Beyond Philosophy

Seneca admonishes Lucilius to avoid serving the body, which is properly a tool and not an end in itself, and then describes our fear of bodily harm. He says that this fear is most potent when we apprehend disaster before it happens. Fear of conquest trumps fear of plague, he thinks, because the former is more evident: it presents itself vividly to the mind before invading and investing the body. Fateor insitam esse nobis corporis nostri caritatem; fateor nos huius gerere tutelam. Non nego indulgendum illi, serviendum nego; multis enim serviet qui corpori servit, qui pro illo nimium timet, qui ad illud omnia refert . Sic gerere nos debemus, non tamquam propter corpus vivere debeamus, sed tamquam non possimus sine corpore . H uius nos nimius amor timoribus inquietat, sollicitudinibus onerat, contumeliis obicit . H onestum ei vile est cui corpus nimis carum est. Agatur eius diligentissime cura, ita tamen ut, cum exiget ratio, cum dignitas, cum fides, mittendum in ignes sit. Nihilominus...

The third book of Marcus' notes ends with a discussion of moral integrity. We are parts—body, soul, mind—that must be joined together gently, carefully, as we move down the path of mortality toward the consummation of our lives. The basis for good character, nobility, is the individual life: private ethics and values whose expression is not broadcast. Σῶμα, ψυχή, νοῦς· σώματος αἰσθήσεις, ψυχῆς ὁρμαί, νοῦ δόγματα. τὸ μὲν τυποῦσθαι φανταστικῶς καὶ τῶν βοσκημάτων· τὸ δὲ νευροσπαστεῖσθαι ὁρμητικῶς καὶ τῶν θηρίων καὶ τῶν ἀνδρογύνων καὶ Φαλάριδος καὶ Νέρωνος· τὸ δὲ τὸν νοῦν ἡγεμόνα ἔχειν ἐπὶ τὰ φαινόμενα καθήκοντα καὶ τῶν θεοὺς μὴ νομιζόντων καὶ τῶν τὴν πατρίδα ἐγκαταλειπόντων καὶ τῶν ποιούντων, ἐπειδὰν κλείσωσι τὰς θύρας. εἰ οὖν τὰ λοιπὰ κοινά ἐστι πρὸς τὰ εἰρημένα, λοιπὸν τὸ ἴδιόν ἐστι τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ φιλεῖν μὲν καὶ ἀσπάζεσθαι τὰ συμβαίνοντα καὶ συγκλωθόμενα αὐτῷ, τὸν δὲ ἔνδον ἐν τῷ στήθει ἱδρυμένον δαίμονα μὴ φύρειν μηδὲ θορυβεῖν ὄχλῳ φαντασιῶν, ἀλλὰ ἵλεων διατηρεῖν, κοσμίως ἑπόμενον θεῷ, ...

What happens when we attempt to reason with faith? To reconcile the heart and the head, in Unamuno's terms? Nietzsche famously attempts to answer this question, offering a well-developed outlook in his writings which Unamuno is going to contest. As a devout Catholic, he cannot agree with the skeptical Protestant. From Unamuno's perspective, Nietzsche uses the head to destroy the heart, deconstructing all hope by showing that there is no sufficient human reason for it. For Unamuno, hope is necessary, a given that we accept prior to reason, and independent of it. Y vuelven los sensatos, los que no están a dejarse engañar, y nos machacan los oídos con el sonsonete de que no sirve entregarse a la locura y dar coces contra el aguijón, pues lo que no puede ser es imposible. Lo viril —dicen— es resignarse a la suerte, y pues no somos inmortales, no queramos serlo; sojuzguémonos a la razón sin acongojarnos por lo irremediable, entenebreciendo y entristeciendo la vida. Esa obsesión —aña...

Make sure to spend time aging with your best habits. Keep them, and develop them, so that your old age is not merely another misspent youth. Habits you are constantly dropping in pursuit of something new cannot teach you wisdom or contentment. Sed iam finem epistulae faciam, si illi signum suum inpressero, id est aliquam magnificam vocem perferendam ad te mandavero. Inter cetera mala hoc quoque habet stultitia: semper incipit vivere. Considera quid vox ista significet, Lucili virorum optime, et intelleges quam foeda sit hominum levitas cotidie nova vitae fundamenta ponentium, novas spes etiam in exitu inchoantium. Circumspice tecum singulos: occurrent tibi senes qui se cum maxime ad ambitionem, ad peregrinationes, ad negotiandum parent. Quid est autem turpius quam senex vivere incipiens? Non adicerem auctorem huic voci, nisi esset secretior nec inter vulgata Epicuri dicta, quae mihi et laudare et adoptare permisi. Vale. But now it is time to put an end to this epistle, once I have sea...

Every action we engage sends more signals than we know or can control in their entirety. Being present at an action always conveys information different from any account we deliver later to non-participants. Οὐκ ἴσασι, πόσα σημαίνει τὸ κλέπτειν, τὸ σπείρειν, τὸ ὠνεῖσθαι, τὸ ἡσυχάζειν, τὸ ὁρᾶν τὰ πρακτέα, ὃ οὐκ ὀφθαλμοῖς γίνεται ἀλλ’ ἑτέρᾳ τινὶ ὄψει. They do not how how many signals are released when we steal, sow, buy, hold our peace, or watch what is done. The import of these signals is not for the eyes, but for some other kind of sight.

Unamuno finds intellectuals willing to discuss many things. Immortality, curiously, is not one of them. Why not? Cuenta el libro de los Hechos de los Apóstoles que adonde quiera que fuese Pablo se concitaban contra él los celosos judíos para perseguirle. Apedreáronle en Iconio y en Listra, ciudades de Licaonia, a pesar de las maravillas que en la última obró; le azotaron en Filipos de Macedonia y le persiguieron sus hermanos de raza en Tesalónica y en Berea. Pero llegó a Atenas, a la noble ciudad de los intelectuales, sobre la que velaba el alma excelsa de Platón, el de la hermosura del riesgo de ser inmortal, y allí disputó Pablo con epicúreos y estoicos, que decían de él, o bien: ¿qué quiere decir este charlatán ( σπερμολόγος ) ? o bien: ¡parece que es predicador de nuevos dioses! (Hechos, XVII, 18), y «tomándole le llevaron al Areópago, diciendo: ¿podremos saber qué sea esta nueva doctrina que dices?, porque traes a nuestros oídos cosas peregrinas, y queremos saber qué quiere ser e...

In the end, we must all face death, the last fear. There is no avoiding or solving it, for Seneca. The way beyond its power is through it. Instead of encouraging avoidance, he admonishes us to face it. Pudet me ibi sic ( † ) tecum loqui et tam lenibus te remediis focilare. Alius dicat fortasse non veniet: tu dic quid porro, si veniet? videbimus uter vincat; fortasse pro me venit, et mors ista vitam honestabit. Cicuta magnum Socratem fecit. Catoni gladium assertorem libertatis extorque: magnam partem detraxeris gloriae. Nimium diu te cohortor, cum tibi admonitione magis quam exhortatione opus sit. Non in diversum te a natura tua ducimus: natus es ad ista quae dicimus; eo magis bonum tuum auge et exorna. I am ashamed to speak with you about such serious problem s and offer only meager solutions. Another fellow might tell you, "It is possible that the worst won't come." You tell him, " But what if it does ? We shall then see who conquers, death or myself. Perhaps ...

We often plan to do great things. We begin projects with some large agenda that requires us to research at length and synthesize a lot of material over time. Marcus here warns himself to limit this impulse. Life presents us with challenges today, not waiting for us to finish decades of research. You must meet your problems now, relying on yourself as you are and refusing to put truly important matters off to tomorrow, which might not come. Act upon your values now, and every moment. Μηκέτι πλανῶ· οὔτε γὰρ τὰ ὑπομνημάτιά σου μέλλεις ἀναγινώσκειν οὔτε τὰς τῶν ἀρχαίων Ῥωμαίων καὶ Ἑλλήνων πράξεις καὶ τὰς ἐκ τῶν συγγραμμάτων ἐκλογάς, ἃς εἰς τὸ γῆρας σαυτῷ ἀπετίθεσο. σπεῦδε οὖν εἰς τέλος καὶ τὰς κενὰς ἐλπίδας ἀφεὶς σαυτῷ βοήθει, εἴ τί σοι μέλει σαυτοῦ, ἕως ἔξεστιν. Do not wander aimless any longer. For you are not destined to read again the notes you write for yourself, nor are you likely ever to peruse the great deeds of the ancient Romans and Greeks, or the passages of literature that you ...

Life includes things that elude explanation, always. Every frame of reference we can bring to bear as humans will hide something from us, and that something might eventually appear dreadfully important. The ultimate reasons for all things lie beyond our grasp as rational beings. Unamuno cannot speak or hear any sensible speech about the beginning of beginning, the end of end, or the reason for reason. Y ¿quién eres tú?, me preguntas, y con Obermann te contesto: ¡para el universo nada, para mí todo! ¿Orgullo? ¿Orgullo querer ser inmortal? ¡Pobres hombres! Trágico hado, sin duda, el de tener que cimentar en la movediza y deleznable piedra del deseo de inmortalidad la afirmación de ésta; pero torpeza grande condenar el anhelo por creer probado, sin probarlo, que no sea conseguidero. ¿Que sueño...? Dejadme soñar, si ese sueño es mi vida, no me despertéis de él. Creo en el inmortal origen de este anhelo de inmortalidad, que es la sustancia misma de mi alma. ¿Pero de veras creo en ello...? ¿...

Seneca advises us to have our own opinions, even when they are wrong. If you let others dictate to you against your own judgment, you lose the ability to control your emotions (especially fear). Even if you are persuaded by a belief not your own, make it yours before you dare to embrace it. That way you will not refer to others to learn how you should feel about it. The wisdom of crowds is always to be doubted, especially when history vindicates it (or appears to do so, anyway). Ergo spem ac metum examina, et quotiens incerta erunt omnia, tibi fave: crede quod mavis. Si plures habebit sententias metus, nihilominus in hanc partem potius inclina et perturbare te desine ac subinde hoc in animo volve, maiorem partem mortalium, cum illi nec sit quicquam mali nec pro certo futurum sit, aestuare ac discurrere. Nemo enim resistit sibi, cum coepit impelli, nec timorem suum redigit ad verum; nemo dicit vanus auctor est, vanus aut finxit aut credidit. Damus nos referendis ( † ). E xpavescimus...

Like many throughout history, Marcus Aurelius does not approach religion strictly in terms of belief. As a practical Roman and pagan, he recognizes straightforwardly the existence of natural forces that elude human control: religion for him is a series of rituals we engage to show proper respect for our limits in handling ourselves around these forces. What we call them or believe regarding them at any particular moment is never as significant as cultivating regular methods of showing respect that can help us and others remain calm around them. We can appreciate a position like this better if we compare it with our own attitude toward trial by jury: one does not disprove, or seek to disprove, the efficacy of trial by jury by noticing that its justice occasionally miscarries. The ritual has power, and we cultivate it even when we notice that it occasionally fails to achieve good results. If we dispensed with it, then we would require some other ritual to serve the same purpose, and it t...

Unamuno is not content with mortality. Worse, he is not content with immortality that does not extend to the individual personality. He frames this discontent in terms of necessity: for him, to live is to require some apprehension of personal immortality. Y vienen queriendo engañarnos con un engaño de engaños, y nos hablan de que nada se pierde, de que todo se trasforma, muda y cambia, que ni se aniquila el menor cachito de materia, ni se desvanece del todo el menor golpecito de fuerza, ¡y hay quien pretende darnos consuelo con esto! ¡Pobre consuelo! Ni de mi materia ni de mi fuerza me inquieto, pues no son mías mientras no sea yo mismo mío, esto es, eterno. No, no es anegarme en el gran Todo, en la Materia o en la Fuerza infinitas y eternas o en Dios lo que anhelo; no es ser poseído por Dios, sino poseerle, hacerme yo Dios sin dejar de ser el yo que ahora os digo esto. No nos sirven engañifas de monismo; ¡queremos bulto y no sombra de inmortalidad! ¿Materialismo? ¿Materialismo decí...

Fear and hope: Seneca regards both as dangerous, calling them vices ( vitia ) here. We must strive not to act solely upon either, but we can use one to oppose the other if we are weak. Too scared? Invoke hope. Too sanguine? Remember fear. And try to find the prudence that sees beyond them both. Nonnumquam, nullis apparentibus signis quae mali aliquid praenuntient, animus sibi falsas imagines fingit: aut verbum aliquod dubiae significationis detorquet in peius aut maiorem sibi offensam proponit alicuius quam est, et cogitat non quam iratus ille sit, sed quantum liceat irato. Nulla autem causa vitae est, nullus miseriarum modus, si timetur quantum potest. Hic prudentia prosit, hic robore animi evidentem quoque metum respue; si minus, vitio vitium repelle, spe metum tempera. Nihil tam certum est ex his quae timentur ut non certius sit et formidata subsidere et sperata decipere. Sometimes, even though no apparent signs announce the approach of anything evil, the mind still creates false i...

Ethics exist because we act. A rational action is one that occurs because we engage it deliberately, with a plan in mind. That plan necessarily requires us to consider when and how our action should end. No real action in the realm of rational ethics is one that we engage forever, without end. The potential for some end is always there; eventually it becomes actual. This is mortality. Marcus wants to engage it rationally, deliberately, with a pure spirit ( δαίμονα καθαρὸν , as he says). Ἐὰν τὸ παρὸν ἐνεργῇς ἑπόμενος τῷ ὀρθῷ λόγῳ, ἐσπουδασμένως, ἐρρωμένως, εὐμενῶς, καὶ μηδὲν παρεμπόρευμα, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ δαίμονα καθαρὸν ἑστῶτα τηρῇς, ὡσεὶ καὶ ἤδη ἀποδοῦναι δέοι· ἐὰν τοῦτο συνάπτῃς μηδὲν περιμένων μηδὲ φεύγων, ἀλλὰ τῇ παρούσῃ κατὰ φύσιν ἐνεργείᾳ καὶ τῇ ὧν λέγεις καὶ φθέγγῃ ἡρωικῇ ἀληθείᾳ ἀρκούμενος, εὐζωήσεις. ἔστι δὲ οὐδεὶς ὁ τοῦτο κωλῦσαι δυνάμενος. If. If you act upon the present moment, following a proper plan seriously, steadfastly, and with good intent. If you watch the state of ...