Beyond Philosophy

Seneca finishes his epistle on the human mind, arguing that reason is our mind's highest expression and that its perfection lies ultimately with the individual rather than the group, which he sees as having a broadly negative effect upon our ability to make good choices—rational choices that facilitate a natural life for human beings such as we are. (Interesting in light of Unamuno's observations in Life 2.5 , 2.6 .) Nemo gloriari nisi suo debet. Vitem laudamus si fructu palmites onerat, si ipsa ponder a (†) ad terram eorum quae tulit adminicula deducit: num quis huic illam praeferret vitem cui aureae uvae, aurea folia dependent? Propria virtus est in vite fertilitas; in homine quoque id laudandum est quod ipsius est. Familiam formosam habet et domum pulchram, multum serit, multum fenerat: nihil horum in ipso est sed circa ipsum. Lauda in illo quod nec eripi potest nec dari, quod proprium hominis est. Quaeris quid sit? animus et ratio in animo perfecta. Rationale enim animal ...

Marcus reflects on the leveling power of death. Whether we are Stoics or Epicureans, there is no physical difference between a dead king and a dead drover. Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μακεδὼν καὶ ὁ ὀρεωκόμος αὐτοῦ ἀποθανόντες εἰς ταὐτὸ κατέστησαν· ἤτοι γὰρ ἀνελήφθησαν εἰς τοὺς αὐτοὺς τοῦ κόσμου σπερματικοὺς λόγους ἢ διεσκεδάσθησαν ὁμοίως εἰς τὰς ἀτόμους. Alexander of Macedon and his muleteer went down to the same place after they died. Both either returned to the same set of generative principles that seed the universal order, or they were scattered alike amidst the atoms.

Unamuno rejects the rationality of the consensus-argument for God, but he is nevertheless willing to use this argument to approach God from another angle, one that is not rational. He believes that God is fundamentally a being of vital will, irreducible to rational limits. Divine justice for him is ultimately willful, not mathematical: an expression of the universe that we cannot render or balance in soluble symbolic equations. Ese famoso argumento del consentimiento supuesto unánime de los pueblos, que es el que con un seguro instinto más emplearon los antiguos, no es, en el fondo y trasladado de la colectividad del individuo, sino la llamada prueba moral, la que Kant, en su Crítica de la razón práctica , empleó, la que se saca de nuestra conciencia —o más bien de nuestro sentimiento de la divinidad—, y que no es una prueba estricta y específicamente racional, sino vital, y que no puede ser aplicada al Dios lógico, al ens summum , al Ser simplicísimo y abstractísimo, al primer motor i...

Seneca describes the superior mind, which refuses to give way when it encounters strong emotions. He says that such a mind will not shine , or take glory, in goods that don't belong properly to it (such as the goods that it receives from fortune, like a nice house or good health), and he illustrates this meaning by drawing attention to the difference between a fine animal (such as a horse or lion) and fine ornaments (which don't make the horse any better and actually ruin the aspect of the lion). Animum excellentem, moderatum, omnia tamquam minora transeuntem, quidquid timemus optamusque ridentem, caelestis potentia agitat. Non potest res tanta sine adminiculo numinis stare; itaque maiore sui parte illic est unde descendit. Quemadmodum radii solis contingunt quidem terram sed ibi sunt unde mittuntur, sic animus magnus ac sacer et in hoc demissus, ut propius quidem divina nossemus, conversatur quidem nobiscum sed haeret origini suae; illinc pendet, illuc spectat ac nititur, nost...

Marcus discusses the way to lead humans, as opposed to other things in the world. We humans must give one another agency, if we are to cooperate. Our commander expects his men to act, and they want him to act, too. Failure to rise to the occasion on either side will ruin the action. Gods are invoked to punish the party responsible, when this happens, and Marcus advises himself against having elaborate schedules or calendars for human tasks that take us too far from natural cycles and seasons. Τοῖς μὲν ἀλόγοις ζῴοις καὶ καθόλου πράγμασι καὶ ὑποκειμένοις, ὡς λόγον ἔχων λόγον μὴ ἔχουσι, χρῶ μεγαλοφρόνως καὶ ἐλευθέρως· τοῖς δὲ ἀνθρώποις, ὡς λόγον ἔχουσι, χρῶ κοινωνικῶς· ἐφ’ ἅπασι δὲ θεοὺς ἐπικαλοῦ. καὶ μὴ διαφέρου πρὸς τὸ πόσῳ χρόνῳ ταῦτα πράξεις· ἀρκοῦσι γὰρ καὶ τρεῖς ὧραι τοιαῦται. I make free and generous use of irrational animals, ruling them the way I rule circumstances and materials generally, for I approach them with rational plans where they have none. Men I use differently, howeve...