Texts:
- Epictetus, Handbook
2. Stoic Value Theory
Texts:
- Epictetus, Discourses 2.8, 2.16
- Schofield, M. (2003), ‘Stoic Ethics’, in B. Inwood (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Stoics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 233-56, http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CCOL052177005X.010
3. Living in Harmony with Nature
Texts:
- Epictetus, Discourses 1.6
- Striker, G. (1996), ‘Following Nature: A Study in Stoic Ethics’, in her Essays on Hellenistic Epistemology and Ethics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 221-80, http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139172783.013
4. Dealing with Emotions
Texts:
- Epictetus, Discourses 1.15, 1.28, 4.7
5. Training the Soul
Texts:
- Epictetus, Discourses 3.12
- Musonius Rufus, frr. 5-6
