Reading Group
5:30pm – 7:00pm, October 1, 8, & 15
All undergraduate and graduate students are warmly welcome.
Providence or Atoms? Marcus Aurelius’s “Meditations”
Once we have a basic picture of what the good life is, how do we put it into practice? How does it work in the day-to-day? Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD) was a Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher who reflected deeply on how to live out his philosophy. In his Meditations, we see Marcus try to work on his vices and become a better person and ruler. In the process, he also wrestles with bigger questions, bringing his answers to bear on his life circumstances. First, “ethical” questions: To what extent is the happy or blessed person impervious to misfortune? Is virtue the only good thing, or should we also love things that—unlike virtue—can be taken away from us? Connected with these topics are more “cosmic” questions that interested Marcus and the Stoics: what is the nature of the universe? Is it simply a product of chance, resulting from the collision of atoms in a void, or is the world a purposive whole, where nothing—not even horrible misfortune—escapes the plans of the Deity? In other words: Providence or Atoms? Marcus and the Stoics favor Providence: since we humans are parts of a much larger whole—a whole which is well-governed and far superior to us—blessedness must consist in subordinating ourselves to this larger whole.
Led by Michael Lang (Ph.D. Candidate)
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