Walking at the Same Pace: On the Relevance of Clarity in Epictetus’ Teaching and Its Models (original) (raw)
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THE PHILOSOPHER WHO CAN NO LONGER PLAY: SOCRATES IN EPICTETUS' " DISCOURSES "
Socrates, the poised, imperturbable and austere figure incarnating the ideal philosopher in Epictetus' " Discourses, " inherits however of an intriguingly complex tradition going back to his own lifetime that mixed solemnity and play. At a first glance it would seem that there are no traces left in Epictetus of this second important component of the Socratic figure. This is all the more surprising when considering that he drew most of his Socratic material from Plato. This paper aims at investigating Socrates' image in the " Discourses " to understand why and how this selection was operated. Two factors receive treatment: the distance in time that encourages anachronism and Epictetus' perception of childhood and play.
Robert F. Dobbin, Epictetus: Discourses. Book 1. Translation and commentary.
Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 1999
Dobbin’s main contention is that while Adolph Bonhöffer’s two books “continue to be valuable, because his method was mainly sound” (xiv), Bonhöffer went too far in trying to make Epictetus’s thought conform in all respects to that of Zeno and Chrysippus. Epictetus’s teacher Musonius Rufus, Cynicism, and Panaetius’s emphasis on social roles also shaped Epictetus’s philosophy, Dobbin contends, but not as pervasively as Plato and Socrates. Dobbin also sees Epictetus attacking both Skeptics and neo-Aristotelians by appropriating concepts from their philosophies and putting them to use in his own polemics. The commentary is generally excellent. But despite the dust jacket’s claim to the contrary, it frequently assumes knowledge of Greek and Latin (and sometimes French) and would be difficult for the average undergraduate to use. Both novice readers and scholars of Epictetus will welcome this volume. They can hope, perhaps, that eventually commentaries of comparable quality will be written on the other three books of the Discourses.
REASON, EDUCATION AND LACK OF FEAR IN EPICTETUS' DISCOURSES
In the present paper, I argue that the Stoic view of the world, based on reason (λόγος) and providence (πρόνοια) – which complement each other – had a massive influence on Epictetus' conception of fear. Thus, fear is generally treated in his works as one of the most common manifestations of errors in logic. Fear without an explicitly named agent, fear of the decay of the body or diseases, of the tyrant or the loss of property and means, as well as fear with respect to family, or friends, and especially regarding one's own death can be reduced to the lack of adequate knowledge that ultimately leads to errors of judgment.
Stoic rhetoric between technique and philosophy : the example of Diogenes of Babylon
F. Woerther (éd.), Literary and Philosophical Rhetoric in the Greek, Roman, Syriac, and Arabic Worlds, Hildesheim, Olms, 2009, p. 95-117
Sophie Aubert (Paris XIII University) : « Stoic rhetoric between technique and philosophy : the example of Diogenes of Babylon » If rhetoric is rarely mentioned in ancient testimonies concerning the philosophers of the Stoa (at least the founders of the school), it plays a substantial part in the general organisation of the system. It is defined as a τέχνη, as shown by Chrysippus' definition, transmitted by Plutarch in his treatise On Stoic Self-contradictions : it is indeed « an art concerned with the ornaments of continuous speech and with its arrangement 1 ». Thus the scholarch gives precepts to the progressor, and not only to the Sage, who is the sole owner of the oratorical ἐπιστήμη. That is why Plutarch offers a longer and more detailed definition than the succinct formula « rhetoric is the science of speaking well ». It is followed immediately by comments on the ornamentation of speech or on its delivery 2 , and mirrors the efforts the Stoics made in order to anchor their philosophical theories in reality, and to take into account the concrete situations the learning orators eager to apply Stoic rhetorical doctrine had to face.
Sophist, Aristotle, and Stoic: Three Concepts of Ancient Rhetoric
Studia Gilsoniana, 2022
This study examines the concepts of rhetoric used in ancient times, using a process of research based upon “Interpretivist Research Philosophy”. Common thinking among rhetoricians and philosophers in general argues that one concept of rhetoric was utilized. This paper argues that there were at least three concepts of rhetoric known in Antiquity. Each was unique in its own right and contributed to what was to be a new body of knowledge. Research conclusions stem from a study of the works of ancient authors, including Plato and Aristotle, and from schools of philosophies, including the writings of Stoics and Sophists. The reviewed literature supports the thesis presented in this paper that at least three concepts of rhetoric were known and used.
Epictetus: Discourses, Fragments, Handbook, newly translated by Robin Hard and commented by Christopher Gill, is the newest English rendering of the famous Stoic. This Oxford World's Classic version is based on the 1925 Oldfather Loeb Greek text and not a revision of any English edition. Overall, Oxford World's Classics' recent English offering of Epictetus' corpus is a tastefully thorough rendition of the Imperial Roman philosopher's contribution to classical culture. This book could appropriately find itself into an undergraduate survey of ancient philosophy, a Roman culture course, or even onto an aspiring graduate student's bookshelf as an introduction to one of the big names of antiquity.
The Three Faces of Greek and Aristotelian Rhetoric
European Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2017
The need for the persuasion is often informed by a dire or grave situation which one needs to wriggle out from. Persuasion may also be necessitated by a person’s disposition to a subject, development, or topic in view. The art of persuasion through speech is what scholars, ancient and modern, call rhetoric or oratory. The Greek traditional theorists, who invented rhetoric, divided the art into three types: the judicial (dicanic or forensic), the deliberative (symbouleutic) and the demonstrative (epideictic). Broadly, Greek rhetoric also has a tripartite part: invention, arrangement and style. Similarly, by Aristotelian theory, rhetoric is the art of persuasion which functions by three means: by appeal to people’s reason (logos); by the appeal to their emotions (pathos) and by the appeal of the speaker’s personality or character (ethos). What exactly did the Greeks and, indeed, Aristotle mean by these terms and their functions? This paper, while highlighting the general conception of the Greek rhetoric and its three-way nature, surveys the Aristotelian tripartite division and functionality of rhetoric through a simple method of content analysis of selected ancient and modern texts. It submits that a rhetor (rhetorician/orator) is not firm in his trade if he does not artfully possess and execute the Aristotelian three modes of persuasion in contexts of necessity or grave situations. Keywords: Greek rhetoric, oratory, Aristotle, ethos, pathos, logs.
On The Disciplines--Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius
Epictetus’ Enchiridion opens with “Of things some are in our power, and others are not. In our power are opinion, movement toward a thing, desire, aversion (turning from a thing)…; not in our power are the body, property, reputation, offices” . He distinguishes actions that one can call their own and actions one cannot, respectively. Hadot in The Inner Citadel identifies the actions within one’s power as the disciplines of desire, action, and assent. Though the ideas presented in the disciplines, sometimes called fields of study, are not new ideas to Stoicism, it is Epictetus who formulates them as aforementioned. , In writing Meditations, Marcus Aurelius had an opportunity to reflect and to strengthen his ideology and even discussed ideas from other schools of philosophy, e.g. whether the world operated based on Epicurus’ atomism or the Stoic understanding of the Universe—“Either a stew, an intricate web, and dispersal into atoms: or unity, order, and providence” . Epictetus’ Disciplines can be seen as a tool to assist in one’s personal development in line with Stoicism. The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyze Epictetus’ Three Disciplines, based on the texts Enchiridion and Discourses, and to identify Epictetus’ influence on Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations.