Reading Group on Stoicism (Post #1)
Marcus Aurelius
Meditations (BOOKS 1-4 summary)
This autumn I am running a reading group on Stoicism for the
Philosophy Meetup Kingston group. We are
starting with Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations (available here ).
Marcus Aurelius (MA) was also a Stoic philosopher and Roman
emperor during the second century.
For some of the historical background on MA, there is this
interesting BBC interview here.
While I have some general sense of stoicism as a philosophy,
I have not (before this reading group started) read any of the primary sources.
So I look forward to learning more about
these thinkers over the coming months.
In this series of blog posts I offer some reflections to
help the Meetup group focus on specific parts of the assigned reading, along
with some interactive exercises to get us to critically engage with
Stoicism. I am really looking forward to
our series on Stoicism. Below is a brief
summary of some points from Books I-IV of Meditations
Book I
This chapter is entitled “Debts and Lessons” and it lists
people in MA’s life that have taught him valuable life lessons.
Not only does he name a lengthy list of specific people, but
he expands upon the particular life lesson(s) they have taught him. Most of the examples express praise and
gratitude for the positive examples in his life, but some also mention the
lessons he learned from the shortcomings of others. I think this testifies to the depth and
sophistication of his observations and critical reflection. It also brings attention to a central insight/tenant
of Stoic philosophy- that it is our beliefs/perceptions about things (e.g.
people, the world, etc.) that shape our life experiences (both positive and
negative experiences). It is important
to note that, so we don’t simply take our internal world to be an accurate or
authoritative reflection of the reality of the external world.
When we train our mind to form healthy and productive habits
of mind- by amplifying the significance of the positives and framing the
negatives in a more helpful fashion- we can actually alter our experiences of
life in dramatic ways compared to what they are when we adopt an unhealthy and
unproductive mindset. So we need to
become conscious of the way our mind functions, of the (often unconscious)
patterns we employ (e.g. trying to control what can’t be controlled, or
ignoring important life lessons when they are clearly presented to us).
It is worth noting that MA’s Meditations was written as
his own personal diary notes. It was not
written as something intended for publication as a book for public
viewing. So the very act of writing down
his reflections for his own record demonstrates his self-awareness that (1) the
human mind has the potential to run off in different directions (both good and
bad), but also (2) with knowledge and self-discipline, the mind can be
consciously steered forward in a positive direction.
Here are just a few examples of the “Debts and Lessons” from
Book I:
1.
MY GRANDFATHER VERUS: Character and
self-control.
2.
MY FATHER (FROM MY OWN MEMORIES AND HIS
REPUTATION): Integrity and manliness.
3. MY MOTHER: Her reverence for
the divine, her generosity, her inability not only to do wrong but even to
conceive of doing it. And the simple way she lived—not in the least like the
rich.
5. MY FIRST TEACHER: Not to
support this side or that in chariot-racing, this fighter or that in the games.
To put up with discomfort and not make demands. To do my own work, mind my own
business, and have no time for slanderers.
9. SEXTUS: Kindness. An example
of fatherly authority in the home. What it means to live as nature requires… To
show intuitive sympathy for friends, tolerance to amateurs and sloppy thinkers.
His ability to get along with everyone: sharing his company was the highest of
compliments, and the opportunity an honor for those around him…To praise
without bombast; to display expertise without pretension.
11. FRONTO: To recognize the
malice, cunning, and hypocrisy that power produces, and the peculiar
ruthlessness often shown by people from “good families.”
12. ALEXANDER THE PLATONIST: Not
to be constantly telling people (or writing them) that I’m too busy, unless I
really am. Similarly, not to be always ducking my responsibilities to the
people around me because of “pressing business.
13. CATULUS: Not to shrug off a
friend’s resentment—even unjustified resentment—but try to put things right.
17. THE GODS: [This is a lengthy
one, and an expression of MA’s gratitude for his parents, siblings, wife and
children.]
As an exercise to mimic the intellectual skills MA exercises
in Book I, I recommend we each try to think of two family members
that have taught us a very important life lesson. It could be a parent, sibling, child, aunt,
cousin, etc. Prepare your thoughts so
that you are comfortable sharing the details of at least one (or both) example(s)
with the group. What did this person
teach you? How did you come to observe
this life lesson from them? Did they
regularly perform certain actions, or display certain character strengths? Or perhaps weaknesses and mistakes? This is
the same exercise we did in the “Philosophy of Education” meetup in August,
when I asked people to think of one important teacher in their life. But this time we are doing it to a family
member.
Book 2
A prominent theme of MA and stoicism is “presentism”-
observing and attending to the “here and now” vs letting the mind wander
aimlessly in the past or ruminate about an uncontrollable future. MA provides the following instructions to
help us control the gaze of our mind:
Concentrate every minute like a
Roman—like a man—on doing what’s in front of you with precise and genuine
seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice. And on freeing yourself from
all other distractions. Yes, you can—if you do everything as if it were the
last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting
your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical,
self-centered, irritable. You see how few things you have to do to live a
satisfying and reverent life? If you can manage this, that’s all even the gods
can ask of you.
We can
often get sidetracked in life by fixating on the frustrations of life- our
dealings with people that are inconsiderate, arrogant, gossipy, rude, etc. MA recommends we adopt the perspective that
such people have not seen the beauty of good, and rather than feel anger or
hurt towards such persons we should accept that it is part of the natural order
that there are such people (it cannot be avoided, but at the same time it
should not be considered an obstruction, it is just life). MA remarks about such people as follows:
We were born to work together
like feet, hands, and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper and lower. To
obstruct each other is unnatural.
The
existence of life’s annoyances, and even the evil in the world, is just part of
life, claims MA. Chance is also part of
nature. He explains:
The world is maintained by
change—in the elements and in the things they compose. That should be enough
for you; treat it as an axiom. Discard your thirst for books, so that you won’t
die in bitterness, but in cheerfulness and truth, grateful to the gods from the
bottom of your heart.
I have mixed minds about what I think MA is prescribing here. I certainly agree adopting a mindset of acceptance is necessary for our achieving some sense of peace in this life (some might recall the reading group we did on acceptance and commitment therapy here and here ). There will always be unfortunate events and bad people in life. That simply is (part of) life. However, we can also act in the world to at least mitigate certain bad events (e.g. wearing a seat belt doesn’t eliminate the chance of a car accident, but it does improve the odds of survival and less injury should this even arise). As for the thirst for books, again, I believe it is a question of proportionality. To me there are two extremes- the fool who never consults a book (e.g. driving a car without any knowledge of the rules of the road is folly), and the overcontrolling neurotic that never goes out on the road but instead sits in their car re-reading the handbook on driving safely but never “does”. There is a time for reading and studying, and there is a time for action and accepting serendipity and risk in life. The challenge can be observing if our attitudes and actions have gone awry and making the necessary correction without negative judgement about ourselves. I think it is something we all must constantly work and re-work.
MA reminds us that our mortality can serve as a useful corrective to the aimless mind, though it is predicated on a belief that the gods exist (I think we can replace this with some secular understanding on our simply being part of something bigger than ourselves, which provides the sense of purpose and meaning that motivates and gets us out of bed every morning). He claims:
You could leave life right now.
Let that determine what you do and say and think. If the gods exist, then to
abandon human beings is not frightening; the gods would never subject you to
harm. And if they don’t exist, or don’t care what happens to us, what would be
the point of living in a world without gods or Providence? But they do exist,
they do care what happens to us, and everything a person needs to avoid real
harm they have placed within him. If there were anything harmful on the other
side of death, they would have made sure that the ability to avoid it was
within you. If it doesn’t harm your character, how can it harm your life?
The themes
of death, mortality and god are recurring ones in MA’s Meditations. Feel free to share any reflections you have
with these themes with the group as we could spend time discussing and debating
any of those themes (and no doubt will in future meetings). I found the following passage one of the more
profound comments in this book, worthy of our focusing on and digging a bit
deeper:
14. Even if you’re going to
live three thousand more years, or ten times that, remember: you cannot lose
another life than the one you’re living now, or live another one than the one
you’re losing. The longest amounts to the same as the shortest. The present is
the same for everyone; its loss is the same for everyone; and it should be
clear that a brief instant is all that is lost. For you can’t lose either the
past or the future; how could you lose what you don’t have?
MA then gets to the crux of stoicism with his reflections on
the human condition and the role of philosophy.
17. Human life. Duration:
momentary. Nature: changeable. Perception: dim. Condition of Body: decaying.
Soul: spinning around. Fortune: unpredictable. Lasting Fame: uncertain. Sum Up:
The body and its parts are a river, the soul a dream and mist, life is warfare
and a journey far from home, lasting reputation is oblivion. Then what can
guide us? Only philosophy.
How can philosophy help us navigate the changeable world, a
world where our bodies are decaying and souls spinning and our luck is
unpredictable? Our capacity for
philosophy is described by MA as “a power from within”, and something that is
superior to pleasure and pain. Death he claims
is natural, and nothing natural can be evil.
Book 3
Section 5 of this
chapter details how to act:
5. How to act: Never under compulsion, out of selfishness, without forethought, with misgivings. Don’t gussy up your thoughts. No surplus words or unnecessary actions. Let the spirit in you represent a man, an adult, a citizen, a Roman, a ruler. Taking up his post like a soldier and patiently awaiting his recall from life. Needing no oath or witness. Cheerfulness. Without requiring other people’s help. Or serenity supplied by others. To stand up straight—not straightened.
There is a lot to unpack here, some I certainly agree with (e.g. act selflessly, with forethought and no misgivings) and others I have some misgivings about (e.g. not requiring other people’shelp).
Book 4
Other central themes in Stoicism, especially MA’s Meditations,
is cultivating the cognitive and emotional flexibility to “pivot” as adversity
and challenging life circumstances arise.
MA starts book 4 with some reflections on this point:
1. Our inward power, when it
obeys nature, reacts to events by accommodating itself to what it faces—to what
is possible. It needs no specific material. It pursues its own aims as
circumstances allow; it turns obstacles into fuel. As a fire overwhelms what
would have quenched a lamp. What’s thrown on top of the conflagration is
absorbed, consumed by it—and makes it burn still higher.
This raises the interesting predicament of what the proper
attitude should be to challenging life circumstances. On the one hand, the thrust of what MA seems
to be suggesting (at least in this passage) is to just accept those things,
“turning obstacles into fuel”. This
strikes me as sage when applied to certain types of adversity (e.g. you lose a
job, or a relationship ends, etc. and you need to move on in a positive
direction), but I think there is a danger of it being applied in a cavalier way,
such that you don’t take any responsibility or moral duty to try to prevent
hazards that are ameliorable to human action.
For example, imagine a smoker who opines “I won’t quite smoking, if I
get lung cancer I get lung cancer! If so
then it was nature’s command and meant to be regardless of what I do”. While I see the potential benefit in the
Stoic’s zest to translate adversity into a positive vehicle for growth, I also
see the danger of what is called “adaptive preference formation”. Someone might simply accept the exploitation
and injustice of their society, or a relationship, taking the attitude that
trying to change things is futile and runs counter to the “obey nature” or
“going within” mantras. There is a real
risk that a society of Stoics would not be capable of making significant
progress against societal problems and injustice. Granted some of these issues might be less
prevalent in a society composed of Stoics, but I think there is an a tension here worthy of further
discussion.
And book 4 finishes with this powerful and provocative
statement:
In short, know this: Human
lives are brief and trivial. Yesterday a blob of semen; tomorrow embalming
fluid, ash. To pass through this brief life as nature demands. To give it up
without complaint. Like an olive that ripens and falls. Praising its mother, thanking
the tree it grew on.
To be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it.
What are your thoughts on these comments?
Should be an interesting discussion. Looking forward to the meeting!
Cheers,
Colin
posted by Colin Farrelly at 9:01 AM
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