Beyond Philosophy

Seneca advises Lucilius to train his mind by reading, writing, speaking, and listening, activities which should be punctuated with rest. He also gives advice for training the voice, telling Lucilius to practice natural delivery rather than adopt conventional methods that favored theatrical declamation. Quidquid facies, cito redi a corpore ad animum; illum noctibus ac diebus exerce. Labore modico alitur ille; hanc exercitationem non frigus, non aestus impediet, ne senectus quidem. Id bonum cura quod vetustate fit melius. Neque ego te iubeo semper imminere libro aut pugillaribus: dandum est aliquod intervallum animo, ita tamen ut non resolvatur, sed remittatur. Gestatio et corpus concutit et studio non officit: possis legere, possis dictare, possis loqui, possis audire, quorum nihil ne ambulatio quidem vetat fieri. Nec tu intentionem vocis contempseris, quam veto te per gradus et certos modos extollere, deinde deprimere. Quid si velis deinde quemadmodum ambules discere? Admitte istos quo...

Marcus offers a brief sketch of the Stoic universe, which is imagined as a great city, in which all thought, word, and action reside, including our little human ones beside those of the gods and other living beings. Does sharing here imply agreement, or not? The natural elements Marcus introduces as comparands for human thought, reason, and law do not always dance together peacefully, though we find harmony in their movement over time. From the perspective Marcus takes here, thought and its derivatives exist as expressions of something larger than just the individual: when my thoughts are communicable to others, they cannot be simply or solely mine, and must come from elsewhere, even as particular manifestations of weather come from natural elements diffuse in the universe. The source of thought is identified as government, discernible in collective action, mediated by signals. Εἰ τὸ νοερὸν ἡμῖν κοινόν, καὶ ὁ λόγος, καθ᾽ ὃν λογικοί ἐσμεν, κοινός· εἰ τοῦτο, καὶ ὁ προστακτικὸς τῶν ποιητέ...

For Unamuno, the desire to persist is fundamental. We don't desire glory or fame for their own sake, but because they represent means to the real end, which is preserving ourselves, our memory. This is the aim of Catholicism, too, in his mind, and the next chapter will illustrate the medieval philosophy some Catholics framed to express it. Y vuelven a molernos los oídos con el estribillo aquel de ¡orgullo! ¡hediondo orgullo! ¿Orgullo querer dejar nombre imborrable? ¿Orgullo? Es como cuando se habla de sed de placeres, interpretando así la sed de riquezas. No, no es tanto ansia de procurarse placeres cuanto el terror a la pobreza lo que nos arrastra a los pobres hombres a buscar el dinero como no era el deseo de gloria, sino el terror al infierno lo que arrastraba a los hombres en la Edad Media al claustro con su acedía. Ni eso es orgullo, sino terror a la nada. Tendemos a serlo todo, por ver en ello el único remedio para no reducirnos a nada. Queremos salvar nuestra memoria, siqui...

Seneca's advice for physical training: hard, brief intervals of running, weightlifting, and jumping. When you are out of breath, stop, and spend the rest of your day elsewhere (attending public and private business, cultivating literature, eating and drinking sparely because you don't need to carb-load). Multa sequuntur incommoda huic deditos curae: primum exercitationes, quarum labor spiritum exhaurit et inhabilem intentioni ac studiis acrioribus reddit; deinde copia ciborum subtilitas impeditur. Accedunt pessimae notae mancipia in magisterium recepta, homines inter oleum et vinum occupati, quibus ad votum dies actus est si bene desudaverunt, si in locum eius quod effluxit multum potionis altius in ieiuno iturae regesserunt. Bibere et sudare vita cardiaci est. Sunt exercitationes et faciles et breves, quae corpus et sine mora lassent et tempori parcant, cuius praecipua ratio habenda est: cursus , et cum aliquo pondere manus motae , et saltus , vel ille qui corpus in altum ...

Our life is properly a series of answers to nature's questions. We are not in charge of what happens, but of how we choose to respond. If we become too invested in dominating what we cannot effectively control, i.e. changes emanating from agency beyond our own, we lose the ability to regulate what is actually within our grasp. Renounce control over the world to gain it over yourself. λοιπὸν οὖν μέμνησο τῆς ὑποχωρήσεως τῆς εἰς τοῦτο τὸ ἀγρίδιον ἑαυτοῦ καὶ πρὸ παντὸς μὴ σπῶ μηδὲ κατεντείνου, ἀλλὰ ἐλεύθερος ἔσο καὶ ὅρα τὰ πράγματα ὡς ἀνήρ, ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ὡς πολίτης, ὡς θνητὸν ζῷον. ἐν δὲ τοῖς προχειροτάτοις, εἰς ἃ ἐγκύψεις, ταῦτα ἔστω τὰ δύο· ἕν μέν, ὅτι τὰ πράγματα οὐχ ἅπτεται τῆς ψυχῆς, ἀλλ’ ἔξω ἕστηκεν ἀτρεμοῦντα, αἱ δὲ ὀχλήσεις ἐκ μόνης τῆς ἔνδον ὑπολήψεως· ἕτερον δέ, ὅτι πάντα ταῦτα, ὅσα ὁρᾷς, ὅσον οὐδέπω μεταβαλεῖ καὶ οὐκ ἔτι ἔσται· καὶ ὅσων ἤδη μεταβολαῖς αὐτὸς παρατετύχηκας, συνεχῶς διανοοῦ. ὁ κόσμος ἀλλοίωσις, ὁ βίος ὑπόληψις. From this moment on, remember that you can retreat ...

Unamuno thinks we are all anxious to be known. Some seek notoriety in celebrity, which is available to anyone whose action is lucky, or extravagant, or criminal enough to draw large attention. But celebrity is fleeting, Unamuno says. The artist prefers small action to large; she speaks to a select few, a little group that passes down reverence for some artwork, thereby ensuring that she lives on in their society long after old celebrities are forgotten, replaced by new ones likewise destined to disappear. She goes for longevity rather than celebrity. Y este erostratismo (‡) , ¿qué es en el fondo, sino ansia de inmortalidad, ya que no de sustancia y bulto, al menos de nombre y sombra? Y hay en ello sus grados. El que desprecia el aplauso de la muchedumbre de hoy, es que busca sobrevivir en renovadas minorías durante generaciones. «La posteridad es una superposición de minorías», decía Gounod. Quiere prolongarse en tiempo más que en espacio. Los ídolos de las muchedumbres son pronto der...

Seneca does not advocate bodybuilding. His ideal physique is spare, not fleshy with muscle or fat. If someone told him to eat six meals daily for health, he would say that the mind does not do well with constant digestion. Why do we pursue health? What do we want from it? Do our means conform to our ends? Mos antiquis fuit, usque ad meam servatus aetatem, primis epistulae verbis adicere si vales bene est, ego valeo. Recte nos dicimus si philosopharis, bene est. Valere enim hoc demum est. Sine hoc aeger est animus; corpus quoque, etiam si magnas habet vires, non aliter quam furiosi aut frenetici validum est. Ergo hanc praecipue valetudinem cura, deinde et illam secundam; quae non magno tibi constabit, si volueris bene valere. Stulta est enim, mi Lucili, et minime conveniens litterato viro occupatio exercendi lacertos et dilatandi cervicem ac latera firmandi; cum tibi feliciter sagina cesserit et tori creverint, nec vires umquam opimi bovis nec pondus aequabis. Adice nunc quod maiore ...

Marcus urges us to avoid making too much of what is sometimes called the judgment of history. We cannot presume that our real value is reflected in the arbitrary, capricious, and ultimately empty world of human gossip, not even when this world presents a brave or beautiful face, making us seem momentarily more significant or righteous than we really are. ἀλλὰ τὸ δοξάριόν σε περισπάσει; ἀπιδὼν εἰς τὸ τάχος τῆς πάντων λήθης καὶ τὸ χάος τοῦ ἐφ᾽ ἑκάτερα ἀπείρου αἰῶνος καὶ τὸ κενὸν τῆς ἀπηχήσεως καὶ τὸ εὐμετάβολον καὶ ἄκριτον τῶν εὐφημεῖν δοκούντων καὶ τὸ στενὸν τοῦ τόπου, ἐν ᾧ περιγράφεται· ὅλη τε γὰρ ἡ γῆ στιγμὴ καὶ ταύτης πόστον γωνίδιον ἡ κατοίκησις αὕτη; καὶ ἐνταῦθα πόσοι καὶ οἷοί τινες οἱ ἐπαινεσόμενοι; Perhaps it is the opinion of others that threatens to distract you? Look away for a moment! Consider the speed with which all things are forgotten, the abyss of boundless eternity that swallows up each individual thing. How empty our echo in history! How fickle and devoid of judgment ...

Sometimes we think that human suffering arises solely or principally from our external environment — that it is imposed on us by material necessity and can be alleviated simply by material means. We see hungry folk fighting for food and suppose that the way to end war is to feed them. Unamuno warns us that the fiercest causes for war arise from spiritual hunger rather than physical, from the human psyche within us rather than the world without. If we end wars of material hunger, we will still have to contend with wars of spiritual hunger, wars driven by envy and lust for fame: passions that don't respond to reason the way hunger does. Unamuno fears these wars more. Tremenda pasión esa de que nuestra memoria sobreviva por encima del olvido de los demás si es posible. De ella arranca la envidia a la que se debe, según el relato bíblico, el crimen que abrió la historia humana: el asesinato de Abel por su hermano Caín. No fué lucha por pan, fué lucha por sobrevivir en Dios, en la memo...

Seneca here encourages Lucilius to use wealth rather than require it. If we require it, then we must minister to it instead of using it to minister to others. We become anxious rather than happy, and our seeming good fortune turns evil. Nunc ad cotidianam stipem manum porrigis. Aurea te stipe implebo, et quia facta est auri mentio, accipe quemadmodum usus fructusque eius tibi esse gratior possit. Is maxime divitiis fruitur qui minime divitiis indiget. Ede inquis auctorem. Ut scias quam benigni simus, propositum est aliena laudare: Epicuri est aut Metrodori aut alicuius ex illa officina. Et quid interest quis dixerit? omnibus dixit. Qui eget divitiis timet pro illis; nemo autem sollicito bono fruitur. Adicere illis aliquid studet; dum de incremento cogitat, oblitus est usus. Rationes accipit, forum conterit, kalendarium versat: fit ex domino procurator. Vale. Now you're reaching out a hand for your daily bit of book! I have a golden ration to fill your mind today, and since I men...

Marcus discusses how to solve human problems. Sometimes we need to consider the big picture: the universe and our place in it, as just one of many transient animals. Other times, we have to look at something smaller: relationships with other people, inside societies with unique culture and expectations. Sometimes, the problem lies in our own mind, or body, and must be handled there. Know how to operate at all levels. τίνι γὰρ δυσχερανεῖς; τῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων κακίᾳ; ἀναλογισάμενος τὸ κρῖμα, ὅτι τὰ λογικὰ ζῷα ἀλλήλων ἕνεκεν γέγονε καὶ ὅτι τὸ ἀνέχεσθαι μέρος τῆς δικαιοσύνης καὶ ὅτι ἄκοντες ἁμαρτάνουσι καὶ πόσοι ἤδη διεχθρεύσαντες, ὑποπτεύσαντες, μισήσαντες, διαδορατισθέντες ἐκτέτανται, τετέφρωνται, παύου ποτέ. ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἐκ τῶν ὅλων ἀπονεμομένοις δυσχερανεῖς; ἀνανεωσάμενος τὸ διεζευγμένον τό· ἤτοι πρόνοια ἢ ἄτομοι, καὶ ἐξ ὅσων ἀπεδείχθη ὅτι ὁ κόσμος ὡσανεὶ πόλις. ἀλλὰ τὰ σωματικά σου ἅψεται ἔτι; ἐννοήσας ὅτι οὐκ ἐπιμίγνυται λείως ἢ τραχέως κινουμένῳ πνεύματι ἡ διάνοια, ἐπειδὰν ἅπαξ ἑαυτὴν ...

Would you rather be remembered, as a name, or leave some memorable piece of art in the world, a work so powerful that it overshadows, and eventually obliterates, your own name and fame? Unamuno suggests that the true artist plays more than she works; what she cares about is too important to be merely herself, or anything as trifling as personal identity. To play well is to lose yourself. Great art is good enough to make us forget its author. Qué significa esa irritación cuando creemos que nos roban una frase, o un pensamiento, o una imagen que creíamos nuestra; cuando nos plagian? ¿Robar? ¿Es que es acaso nuestra, una vez que al público se la dimos? Sólo por nuestra la queremos y más encariñados vivimos de la moneda falsa que conserva nuestro cuño, que no de la pieza de oro puro de donde se ha borrado nuestra efigie y nuestra leyenda. Sucede muy comúnmente que cuando no se pronuncia ya el nombre de un escritor es cuando más influye en su pueblo desparramado y enfusado su espíritu en lo...

What can we do, if not politics? Seneca suggests that we cultivate life, specifically a private life that does not require public means to maintain itself and avoid giving others offense. Of course this path is fraught with risk and danger, as all are, but Seneca likes it better. Sed postea videbimus an sapienti opera rei publicae danda sit: interim ad hos te Stoicos voco qui a re publica exclusi secesserunt ad colendam vitam et humano generi iura condenda sine ulla potentioris offensa. Non conturbabit sapiens publicos mores nec populum in se vitae novitate convertet. Quid ergo? utique erit tutus qui hoc propositum sequetur? Promittere tibi hoc non magis possum quam in homine temperanti bonam valetudinem, et tamen facit temperantia bonam valetudinem. Perit aliqua navis in portu: sed quid tu accidere in medio mari credis? Quanto huic periculum paratius foret multa agenti molientique, cui ne otium quidem tutum est? Pereunt aliquando innocente s — quis negat ? — nocentes tamen saepius....

Marcus advises himself to retreat into his soul, which he aims to furnish with memories few and short that will convey calm to him the moment he encounters them. Ἀναχωρήσεις αὑτοῖς ζητοῦσιν ἀγροικίας καὶ αἰγιαλοὺς καὶ ὄρη, εἴωθας δὲ καὶ σὺ τὰ τοιαῦτα μάλιστα ποθεῖν. ὅλον δὲ τοῦτο ἰδιωτικώτατόν ἐστιν, ἐξόν, ἧς ἂν ὥρας ἐθελήσῃς, εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἀναχωρεῖν. οὐδαμοῦ γὰρ οὔτε ἡσυχιώτερον οὔτε ἀπραγμονέστερον ἄνθρωπος ἀναχωρεῖ ἢ εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν, μάλισθ᾽ ὅστις ἔχει ἔνδον τοιαῦτα, εἰς ἃ ἐγκύψας ἐν πάσῃ εὐμαρείᾳ εὐθὺς γίνεται· τὴν δὲ εὐμάρειαν οὐδὲν ἄλλο λέγω ἢ εὐκοσμίαν. συνεχῶς οὖν δίδου σεαυτῷ ταύτην τὴν ἀναχώρησιν καὶ ἀνανέου σεαυτόν· βραχέα δὲ ἔστω καὶ στοιχειώδη ἃ εὐθὺς ἀπαντήσαντα ἀρκέσει εἰς τὸ πᾶσαν λύπην ἀποκλύσαι καὶ ἀποπέμψαι σε μὴ δυσχεραίνοντα ἐκείνοις ἐφ᾽ ἃ ἐπανέρχῃ. You will withdraw, following after those who seek for themselves deserted wastelands, beaches, and mountains, as you have greatly desired to do. This retreat is the most utterly private thing you can do, as it allows ...

Fame demands that we fight—against the past, that holds the high ground of memory, and against the future, whose judgment will dissolve our past. All names cannot be remembered, or can they? Nuestra lucha a brazo partido por la sobrevivencia del nombre se retrae al pasado, así como aspira a conquistar el porvenir; peleamos con los muertos, que son los que nos hacen sombra a los vivos. Sentimos celos de los genios que fueron, y cuyos nombres, como hitos de la historia, salvan las edades. El cielo de la fama no es muy grande, y cuantos más en él entren, a menos toca cada uno de ellos. Los grandes nombres del pasado nos roban lugar en él; lo que ellos ocupan en la memoria de las gentes nos lo quitarán a los que aspiramos a ocuparla. Y así nos revolvemos contra ellos, y de aquí la agrura con que cuantos buscan en las letras nombradía juzgan a los que ya la alcanzaron y de ella gozan. Si la literatura se enriquece mucho, llegará el día del cernimiento y cada cual teme quedarse entre las ma...

Seneca wonders whether active involvement in politics is really compatible with philosophy. His approach here suggests that it is not, finding fault with the Roman statesman Cato, whom he praises elsewhere—in passages like this one , or this one . Ceterum philosophia ipsa tranquille modesteque tractanda est. Quid ergo? inquis videtur tibi M. Cato modeste philosophari, qui bellum civile sententia reprimit? qui furentium principum armis medius intervenit? qui aliis Pompeium offendentibus, aliis Caesarem, simul lacessit duos? Potest aliquis disputare an illo tempore capessenda fuerit sapienti res publica. Quid tibi vis, M arce Cato? iam non agitur de libertate: olim pessum data est. Quaeritur utrum Caesar an Pompeius possideat rem publicam: quid tibi cum ista contentione? nullae partes tuae sunt. Dominus eligitur: quid tua, uter ( ℇ )  vincat? potest melior vincere, non potest non peior esse qui vicerit. Ultimas partes attigi Catonis; sed ne priores quidem anni fuerunt qui sapientem...