Epictetus' Practical Advice

In this post, I discuss some of the specific examples of concrete advice Epictetus uses.

Kant Vocab

Here is a post where I discuss some vocabulary from Kant's text.  Stay strong, people!

Epictetus's Basic Argument

Here I link to a previous post about the basic argument in Epictetus' Handbook. 

Yet Another Song about Stillness

Peace and quiet seem to be very valuable to Plato.  Epictetus will similarly value calm and stillness.  In fact, Epictetus will say that the goal in life is to be calm and serene.  In this song, the narrator talks about her efforts to bring herself that quietude and peace.  Unfortunately, her efforts to understand the world in a logical way are unsuccessful.  The song text, originally in German, is translated (by me) below:

Prologue: "Daily I talk to myself about my life as if it were a subway system map.  Out of above without no floor, without silence, restless, never without advice, never speechless.  I only lack the words...

"I try to explain to myself the world as if it were between two points on a line, as if words divided the world into stripes.  I grasp but I do not apprehend.   What use are my hands to me when what they touch disappears just as things become mute and silence is wrested from them when words are found? 

I am no stiller.  I only fail to have the words.  I am no stiller, only the words fail to reach their goal.  I am no stiller.  I would enjoy so much to be silent, and still, so much stiller and only to show things and to be shown, still and dazzling.

I try to explain to myself the world as if it were between two cable lines, as if the words could only be stripes according to which I grasp and yet cannot apprehend. 

What use are beautiful thoughts which sink between everything else?  Because the heart is the sinker of all thoughts.  Because everything that you find is gone."    

Whereas the narrator in this song is unable to find an underlying logical structure in her world, Epictetus is able to find his peace and quiet because he believes that the world is ordered in a just way.  The narrator expresses a desire for "stripes according to which I grasp and yet cannot apprehend".  When reading Epictetus, consider how he might use a simile like this to explain the universe.  Does he think that the world is divided up into neat little stripes which although we may grasp, we do not apprehend?

Rhymesayers on Romance and Serenity

If you like good rap and hip hop (and I mean, like, actually good), or if you just like good music in general, I highly recommend artists from
Rhymesayers Entertainment.  As it turns out, many tracks of these socially and self-aware artists relate to themes, questions and issues from the class.

In this track, "551", modern rapper, writer and philosopher Dessa (of the Doomtree collective) contemplates the ways we try to bring ourselves calm and quiet.  Two themes emerge in this track: love and drugs.

How would Socrates respond to a song like this?  Would he think that the kind of peace that people gain from romantic relationships or martinis is valuable?

To help think of reasons why one should perhaps not depend on a romantic relationship to bring serenity, check out this track from Grieves, another artist on the Rhymesayers label.  In this track, called, "Scar Gardens", the narrator warns a romantic partner, 'I am not your paradise'.

I Know it's not Christmas Time, But...

Many of us will recognize the classic Christmas song "Silent Night" (originally written in German).  This song seems to celebrate some of the same values that Plato finds important: being still, silent and peaceful.  Plato praises sleep for being a time of quiet and peace.  Unlike waking hours, which can be full of hazards and harms, dreamless sleep in particular is completely void of any upset, dismay, pain or discomfort.

Recall how Crito seems envious of Socrates' peaceful sleep.  Also recall that Socrates thinks that a dreamless sleep may be very similar to death insofar as both are a total lack of perception.

Give me Free Food or Give me Death

In these two posts, I discuss Socrates counter-assessment of an appropriate punishment and his thoughts on death. 

Apology Day 1

In this post, I outline Socrates' general strategy at his trial.  In short, he gives a very defiant defense of his life.