Lessons in Stoicism: What Ancient Philosophers Teach Us about How to Live

by John Sellars

In the Discourses, Epictetus is quite clear about what his role is as a philosopher. The philosopher, he says, is a doctor, and the philosopher’s school is a hospital – a hospital for souls. When Epictetus defined philosophy in this way he was following a well-established Greek philosophical tradition that extended back at least to Socrates. In Plato’s early dialogues, Socrates had argued that the task of the philosopher is to take care of one’s soul, just as a physician takes care of one’s body. By ‘soul’ we ought not to assume anything immaterial, immortal or supernatural. Instead in this context we should understand it simply as mind, thoughts and beliefs.

The official Stoic view is that there is a rational principle within Nature, responsible for its order and animation. They call this ‘God’ (Zeus), but it is not a person, and nothing supernatural – it simply is Nature. Nature isn’t blind and chaotic; it is ordered and beautiful, with its own rhythms and patterns. It is not composed of dead matter; it is a single living organism, of which we are all parts.

Around fifty years after Seneca was writing, Epictetus reflected on life and death with his students in Nicopolis. In the records of those discussions Epictetus repeatedly describes life as a gift, something that has been given to us, but equally something that can be taken away. It does not belong to us but instead to the giver, Nature. Addressing this higher power, he says: Now you want me to leave the fair, so I go, feeling nothing but gratitude for having been allowed to share with you in the celebration. Life is an event, like a fair or a party, and like all such events it must come to an end. It is up to us whether we thank the host for a good time or bemoan the fact that it cannot go on for longer.