Although a number of studies have attempted to reconcile the work's ethical and physical parts, others maintain that there is no substantial connection between them. FULL ABSTRACT: The combination of ethics and physics in Seneca's Natural Questions has frequently puzzled scholars. This pragmatic approach can be seen as a distinctive aspect of Cicero’s own philosophical practice.Ī doctoral thesis arguing that the form of the Natural Questions is in part determined by Seneca's engagement with contemporary currents of debate between Stoicism and 'Middle' Platonism. Cicero showcases the practical utility of a flexible therapeutic model that focuses on the transformation of beliefs: while he clearly favors the Stoic explanation of the emotions, he does not feel compelled to recommend only the therapy in agreement with that explanation.

The final section draws attention to the ways in which Cicero employs and evaluates these philosophical resources in the realm of therapeutic practice, as he reflects on his own experience of suffering and loss. Cicero ultimately purports to favor Plato’s position on the immortality of the soul and the Stoics’ cognitivist account of the emotions.

The first two sections trace the key steps of Cicero’s argumentation, as he critically evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of various competing views in the Greek philosophical tradition. This chapter provides a critical account of Cicero’s discussion of the nature of the soul and the emotions in the Tusculan Disputations. This is an uncorrected pre-proof version. (There is a bit more on the erotic ἐπιβολὴ -Impulse in my paper 'Liebe als wohlbegründetes Bestreben: Wesen und Funktion des Eros-Impulses eines stoischen Weisen,' 2022: ) Tracing Seneca’s progressor friendship to a well known definition of ἔρως as an 'effort to make friend' (ἐπιβολὴ φιλοποιίας) also sheds new light on the conundrum of ‘will’ in Seneca.

This innovation enables him to reconcile the of social values he maintains as a philosopher with his values as a member of the ruling class in Rome. Seneca adapts ἔρως for the Roman taste and allows for a loving relation between equals – equals in their imperfection and in their shared determination to better themselves. Solving the Stoic dilemma that fools cannot be friends, Seneca introduces a form of progressor friendship, which is an original adaptation of Stoic ἔρως (the friendship between a sage and a promising fool). Seneca’s brand of Stoic philosophy was shaped by and reacted to its socio-political context.

Instal Joplin 2.12.10