Seneca,

It’s entirely possible that I am guilty of “blue car syndrome,” yet I still find myself surprised to find evidence of ascetic training in your Letters.

“The frail body, also, even though we can accomplish nothing without it, is to be regarded as necessary rather than as important; it involves us in vain pleasures, short-lived, and soon to be regretted, which, unless they are reined in by extreme self-control, will be transformed into the opposite.”

Of course, the “Cynic holiday” is your as well, but the issue comes when those of us in my time look back at one of the wealthiest men in the empire, and extols so highly frugality and simple living.  It appears to many to be a contradiction.

When Diogenes tells us from his barrel the same, it has a certain authority which is lacking when heard in the villa retreat.  Ah well, this is more our problem than it is yours.

The more and more I read, the firmer becomes my thesis that you classic Stoics require an austere ascetic regimen as part of training, and then as a part of life.  I’m reading elsewhere the Fragments of Zeno and Cleanthes, and in the introduction, the author states that Zeno’s “frugal” diet was determined by detractors to be on account of his weak digestion.  The author editorializes, however, and states that philosophical motivations are likely just as much the cause.

Many moderns discount what we left of the early Stoa as being “on the tail of the dog,” as if this is argument enough to cast aside the very foundations of the school!  If it is under closer influence of the Cynic school, what of it?  That doesn’t make it wrong.  In fact, it might be closer to the truth.  Epictetus deems the calling of the Cynic as ordained by God, and the hardest charge possible to be given.

It may be that the cultural attitudes of the west are more similar to that of Rome than they are of Greece, esp. those who even then were pushing the envelope.  It’s much more comforting to discount an entire branch (the foundation, no less) as “too Cynic,” when such a discounting protects us from all manner of difficulties, labors, and obligations.

My thoughts have been heavily towards this bent the past few weeks, and receiving your Letters titled “On the futility of half-way measures” and the content of this one seems fortuitous.

Farewell.

Part of Michel Daw’s Reading Plan of Seneca’s Letters.

Seneca,

Your point today on how we handle “future” philosophy is well taken.  It is an easy and all too common excuse to put off what we know we should do for some later date, but as you said, “Men do not care how nobly they live, but only how long, although it is within the reach of every man to live nobly, but within no man’s power to live long.”

There is certainly motivation enough in the words of the classic Stoics, but most of us are too frightened to embrace them wholesale.  Indeed, we do all manner of mental gymnastics to try and justify to ourselves that we can cut out whole chunks of it, and be left with something just as valuable.

But that’s not the case, is it?

Indeed, no.  In fact, the lie that we can remove the hardship, or (even worse yet) that they Stoics didn’t mean what they said meant, and still have Stoicism proper is the common stance today.  I, too, know what I need to do.  But I’m putting it off, fiddling about with half-way measures and excuses, distracting myself with studies and readings.

It is fair to say I’ve made some progress, myself.  But that progress has been stalled, or plateaued for some time.  Maybe, even, it has slipped back somewhat in the past couple months.  I need a firm kick in the butt, some focus and motivation.

Seven weeks into our letters, and I’ve seen it a number of times.  Yet… still stalled.

Farewell.

Part of Michel Daw’s Reading Plan of Seneca’s Letters.

Seneca,

“From business, however, my dear Lucilius, it is easy to escape,
if only you will despise the rewards of business.”

That’s the crux of it, isn’t it?  It’s pretty easy to talk a good (and consistent) Stoic game, but do we walk the walk?  The modern student is rightly focused on handling impressions, on reading about logic and ethics, and social duties.  But does she spurn the indifferents which captivate the ἰδιώτης (untrained persons)?  Very rarely.

Half-way measures indeed.  Thank you for the letter, it is providing much food for thought today.

Farewell.

Part of Michel Daw’s Reading Plan of Seneca’s Letters.

Seneca,

I do think Epicurus’ point about removing desires is well taken.  That seems in line with Stoic ἀπάθεια and Epicurean ἀταραξία both.

Still, the basic premise that pleasure is a good results in unacceptable consequences.  Epicurus may have been able to subsist on barley and water and find pleasure there, but the modern world is so hedonistic, that such practices are seen ascetic, and dismissed.

I still find Musonius argument, that even were pleasure the highest good, nothing would be more pleasurable than self-control, and if pain the highest evil, nothing more painful than the lack of self-control.

I still very much enjoyed the content of the first half of this letter, from yesterday.  I will write to you again next week.  Thanks.

Farewell.

Part of Michel Daw’s Reading Plan of Seneca’s Letters.

Seneca,

The section of your letter which resonates with me the most today, is the observation that “conversion” (for lack of a better term) to a philosophical life is a promotion.

I think you are 100% correct that we do not fully understand our need for progress, or even the path there.  If we did, we’d throw ourselves into it with reckless abandon.  We’d leave everything of the common world behind (so far as we needed to do), and embrace the rigors of the school.

But we don’t.

Thank you for the letter; farewell.

Part of Michel Daw’s Reading Plan of Seneca’s Letters.

Seneca,

“Poverty will keep for you your true and tried friends; you will be rid of the men who were not seeking you for yourself, but for something which you have. Is it not true, however, that you should love poverty, if only for this single reason, – that it will show you those by whom you are loved?”

I take your letter today in good spirits.  Your recommendation speak to what I myself already know, but for reasons aplenty but slim, have avoided doing.  I can look back to my own life, and see what difference relative wealth can make in regards to “friends.”  Your point is well taken.

As you know, I’ve been interested in the teachings of Musonius, yet I need to become more interested in the practices of Musonius.

“Believe me, your words will be more imposing if you sleep on a cot and wear rags. For in that case you will not be merely saying them; you will be demonstrating their truth.”  — Epicurus

Some of us by nature or nurture, are easily captivated by ideas.  We can chew on a theoretical or hypothetical concept for days or weeks.  We can twist it, wring it out, and get every last drop from it.  And all without even for a moment practicing or emulating the idea.

For those of us, philosophy can be a constant example of how we need to correct our impressions and our work.

“Every man, when he first sees light, is commanded to be content with milk and rags. Such is our beginning, and yet kingdoms are all too small for us!”

Thank you for the letter.  Farewell.

Part of Michel Daw’s Reading Plan of Seneca’s Letters.

Seneca,

“[P]hilosophy teaches us to act, not to speak; it exacts of every man that he should live according to his own standards, that his life should not be out of harmony with his words, and that, further, his inner life should be of one hue and not out of harmony with all his activities.”

Your letters seem to always contain a call to action, just when I need it the most.  I’m preparing to settle in to a long and intense period of study.  One which is particular and rigorous.  When doing such work, it’s all too easy to let the practical side of philosophy slip by.

The daily mental reserves seem to only be so deep, and when one is about intense intellectual work, the reserves seem too shallow for what’s left.

But, you remind me, that actual work of a philosopher, as a sculptor to stone, is to shape one’s life.  Thank you for the reminder.

Farewell.

Part of Michel Daw’s Reading Plan of Seneca’s Letters.

Seneca,

Ah, Seneca, your mixed messages are certainly difficult to parse.  Hug the shores, retire from the world, etc.  Are these Stoic teachings, or simply your own proclivities.

I understand that Lucillius was concerned over his finances, most of us studying philosophy today are not in the financial position you yourself were.  Instead, we’re more like Lucillius, trying to split our time between earning enough to get by and philosophy.

Some are academics in related fields, which may make things easier, but many others of us are not working in any such intellectual capacity.

My own inclinations are to hole-up with books and few close associates, but how can we be about the work of human beings *and* philosophers in such a way?  I’m not sure it’s possible.

Obligations, roles, duties on one hand.  Leisure, quiet, study on the other.  And necessity sitting right in the middle leaning to upset the balance.

Farewell.

Part of Michel Daw’s Reading Plan of Seneca’s Letters.

Seneca,

If you retreat to privacy, everything will be on a smaller scale, but you will be satisfied abundantly; in your present condition, however, there is no satisfaction in the plenty which is heaped upon you on all sides. Would you rather be poor and sated, or rich and hungry? Prosperity is not only greedy, but it also lies exposed to the greed of others. And as long as nothing satisfies you, you yourself cannot satisfy others.

The thing I pull from today’s letter is how our intent and actions should be shaped by our personal natures as well as by our nature as rational critters.  You tell Lucilius that he doesn’t not have to, and indeed may not be able to, retire in obscurity, because of his writing, his efforts, and his projects.

The thing that is most poignant to me, is that in addition to studying philosophy, his business, etc. in his retirement, his personal nature will still have an effect on how he plans his projects.

It’s maybe easy for us to assume a cookier-cutter type niche as philosophers.  It’s a useful reminder that if we choose the wrong shape, our own natures might either spill over the edges, or fail to fill the allotted space.

Farewell.

Part of Michel Daw’s Reading Plan of Seneca’s Letters.

Seneca,

If you’ll forgive for the shortness of this letter, I find myself a touch ill these past few days.  Today’s letters covered several topics:  the nature of fasting and ascetic practice in regards to Fate, and a bit on anger.

The example you gave of old growth trees which might repel mighty flames for a long time, versus the lightest fluff  for which a single rogue spark might cause a great conflagration is well taken.

I suppose, then, it is our duty to become like those old trees, not immune and unfeeling to the fires of anger, but far better able to tolerate them, and keep their effects from our core.

On fasting, you mention it is as difficult to take a “Cynic vacation” for a few days, as it is to live in the mold for a lifetime.  I’m not sure that’s true.  A man can withstand almost anything with an end in sight, it’s the unknown journey which prompts the most fear and hardship.

Farewell.

Part of Michel Daw’s Reading Plan of Seneca’s Letters.