Beyond Philosophy

Marcus reminds himself that mortal life is short. Act while you can, or the moment for action will pass. Don't put off forever the tasks that really matter to you. You can hear the Greek < here >. Μέμνησο ἐκ πόσου ταῦτα ἀναβάλλῃ καὶ ὁποσάκις προθεσμίας λαβὼν παρὰ τῶν θεῶν οὐ χρᾷ αὐταῖς. δεῖ δὲ ἤδη ποτὲ αἰσθέσθαι τίνος κόσμου μέρος εἶ καὶ τίνος διοικοῦντος τὸν κόσμον ἀπόρροια ὑπέστης καὶ ὅτι ὅρος ἐστί σοι περιγεγραμμένος τοῦ χρόνου, ᾧ ἐὰν εἰς τὸ ἀπαιθριάσαι μὴ χρήσῃ, οἰχήσεται καὶ οἰχήσῃ καὶ αὖθις οὐκ ἐξέσται. Remember how often you have put these things off, how many times you have set a date with the gods only to leave them standing. You must now see the order of which you are part, acknowledge the ruler of that order whose shadow you are, and make peace with the fact that the boundary of your time is set. If you do not venture forth to seize the moment now, under the open air, it shall pass, and you shall pass, and never will you meet it again.

Unamuno here offers at least two important thoughts essential to his outlook. First, he says that life is a tragedy, a perpetual struggle whose expression is necessarily going to be at odds with itself over time. Contradiction is normal, natural, and even necessary. Second, the tendency to professionalize this struggle is pernicious, threatening human integrity because it looks to deny contradiction, to make our actions one-sided in ways that truncate or dismember us as human beings. If I have the job of being strong, then where do I put my weakness, the weakness that naturally and necessarily arrives whenever anything in this tragedy we call life becomes too strong? You can hear the Spanish < here >.  Alguien podrá ver un fondo de contradicción en todo cuanto voy diciendo, anhelando unas veces la vida inacabable, y diciendo otras que esa vida no tiene el valor que se le da. ¿Contradicción? ¡Ya lo creo! ¡La de mi corazón, que dice que sí, mi cabeza, que dice no! ...

When we think of education, we often think of large groups of strangers memorizing and repeating the same information. Here Seneca offers interesting insight into a very different view from antiquity: education for him requires constant association between individuals who know each other mutually, in a familiar and intimate sense that transcends any reduction to purely abstract information. Ancient students live with their teachers instead of taking degrees, and what they learn is more a manner of behaving than anything else. Seneca might not even recognize what we do in our schools as philosophy, certainly not when we pretend that it can be gotten via information alone. You can hear the Latin < here >. Concipere animo non potes quantum momenti afferri mihi singulos dies videam. Mitte  inquis et nobis ista quae tam efficacia expertus es.  Ego vero omnia in te cupio transfundere, et in hoc aliquid gaudeo discere, ut doceam; nec me ulla res delectabit, licet ...

Life requires us to set our course from birth to death by landmarks we can see. Here Marcus lays out his own approach, the mental landmarks by which he steers the habits and attitudes that make up his character, and ultimately his destiny, as part of a world ruled by divine necessity. You can hear me read the Greek < here >. Τὰ τῶν θεῶν προνοίας μεστά. τὰ τῆς τύχης οὐκ ἄνευ φύσεως ἢ συγκλώσεως καὶ ἐπιπλοκῆς τῶν προνοίᾳ διοικουμένων. πάντα ἐκεῖθεν ῥεῖ· πρόσεστι δὲ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον καὶ τὸ τῷ ὅλῳ κόσμῳ συμφέρον, οὗ μέρος εἶ. παντὶ δὲ φύσεως μέρει ἀγαθόν, ὃ φέρει ἡ τοῦ ὅλου φύσις καὶ ὃ ἐκείνης ἐστὶ σωστικόν. σῴζουσι δὲ κόσμον, ὥσπερ αἱ τῶν στοιχείων, οὕτως καὶ αἱ τῶν συγκριμάτων μεταβολαί. ταῦτά σοι ἀρκείτω καὶ δόγματα ἔστω. τὴν δὲ τῶν βιβλίων δίψαν ῥῖψον, ἵνα μὴ γογγύζων ἀποθάνῃς, ἀλλὰ ἵλεως ἀληθῶς καὶ ἀπὸ καρδίας εὐχάριστος τοῖς θεοῖς. The gods' work is fraught with foreknowledge, and the work of fortune does not occur without nature, which spins and plaits t...

Unamuno lays his cards out here, explaining the importance of purpose and conscience to his outlook on the world. He takes them to be the same thing, fundamentally, and the essence of humanity. That position puts him at odds with many others in the history of people wrestling with our condition. You can hear the Spanish < here >. Una alma humana vale por todo el universo, ha dicho no sé quién, pero ha dicho egregiamente. Un alma humana, ¿eh? No una vida. La vida esta no. Y sucede que a medida que se cree menos en el alma, es decir, en su inmortalidad consciente, personal y concreta, se exagerará más el valor de la pobre vida pasajera. De aquí arrancan todas las afeminadas sensiblerías contra la guerra. Sí, uno no debe querer morir, pero la otra muerte.  «El que quiera salvar su vida, la perderá», dice el Evangelio; pero no dice el que quiera salvar su alma, el alma inmortal. O que creemos y queremos que lo sea. Y todos los definidores del objetivismo no se fijan, o me...

Seneca discusses change and friendship. Friends share all with each other, including even the hard things, like the fact that life means change. As you live, you will accumulate different things in your behavior that require change—Seneca says you will gather, and thin, and exalt them—and you should share these things with true friends. Not those whose burdens you are not willing or able to share, but those whose will-to-friendship is equal to your own. You can hear the Latin < here >. Intellego, Lucili, non emendari me tantum sed transfigurari; nec hoc promitto iam aut spero, nihil in me superesse quod mutandum sit. Quidni multa habeam quae debeant colligi, quae extenuari, quae attolli? Et hoc ipsum argumentum est in melius translati animi, quod vitia sua quae adhuc ignorabat videt; quibusdam aegris gratulatio fit cum ipsi aegros se esse senserunt. Cuperem itaque tecum communicare tam subitam mutationem mei; tunc amicitiae nostrae certiorem fiduciam habere coe...

An attempt to summarize my own take on economy, politics, and government as these exist historically in human societies. Teaching is a beggar's profession; so is most of the service economy. It does not make food, or shelter, or anything essential to its own or others' survival. That does not make it worthless, naturally, only non-essential and dependent: if we are busy trying not to die, we don't have time for non-essentials, and beggars may go unfed, unclothed, and unsheltered. What keeps us alive is chiefly food and shelter: farming, foraging or hunting, and building are essential. Another essential that we don't always like much is protection: the ability to avoid predation skillfully, diplomatically, and when that fails, to defeat it directly, with violence. Politics arises as we attempt to organize essentials and non-essentials within a community; as that community grows, the eventual outcome is always mafia. A legitimate mafia, one that operates by kno...

Marcus here offers a meditation on mortality: we are fragile and contingent beings, unable to endure forever or to control everything that happens, and our best life requires us to make peace with that. His graphic visualization reminds me of Buddhist techniques for cultivating maranasati ('death awareness') and later Christian art with the theme memento mori ('remember death'). You can hear the Greek text read aloud < here >. Ὅ τί ποτε τοῦτό εἰμι, σαρκία ἐστὶ καὶ πνευμάτιον καὶ τὸ ἡγεμονικόν. ἄφες τὰ βιβλία· μηκέτι σπῶ. οὐ δέδοται, ἀλλ̓ ὡς ἤδη ἀποθνῄσκων τῶν μὲν σαρκίων καταφρόνησον· λύθρος καὶ ὀστάρια καὶ κροκύφαντος, ἐκ νεύρων, φλεβίων, ἀρτηριῶν πλεγμάτιον. θέασαι δὲ καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα ὁποῖόν τί ἐστιν· ἄνεμος, οὐδὲ ἀεὶ τὸ αὐτό, ἀλλὰ πάσης ὥρας ἐξεμούμενον καὶ πάλιν ῥοφούμενον. τρίτον οὖν ἐστι τὸ ἡγεμονικόν. ὧδε ἐπινοήθητι· γέρων εἶ· μηκέτι τοῦτο ἐάσῃς δουλεῦσαι, μηκέτι καθ̓ ὁρμὴν ἀκοινώνητον νευροσπαστηθῆναι, μηκέτι τὸ εἱμαρμένον ἢ παρὸν δυσχερᾶναι ἢ μέλλον ὑπ...

Unamuno takes the idea that we are ends, not means, and applies it to the most basic question about ethics: why do we do anything? What is the purpose of our doing, of our life? You can hear the passage in Spanish < here >. El hombre es un fin, no un medio. La civilización toda se endereza al hombre, a cada hombre, a cada yo. ¿O qué es ese ídolo, llámese Humanidad o como se llamare, a que se han de sacrificar todos y cada uno de los hombres? Porque yo me sacrifico por mis prójimos, por mis compatriotas, por mis hijos, y estos a su vez por los suyos, y los suyos por los de ellos, y así en serie inacabable de generaciones. ¿Y quién recibe el fruto de ese sacrificio? Los mismos que nos hablan de ese sacrificio fantástico, de esa dedicación sin objeto, suelen también hablarnos del derecho a la vida. ¿Y qué es el derecho a la vida? Me dicen que he venido a realizar no sé qué fin social; pero yo siento que yo, lo mismo que cada uno de mis hermanos, he venido a re...

Seneca finishes his presentation of fear and hope. The power of both lies in our unique human ability to see beyond present circumstances: we look into the past and the future, forgetting the present as we recall or anticipate pain that is not actually with us. If we can learn to let the past and the future go, from time to time, adapting ourselves to the present, we might attenuate our misery. Another quasi-Buddhist thought from the Roman Stoic. You can hear me read it in Latin < here >. Spem metus sequitur. Nec miror ista sic ire: utrumque pendentis animi est, utrumque futuri exspectatione solliciti. Maxima autem utriusque causa est quod non ad praesentia aptamur sed cogitationes in longinqua praemittimus; itaque providentia, maximum bonum condicionis humanae, in malum versa est. Ferae pericula quae vident fugiunt, cum effugere, securae sunt: nos et venturo torquemur et praeterito. Multa bona nostra nobis nocent; timoris enim tormentum memoria reducit, providentia anticipa...

This is something I wrote up this morning, thinking along the lines of the dictum attributed to Lord Acton:  Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Bertrand de Jouvenel des Ursins has written more about how we find this illustrated in history, specifically the history of France from the fall of the Roman empire to the twentieth century.   The need for renunciation is a theme in all serious philosophy since antiquity, though it is often ignored in modern conversations about power, which either take the accumulation of more power for granted, as necessary, or embrace it explicitly as good. To me this looks like suicide.  People can wield power well, at the individual level. But the persistent problem in our history is systemic: the existence of hegemony that persists in human societies too big to operate without strangers. When someone in the family goes criminal, we deal with him; when strangers go criminal, they take over (or we become them to k...

Marcus Aurelius begins his second book of notes with a reminder that he cannot afford to flip out when people around him are evil. Being emperor means you must embrace the evil: see it clearly, in yourself as well as others, and find ways to manage it without losing your head. Have no shame, and no resentment. You can hear this passage in Greek < here >. Ἕωθεν προλέγειν ἑαυτῷ· συντεύξομαι περιέργῳ, ἀχαρίστῳ, ὑβριστῇ, δολερῷ, βασκάνῳ, ἀκοινωνήτῳ· πάντα ταῦτα συμβέβηκεν ἐκείνοις παρὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν τῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ κακῶν. ἐγὼ δὲ τεθεωρηκὼς τὴν φύσιν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ὅτι καλόν, καὶ τοῦ κακοῦ ὅτι αἰσχρόν, καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἁμαρτάνοντος φύσιν ὅτι μοι συγγενής, οὐχὶ αἵματος ἢ σπέρματος τοῦ αὐτοῦ, ἀλλὰ νοῦ καὶ θείας ἀπομοίρας μέτοχος, οὔτε βλαβῆναι ὑπό τινος αὐτῶν δύναμαι· αἰσχρῷ γάρ με οὐδεὶς περιβαλεῖ· οὔτε ὀργίζεσθαι τῷ συγγενεῖ δύναμαι οὔτε ἀπέχθεσθαι αὐτῷ. γεγόναμεν γὰρ πρὸς συνεργίαν ὡς πόδες, ὡς χεῖρες, ὡς βλέφαρα, ὡς οἱ στοῖχοι τῶν ἄνω καὶ κάτω ὀδόντων. τὸ οὖν ἀντιπράσσειν ἀλλήλοις πα...

The purpose of our life cannot be to achieve goals that require the destruction of our humanity. If doing better means destroying ourselves, then we should not do better. Thus Unamuno. You can listen to this passage < here >. Todo lo que en mí conspire a romper la unidad y la continuidad de mi vida, conspira a destruirme, y, por lo tanto, a destruirse. Todo individuo que en un pueblo conspira a romper la unidad y la continuidad espirituales de ese pueblo, tiende a destruirlo y a destruirse como parte de ese pueblo. ¿Que tal otro pueblo es mejor? Perfectamente, aunque no entendamos bien qué es eso de mejor o peor. ¿Que es más rico? Concedido. ¿Que es más culto? Concedido también. ¿Que vive más feliz? Esto ya ..., pero, en fin, ¡pase! ¿Que vence, eso que llaman vencer, mientras nosotros somos vencidos? Enhorabuena. Todo esto está bien, pero es otro. Y basta.  Porque para mí, el hacerme otro, rompiendo la unidad y la continuidad de mi vida, es dejar de ser el que soy, es de...

Seneca shares one of his favorite themes: that ethics and values are best regarded in terms of how we do, rather than what . Process over results. If our process is bad, even good results will not help us. If we have great hopes, behind them comes great fear. Better to relinquish the hope than invite the fear. You can hear the Latin < here >. Quid ergo? eadem faciemus quae ceteri? nihil inter nos et illos intererit? Plurimum: dissimiles esse nos vulgo sciat qui inspexerit propius; qui domum intraverit nos potius miretur quam supellectilem nostram. Magnus ille est qui fictilibus sic utitur quemadmodum argento, nec ille minor est qui sic argento utitur quemadmodum fictilibus; infirmi animi est pati non posse divitias. Sed ut huius quoque diei lucellum tecum communicem, apud Hecatonem nostrum inveni cupiditatum finem etiam ad timoris remedia proficere.  Desines  inquit  timere, si sperare desieris.  Dices , quomodo ista tam diversa pariter sunt?...

The first book of Marcus' meditations ends on a note that strikes several common themes: (i) the leader's desire to help others without requiring anything in return from them; (ii) family; (iii) philosophy; and (iv) the significant role of chance in human affairs. Fortune and favorable gods determine much of our fate in ancient Rome, setting the stage for human decisions in ways we cannot contest. This might remind us of current events, too, as we notice that nobody today can make viruses or markets behave. You can hear this passage in Greek < here >. τὸ ὁσάκις ἐβουλήθην ἐπικουρῆσαί τινι πενομένῳ ἢ εἰς ἄλλο τι χρῄζοντι, μηδέποτε ἀκοῦσαί με, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι μοι χρήματα, ὅθεν γένηται, καὶ τὸ αὐτῷ ἐμοὶ χρείαν ὁμοίαν, ὡς παῤ ἑτέρου μεταλαβεῖν, μὴ συμπεσεῖν· τὸ τὴν γυναῖκα τοιαύτην εἶναι, οὑτωσὶ μὲν πειθήνιον, οὕτω δὲ φιλόστοργον, οὕτω δὲ ἀφελῆ· τὸ ἐπιτηδείων τροφέων εἰς τὰ παιδία εὐπορῆσαι. τὸ δἰ ὀνειράτων βοηθήματα δοθῆναι ἄλλα τε καὶ ὡς μὴ πτύειν αἷμα καὶ μὴ ἰλιγγιᾶ...

Unamuno continues his discussion of change. Disease entails change, organic change that occurs as some part of the body moves without regard for the rest, violating integrity in ways that Unamuno calls revolutionary ( turning things over : the simple Latin meaning of revolution ). Evolution is the same way; if we evolve too fast, changing rapidly in the revolutionary manner of a person who suffers from split personality, our life collapses. Integrity requires continuity, harmony among all our various parts. Evolution that occurs with continuity can preserve integrity, changing one order or harmony into another the way Unamuno imagines fishes birthing birds over generations; revolution violates continuity and destroys integrity, producing chaos and dissonance instead of harmony. You can hear this passage in Spanish < here >. Cierto es que se da en ciertos individuos eso que se llama un cambio de personalidad; pero eso es un caso patológico, y como tal lo estudian los...

Seneca continues to explore his unique outlook on the familiar ancient idea that philosophy means living in accordance with nature. Some expressed this idea in extreme ways, foregoing money, haircuts, good food, and even good manners in search of authentic philosophy. Seneca thinks this is too much, and offers reasons justifying his more moderate approach. Similar dynamics play out elsewhere in history. Christianity also produces wild saints, like Simeon Stylites (c. 390-459 CE), who lived atop a pillar for more than thirty years, and more moderate ones, like Thomas Becket (1119-1170), who used to wear a hair-shirt full of lice underneath his clerical robes, where nobody could see it. While Seneca would not approve the shirt per se, he would surely prefer the Englishman's privacy to the Syrian's public display. You can hear me read the Latin < here >. Hoc primum philosophia promittit, sensum communem, humanitatem et congregationem; a qua professione dissimilitudo n...

Again we see Marcus' approach to deity differing from that of others, notably Unamuno. The Roman does not think that gods teach him anything directly, personally; their action merely creates occasion and opportunity, which he can read as a signal , a reminder to act. These reminders are like personal lessons: they take on that flavor when we receive them, because of our humanity. But Marcus is careful to avoid projecting that humanity onto them too strongly, whereas Unamuno is not. The ancient philosopher inhabits a world dominated by impersonal, non-human powers extending down to man; the modern one, a world dominated by humanity extending out beyond itself. You can hear this passage < here >. τὸ γνῶναι Ἀπολλώνιον, Ῥούστικον, Μάξιμον. τὸ φαντασθῆναι περὶ τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν βίου ἐναργῶς καὶ πολλάκις οἷός τίς ἐστιν, ὥστε, ὅσον ἐπὶ τοῖς θεοῖς καὶ ταῖς ἐκεῖθεν διαδόσεσι καὶ συλλήψεσι καὶ ἐπιπνοίαις, μηδὲν κωλύειν ἤδη κατὰ φύσιν ζῆν με, ἀπολείπεσθαι δὲ ἔτι τούτου παρὰ τὴν ἐμὴ...

Unamuno explains how we change ourselves: we must not suppose that we can make ourselves entirely different overnight with one decision. Instead, change comes via the gradual, careful introduction of new things into the stable form of our character, which must retain some continuity with its past if we are to be whole, sane, healthy. You can hear this passage < here >. Más de una vez se ha dicho que todo hombre desgraciado prefiere ser el que es, aun con sus desgracias, a ser otro sin ellas. Y es que los hombres desgraciados, cuando conservan la sanidad en su desgracia, es decir, cuando se esfuerzan por perseverar en su ser, prefieren la desgracia a la no existencia. De mí sé decir, que  cuando era un mozo, y aun de niño, no lograron conmoverme las patéticas pinturas que del infierno se me hacían, pues ya desde entonces nada se me aparecía tan horrible como la nada misma. Era una furiosa hambre de ser, un apetito de divinidad como nuestro ascético dijo. Irle...