Philosophy Today: Are We Missing the Practical Wisdom of Epictetus' Manual?

Philosophy

Jul 5

There are things that depend on us - and there are also things that do not depend on us. What depends on us are our judgments, our tendencies, our desires, our aversions: in a word, all the acts and deeds of our inmost being. What does not depend on us is our body, our wealth, our celebrity, our power; in short, all the acts and deeds that in no way constitute us.
Epictetus

What is philosophy? Nowadays, there are different conceptions and approaches to philosophy. Philosophies multiplied and became highly specialized. But what was philosophy? We can answer this question by looking at Stoic philosophy, using as a specific example, the Epictetus Manual.

According to the sources we have, Stoicism emerged in Ancient Greece around the 3rd century BC. Zeno is considered its founder. The fundamental principle of this thought is to act in accordance with nature. And this action is characterized by behaving in a wise and virtuous way. To this purpose, it is necessary for each person to do a constant spiritual exercise in order not to be submitted to the variations and vices of the soul, thus finding balance. The main goal of this practice is to achieve happiness in life. From this point of view, philosophy serves not only as an intellectual exercise but as a meditative and practical goal: it is a tool to guide us in our daily lives. This philosophical conception is a boundary zone in which spirituality, ethics, and action are very close and where happiness is a steady state integrated into nature without destabilizing physical or psychological disturbances. There are not many texts left from this philosophical school. And, as scholar Jean-Joel Duhot points out, there was a strong oral tradition in Ancient Greece. The most important thing was not to write books but, firstly, to think and, eventually, write something down.

Not much information about Epictetus has reached us. It is estimated that he was born around the year 50 AD and that he died between 125 and 130 AD in Phrygia, present-day Turkey. We believe he was born a slave. Having served Epaphroditus in Rome for some years, he was eventually freed by his master and studied at Musonius’ school. Epictetus taught in different places but, as far as we know, he has not written anything. What has reached us are notes taken by one of his disciples, Arrianus. The Epictetus Manual is a book that, in fact, was not written. It contains a collection of thoughts and reflections taken from Epictetus’ Conversations.

Epictetus’ philosophy is framed within the Stoic tradition. As philosopher Pierre Hadot states, “for the Stoic Epictetus, the meaning of our existence resides in this contemplation: we have been placed on Earth in order to contemplate divine creation, and we must not die before we have witnessed its marvels and lived in harmony with nature”. The main goal is the internal coherence of the individual and its transformation: freeing the spirit from what binds it and cultivating the self in accordance with nature. Epictetus himself lived a deprived life and in his thoughts, he calls for a moderate and austere life and criticizes the excesses and greed that do not bring us happiness but rather disturb the spirit.

The Epictetus Manual, in particular, represents an example of a philosophy that is, ultimately, a possible guide for our daily life. The main lessons are based, primarily, on self-control and on the distinction between what depends on us and what does not depend on us. Other given lessons are: nothing belongs to us; we must distrust ourselves; we must be moderate and find the right measure; we must accept contingencies; we must take care of ourselves and work on self-knowledge. And to make this concrete, we must reflect and meditate every day on our actions and try to adjust them in a moderate way of living in order to achieve happiness.

Looking at Epictetus’ philosophy, we can identify philosophy as a constant practice of self-reflection and contemplation; a practice that seeks improvement in our daily life. This means, establishing rules and knowing how to comply with them, in other words, having discipline.

This approach to philosophy reminds us of the “personal development books” that we find in our bookshops today and which are, in fact, undervalued by the academic public (In fact, I recently visited a bookstore where I discovered the Epictetus Manual specifically in this section). I do not intend to evaluate literary genres here but, regardless of the literary quality of the contents of these books, there is indeed something in common with Stoic philosophy and personal development books: they seek to be practical guides for people who need to reflect on their lives and potentially find resolutions. Ultimately, for those who want to find happiness. Nevertheless, of course, there is a huge gap between our book market today and the book culture from Ancient times. Many of those books are written today with only one purpose: to sell. And this is not at all the Stoic approach to life. Despite that, by looking once again at the Epictetus Manual one may ask if there is something missing from philosophy today, something that in other times was important. We should never forget that the strength of philosophy is, precisely, to be human, and not an exact science.