A Greek philosopher of 1st and early 2nd centuries C.E., and an exponent of Stoic ethics notable for the consistency and power of his ethical thought and for effective methods of teaching. Epictetus' chief concerns are with integrity, self-management, and personal freedom, which he advocates by demanding of his students a thorough examination of two central ideas, the capacity he terms ‘volition’ (prohairesis) and the correct use of impressions (chrēsis tōn phantasiōn). Heartfelt and satirical by turns, Epictetus has had significant influence on the popular moralistic tradition, but he is more than a moraliser; his lucid resystematization and challenging application of Stoic ethics qualify him as an important philosopher in his own right.
Life
Born sometime in the 50s C.E. in Hierapolis, a Greek city of Asia Minor, Epictetus spent a portion of his life as the slave of Epaphroditus, an important administrator in the court of Nero. The date at which he came to Rome is unknown, but it must have been either prior to 68, at which time Epaphroditus fled the capital, or after the accession of Domitian in 81, under whom Epaphroditus was allowed to return and perhaps to resume his position. The circumstances of Epictetus' education are likewise unknown, except that he studied for a time under Musonius Rufus, a Roman senator and Stoic philosopher who taught intermittently at Rome. Eventually receiving his freedom, he began lecturing on his own account but was forced to leave the city, presumably by the edict of Domitian banning philosophers from the Italian peninsula. He then established his own school at Nicopolis, an important cultural center in Epirus, on the Adriatic coast of northwest Greece, and remained there teaching and lecturing until his death around 135. The teaching represented in the Discourses (compiled by Arrian) is that of his later career, around the year 108, at which time he walked with a limp attributed variously to arthritis or to physical abuse during his time of slavery. Epictetus never married, but for reasons of benevolence he late in life adopted a child whose parents could not provide for its maintenance.
The major compilation of Epictetus' teaching is the four-volume work standardly referred to in English as the Discourses; it was variously titled in antiquity. According to their preface, the Discourses are not the writing of Epictetus but are ghostwritten by the essayist and historiographer Arrian of Nicomedia in an effort to convey the personal impact of his instruction. Although we lack independent means of verification, we have reason to be confident that the works we have represent Epictetus' thought rather than Arrian's own: first, because the language employed is koinē or common Greek rather than the sophisticated literary language of Arrian's other writings; and second because the brusque, elliptical manner of expression, the precise philosophical vocabulary, and the intellectual rigor of the content are quite different from what Arrian produces elsewhere. A few scholars, argue that Epictetus must have composed them himself, the role of Arrian being merely to preserve a mild fiction of orality.
The shorter Encheiridion (titled in English either Manual or Handbook) is a brief abridgment of the Discourses, apparently including the four or more additional volumes of Discourses that circulated in antiquity. As such it offers a much attenuated account which is of little independent value for the understanding of Epictetus' thought and which at some points gives a misleading impression of his philosophical motivations. There are also some quotations by other ancient authors from the Discourses as they knew them.
The so-called “Golden Sayings” is a later compendium of aphorisms drawn from the Discourses and Encheiridion.
Antecedents
The essentials of Epictetus' thought derive from the early or foundational period of Stoicism, from the third-century writings of Zeno of Citium, Cleanthes, and Chrysippus. Treatises he mentions by title include Chrysippus' On Choice, On Impulse, and On the Possibles, and he also mentions reading in works by Zeno, Cleanthes, Antipater, and Archedemus.
It may still be the case that he accepts influence from other currents in philosophy, or that he develops some ideas on his own. The clearest instance of such influence concerns Plato, for Epictetus draws much inspiration from the Socrates depicted in Plato's shorter dialogues. Comparisons can be drawn especially to the Socrates of Plato's Gorgias, with his fondness for give and take, his willingness to challenge the hearer's presuppositions, and his optimism about what can be achieved through values clarification. Epictetus also knows the Master Argument from Megarian philosophy (3rd c. BCE) and even names Diodorus and Panthoides, although this knowledge might easily have been drawn from Stoic treatises on logic.
It may still be the case that he accepts influence from other currents in philosophy, or that he develops some ideas on his own. The clearest instance of such influence concerns Plato, for Epictetus draws much inspiration from the Socrates depicted in Plato's shorter dialogues. Comparisons can be drawn especially to the Socrates of Plato's Gorgias, with his fondness for give and take, his willingness to challenge the hearer's presuppositions, and his optimism about what can be achieved through values clarification. Epictetus also knows the Master Argument from Megarian philosophy (3rd c. BCE) and even names Diodorus and Panthoides, although this knowledge might easily have been drawn from Stoic treatises on logic.
An argument has sometimes been made for Aristotelian influence, primarily because Epictetus' favored term prohairesis is prominent in Nicomachean Ethics as a quasi-technical term (usually translated as “choice” or “decision”). It has been suggested that Epictetus' use of this term reflects the influence of the early Aristotle commentaries (1st c. BCE-1st c. CE), none of which have survived. But neither Aristotle nor any author in the Aristotelian tradition is ever mentioned in the Discourses, and to obscure an important connection is hardly in keeping with Epictetus' usual mode of presentation. It is better to make the provisional assumption that his interest in volition derives, like other main elements of his philosophy, from the early Stoa, though with greater emphasis. Although the term prohairesis is only barely attested in surviving accounts of early Stoic philosophy, there is some evidence to suggest that it did play a significant role.
Sayings attributed to Epictetus
All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain.
All religions must be tolerated... for every man must get to heaven in his own way.
Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant.
Control thy passions lest they take vengeance on thee.
Difficulties are things that show a person what they are.
Do not laugh much or often or un-restrainedly.
Do not seek to bring things to pass in accordance with your wishes, but wish for them as they are, and you will find them.
First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.
First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.
Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire.
Freedom is the right to live as we wish.
God has entrusted me with myself.
He is a drunkard who takes more than three glasses though he be not drunk.
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
If evil be spoken of you and it be true, correct yourself, if it be a lie, laugh at it.
If one oversteps the bounds of moderation, the greatest pleasures cease to please.
If thy brother wrongs thee, remember not so much his wrong-doing, but more than ever that he is thy brother.
If virtue promises happiness, prosperity and peace, then progress in virtue is progress in each of these for to whatever point the perfection of anything brings us, progress is always an approach toward it.
If you desire to be good, begin by believing that you are wicked.
If you seek truth you will not seek victory by dishonorable means, and if you find truth you will become invincible.
If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.
If you wish to be a writer, write.
Imagine for yourself a character, a model personality, whose example you determine to follow, in private as well as in public.
Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else.
It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows.
It is not death or pain that is to be dreaded, but the fear of pain or death.
It is not he who reviles or strikes you who insults you, but your opinion that these things are insulting.
It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them.
It takes more than just a good looking body. You've got to have the heart and soul to go with it.
It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
Keep silence for the most part, and speak only when you must, and then briefly.
Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.
Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.
Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them.
Neither should a ship rely on one small anchor, nor should life rest on a single hope.
Never in any case say I have lost such a thing, but I have returned it. Is your child dead? It is a return. Is your wife dead? It is a return. Are you deprived of your estate? Is not this also a return?
No great thing is created suddenly.
No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.
No man is free who is not master of himself.
Not every difficult and dangerous thing is suitable for training, but only that which is conducive to success in achieving the object of our effort.
Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig. I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.
One that desires to excel should endeavor in those things that are in themselves most excellent.
Only the educated are free.
People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them.
Practice yourself, for heaven's sake in little things, and then proceed to greater.
Silence is safer than speech.
The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things.
The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.
The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.
The two powers which in my opinion constitute a wise man are those of bearing and forbearing.
The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going.
There is nothing good or evil save in the will.
There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.
To accuse others for one's own misfortunes is a sign of want of education. To accuse oneself shows that one's education has begun. To accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one's education is complete.
Unless we place our religion and our treasure in the same thing, religion will always be sacrificed.
We are not to give credit to the many, who say that none ought to be educated but the free; but rather to the philosophers, who say that the well-educated alone are free.
We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.
We should not moor a ship with one anchor, or our life with one hope.
We tell lies, yet it is easy to show that lying is immoral.
Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.
When you are offended at any man's fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings. Then you will forget your anger.
Whenever you are angry, be assured that it is not only a present evil, but that you have increased a habit.
Whoever does not regard what he has as most ample wealth, is unhappy, though he be master of the world.
You are a little soul carrying around a corpse.
You may be always victorious if you will never enter into any contest where the issue does not wholly depend upon yourself.
Reference
Stanford Encylopaedia of Philosophy
Further Reading
Further Reading
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