Advise to a Serious Man, Essay Example

In face of bad events, Epicurus would suggest that the character stops fearing them. By preventing fear towards absolute evil, which for man is ultimately defined as death, he can better enjoy pleasure and have satisfaction. After all, the philosopher deems that fear of death is nothing more than pain whilst waiting for it and that death is really irrelevant to either the living or the dead. For those living it has yet to come and shouldn’t be of concern (Epicurus; 82). The limitation of fear and concern will allow for the better balance between pain and pleasure which are important coexistent powers driving the ethical man (Epicurus; 186).Epictetus could also suggest limitation of concern but on different terms. For Epictetus there are events in life that cannot be controlled or altered by man and any attempt to explain them or address them is pointless when accepting that God is responsible. There are situations where God allows us to act through will and choice whilst others are inevitable (Epictetus; An irregular ode – III and IV). Furthermore for Epictetus the act of stoicism is enough to limit the effect of bad emotions as a result of any event (Epictetus; An irregular ode – IX). Stoicism is defined as acting with morals and intellect in order to limit negative emotions stemming from erroneous actions and events (Baltzly). So are the events unimportant or inevitable?

Being a ‘good’ and being a ‘serious’ man should better be viewed separately by the main character in terms of self-evaluation. According to Epicurus ‘seriousness’ is what allows a man to be ethical through his ability to know his desires and therefore act in a way that pleasures will surpass his pains. Nevertheless the pains have to coexist with the pleasures and cannot simply be completely eradicated. Without pains, pleasures would also by definition be inexistent since they offer no remedy from a counterpart (Rist; 100, 108 and 115). On the other hand if goodness is to be defined by means other than ‘ethos through pleasure’ and the Epicurean view, then it would be defined by altruism, compassion, giving, humility and rationale. All of which fall in the domain of the divine, free will and in the act of giving. This is the ethical man of Epictetus, where an individual has a responsibility towards others and where ‘will’ allows men to control their desires and achieve real happiness through sympathy and unselfishness (Dole; iii and iv). This form of the disciplined mind is one controlling its desires and offering to the community (as would be expected in the world of God). In his attempt to find a solution and to understand his predicament, the character will only reach an impasse if he tries to address his issues by the teachings of either philosopher or with the teachings of them both together. What the character should decide is whether he attributes happiness to the state of one’s self or to the state of his social surrounding. Just like the dichotomy existent between teachings of different religions, the teachings of Epicurus and Epictetus differ in terms of how one chooses to view life and how one chooses to achieve happiness. Is it the evaluation of one’s self where the events become unimportant and happiness should be achieved through mental peace and pleasure, or are the events simply unavoidable but in order to diminish their impact one must act morally and rationally towards society? In any case the events should not be deemed as unjust results of one’s actions and character but rather be given no notice as they are either unimportant or inevitable.

References

Baltzly, Dirk. Stoicism. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 1996 and rev. 2010. December15, 2012. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/stoicism/

Dole, Nathan Haskell. The Breviary Treasures. Boston: Privately Boston MCMIII. 1904.

Epictetus, Epictetus. The works of Epictetus, consisting of his discourses, in four books, the Enchiridion, and fragments. Trans. Elizabeth Carter. Dublin: Printed for Hulton Bradley, bookseller, at the King’s-Arms and Two Bibles, in Dame-street , 1770.

Epicurus. Epicurus’s Morals Translated from the Greek by John Digby, Esq: With Comments and Reflections Also Isocrates His Advice to Demonicus to Which Is Added, an Essay on Epicurus’s Morals Written by Monsieur St Evremont. Trans. John Digby. London: Sam Briscoe, 1712.

Juwono, Ben. POST 2: EPICURUS VS EPICTETUS. July 13, 2004. December 15, 2012. http://phil12.blogspot.co.uk/2004/07/post-2-epicurus-vs-epictetus.html

Rist, John M. Epicurus: An Introduction. London: Cambridge University Press, 1972