I had no idea that Epictetus had anticipated Adam Smith. This is a fascinating essay, beginning to end.
I've long been interested in reading the Stoics, but I've always started with Marcus Aurelius and quickly gotten bogged down in what seem like platitudes, at least in the early going. What is your view of his Meditations?
Meditations was good, but I certainly enjoyed Epictetus more. There’s little humor in Meditations — you can tell it was written in a battlefield camp rather than a Greek island.
Aurelius is also much more of a “scold” whereas Epictetus is more like a gadfly who enjoys provoking. Epictetus has plenty I disagree with, and it’s not always easy to parse, but there’s also lots of great stuff, and I’d recommend starting with him. Chronologically, he was also first.
I had no idea that Epictetus had anticipated Adam Smith. This is a fascinating essay, beginning to end.
I've long been interested in reading the Stoics, but I've always started with Marcus Aurelius and quickly gotten bogged down in what seem like platitudes, at least in the early going. What is your view of his Meditations?
Meditations was good, but I certainly enjoyed Epictetus more. There’s little humor in Meditations — you can tell it was written in a battlefield camp rather than a Greek island.
Aurelius is also much more of a “scold” whereas Epictetus is more like a gadfly who enjoys provoking. Epictetus has plenty I disagree with, and it’s not always easy to parse, but there’s also lots of great stuff, and I’d recommend starting with him. Chronologically, he was also first.
Thanks, I've ordered the edition you recommend from Amazon.
And, thank you!
A stoic that I love is Seneca. Here's a nice primer: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/seneca/
He’s good! I’m reading him currently.