A sailing merchant who was shipwrecked and read some of Plato’s works, a slave who was set free due to his enormous talents and intellect, a playwright and advisor to the emperor of Rome and the last good Caesar. What do these things have in common, you ask? Well, they were all stoics. The sailing merchant who was shipwrecked, was a man called Zeno of Citium. After being shipwrecked, he found himself wandering the streets of ancient Athens and wandered…
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According to many philosophers, especially ancient philosophers, the secret to having a life worth living, is not only to examine your life, but to actively aspire to being a good person. What is a good person, though? Many may think about being a successful, charitable, kind, funny, and inspiring. How do you reach these goals? Of course, here too, there have been a lot of philosophers with varying opinions. Perhaps the most prevalent through history, were virtue ethicists. And while…
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“The unexamined life is not worth living”, quoth Socrates in Plato’s apology. By this statement, Socrates shows us the very essence of philosophy and science; To enrich our lives by understanding it, or at least have a kind of fascination with it. It should go unchallenged, that that which fascinates you in whatever way -even morbidly- is something that provides happiness, entertainment or some other kind of joy. In this series of articles under the heading “the life worth living”,…
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The ancient Greek philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca said; ‘Why weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears.’ Though I do not agree with this particular quote, I must admit that the sentiment is useful. And when push comes to shove, that’s all that matters. In this piece, I will attempt to show you the use of honesty in leading an enjoyable life. The point Seneca was most likely making, and was in fact moderately famous for making,…
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