Synopses & Reviews
The Roman statesman and philosopher Seneca (4 BCE–65 CE) made innovative use of the letter format to record both his moral philosophy and his personal experiences. In
Letters on Ethics, rich descriptions of city and country life in Nero’s Italy mix with discussions of Roman poetry and oratory and with personal advice to Seneca’s friend Lucilius. The first complete English translation of this work in nearly a century,
Letters on Ethics presents Seneca’s fascinating reflections on daily life, education, and philosophical thought at Rome and elucidates these topics for modern readers.
Written as much for a general audience as for Lucilius, these engaging letters offer advice on how to deal with everything from nosy neighbors to sickness, pain, and death. Above all, Seneca uses the relaxed form of the letter to introduce many major issues in Stoicism, for centuries the most influential philosophical system in the Mediterranean world. His lively and at times humorous explanations have made the Letters his most popular work and an enduring classic. Featuring an astute introduction and explanatory notes, this new edition by Margaret Graver and A. A. Long resituates the Letters on Ethics in the front ranks of world literature.
Synopsis
"It is philosophy that has the duty of protecting us...without it no one can lead a life free of fear or worry."
For several years of his turbulent life, Seneca was the guiding hand of the Roman Empire. His inspired reasoning derived mainly from the Stoic principles, which had originally been developed some centuries earlier in Athens. This selection of Seneca's letters shows him upholding the austere ethical ideals of Stoicism the wisdom of the self-possessed person immune to overmastering emotions and life s setbacks while valuing friendship and the courage of ordinary men, and criticizing the harsh treatment of slaves and the cruelties in the gladiatorial arena. The humanity and wit revealed in Seneca s interpretation of Stoicism is a moving and inspiring declaration of the dignity of the individual mind.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators."
Synopsis
'It is philosophy that has the duty of protecting us ... without it no one can lead a life free of fear or worry'
For several years of his turbulent life, in which he was dogged by ill health, exile and danger, Seneca was the guiding hand of the Roman Empire. This selection of Seneca's letters shows him upholding the ideals of Stoicism - the wisdom of the self-possessed person immune to life's setbacks - while valuing friendship and courage, and criticizing the harsh treatment of slaves and the cruelties in the gladiatorial arena. The humanity and wit revealed in Seneca's interpretation of Stoicism is a moving and inspiring declaration of the dignity of the individual mind.
Selected and translated with an Introduction by Robin Campbell
Synopsis
A new series of beautiful hardcover nonfiction classics, with covers designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith World-changing ideas meet eye-catching design: the best titles of the extraordinarily successful Great Ideas series are now packaged in Coralie Bickford-Smiths distinctive, award-winning covers. Whether on a well-curated shelf or in your back pocket, these timeless works of philosophical, political, and psychological thought are absolute musthaves for book collectors as well as design enthusiasts.
Synopsis
In this volume we find Seneca at his best, and over the centuries countless readers have found his letters on ethics edifying. They range in subject from how to live a Stoic life and retain one's humanity in a cold, impersonal society to why slavery is wrong to the foibles of debauchery. Seneca makes his cases in a sensible, even witty, fashion, usually without a censorious tone. This may well prove the most important volume in the series.
About the Author
Lucius Annaeus Seneca, statesman, philosopher, advocate and man of letters, was born at Cordoba in Spain around 4 BCE. He rose to prominence in Rome, pursuing a career in the courts and political life, for which he had been trained, while also acquiring celebrity as an author of tragedies and essays. Falling foul of successive emperors (Caligula in 39 CE and Claudius in 41 CE), he spent eight years in exile, allegedly for an affair with Caligulas sister. Recalled in 49 CE, he was made praetor and was appointed tutor to the boy who was to become, in 54 CE, the emperor Nero. On Neros succession, Seneca acted for some eight years as an unofficial chief minister. The early part of this reign was remembered as a period of sound government, for which the main credit seems due to Seneca. His control over Nero declined as enemies turned the emperor against him with representations that his popularity made him a danger, or with accusations of immorality or excessive wealth. Retiring from public life he devoted his last three years to philosophy and writing, particularly the Letters to Lucilius. In 65 CE following the discovery of a plot against the emperor, in which he was thought to be implicated, he and many others were compelled by Nero to commit suicide. His fame as an essayist and dramatist lasted until two or three centuries ago, when he passed into literary oblivion, from which the twentieth century has seen a considerable and immensely valuable recovery.
Robin Campbell is a well-known translator.
Table of Contents
Seneca and His World
Introduction to the Letters on Ethics
Letters on Ethics
1 Taking charge of your time
2 A beneficial reading program
3 Trusting one’s friends
4 Coming to terms with death
5 Our inward and outward lives
6 Intimacy within friendship
7 Avoiding the crowd
8 Writing as a form of service
9 Friendship and self-sufficiency
10 Communing with oneself
11 Blushing
12 Visiting a childhood home
13 Anxieties about the future
14 Safety in a dangerous world
15 Exercises for the body and the voice
16 Daily study and practice
17 Saving for retirement
18 The Saturnalia festival
19 The satisfactions of retirement
20 The importance of being consistent
21 How reading can make you famous
22 Giving up a career
23 Real joy is a serious matter
24 Courage in a threatening situation
25 Effective teaching
26 Growing old
27 Real joy depends on real study
28 Travel is no cure for depression
29 A disillusioned friend
30 An Epicurean on his deathbed
31 Our mind’s godlike potential
32 Steadiness of aim
33 The use of philosophical maxims
34 Willingness is the key
35 Learning to be a friend
36 Helping another maintain his commitment
37 Service to philosophy is true freedom
38 Fewer words achieve more
39 Healthy and unhealthy desires
40 Oratory and the philosopher
41 God dwells within us
42 Good people are rare
43 Being the subject of gossip
44 Noble birth
45 A gift of books
46 A book by Lucilius
47 How we treat our slaves
48 Tricks of logic
49 Remembering old times
50 Blindness to one’s own faults
51 The party town of Baiae
52 Good learners and good teachers
53 A bad experience at sea
54 A near-fatal asthma attack
55 Passing the home of a recluse
56 Noisy lodgings above a bathhouse
57 A dark tunnel
58 A conversation about Plato
59 Steadiness of joy
60 Our prayers are all amiss
61 Preparing for death
62 Living the inner life
63 Consolation for the death of a friend
64 Our predecessors in philosophy
65 Some analyses of causation
66 All goods are equal
67 All goods are choiceworthy
68 The uses of retirement
69 Combating one’s faults
70 Ending one’s own life
71 Life’s highest good
72 Finding time for study
73 Gratitude toward rulers
74 Only the honorable is good
75 What it means to make progress
76 Some proofs that only the honorable is good
77 Facing death with courage
78 Coping with bodily pain
79 A trip around Sicily brings thoughts of glory
80 A quiet day at home
81 Gratitude for benefits received
82 Syllogisms cannot make us brave
83 Heavy drinking
84 The writer’s craft
85 Some objections to Stoic ethics
86 The rustic villa of Scipio Africanus
87 Poverty and wealth
88 The liberal arts
89 The divisions of philosophy
90 The beginnings of civilization
91 A terrible fire at Lyon
92 What we need for happiness
93 A premature death
94 The role of precepts in philosophy
95 The role of general principles
96 Complaints
97 A trial in the time of Cicero
98 The power of the mind
99 Consolation for the death of a child
100 A book by Papirius Fabianus
101 A sudden death
102 Renown and immortality
103 Those we meet may be dangerous to us
104 Why travel cannot set you free
105 How to avoid being harmed by other people
106 The corporeal nature of the good
107 An unexpected misfortune
108 Vegetarianism and the use of literature
109 Mutual aid among the wise
110 False fears and mistaken ideas of wealth
111 What we lose with our tricks of logic
112 A difficult pupil
113 Is a virtue an animate creature?
114 A debased style of eloquence
115 Fine language will not help us
116 The Stoic view of emotion
117 Propositions and incorporeals
118 A proper definition for the human good
119 Natural wealth
120 How we develop our concept of the good
121 Self-awareness in animate creatures
122 The hours of day and night
123 Resisting external influences
124 The criterion for the human good
Fragments of other letters
Notes
Textual Notes
References
Index