CLASSIC 20 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Political Philosophy, Gladiator, Ataraxia
Document Summary
Stoicism: founder: zeno, goal: virtue, improve towards virtue, teachings: c. i. Bad because they can distract you or derail you from virtue c. ii. We"re related to god because each human being has a bit of divine in him or her. Epicureanism: current meaning: absolute indulgence, founder: epicurus (greek, goal: ataraxia c. i. State of not being disturbed or anxious c. ii. The fact that the goal is negative has to do with the political situation (repressive monarchies) best you can hope for is to not have fear: teachings: d. i. Says that all matter is made up of atoms. Form of writing: plato dialogues, aristotle treatises/essays, seneca letters c. i. Advantage of letters is that it is more personal (first-person), informal c. ii. The fact that he"s writing them to his friend lucilius (only one person) contributes to the fact that it"s personal c. iii. Seneca"s themes: friendship, death, virtue, fear/anxiety, crowds = corrupting influence. Improve readers" lives and his own life a. i.
