Analysis of the original philosophical text - L.A Seneca “On the Blessed Life”. About the Blissful Life

Seneca Lucius Annaeus

About the Blissful Life

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

About the Blissful Life

To Brother Gallion

I. 1. Everyone, brother Gallio (1), wants to live happily, but no one knows the right way to make life happy. Achieving a happy life is difficult, because the faster a person tries to get to it, the further away from it he finds himself if he has lost his way; after all, the sooner you run in the opposite direction, the further you will be from your goal. So, first of all, we should find out what the object of our aspirations is; then look for the shortest path to it, and along the road, if it turns out to be correct and straight, estimate how much we need to walk per day and approximately what distance separates us from the goal that nature itself has made so desirable for us.

2. As long as we wander here and there, until it is not the guide, but the discordant noise of the crowds rushing in all directions, that shows us the direction, our short life will lead to delusions, even if we work hard day and night for a good goal. That is why it is necessary to determine exactly where we need to go and how to get there; we cannot do without an experienced guide who is familiar with all the difficulties of the road ahead; for this journey is not like the others: there, in order not to go astray, it is enough to go out on a well-worn track or ask the local residents; but here, the more traveled and crowded the road, the more likely it will lead to the wrong place.

3. This means that the main thing for us is not to be like sheep, who always run after the herd, heading not where they need to go, but where everyone is going. There is no thing in the world that brings more evil and misfortune upon us than the habit of conforming to public opinion, considering as best what is accepted by the majority and of which we see more examples; we live not by understanding, but by imitation. Hence this eternal crush, where everyone pushes each other, trying to push them aside. 4. And just as when there is a large crowd of people, it sometimes happens that people die in a crush (you can’t fall in a crowd without dragging someone else with you, and those in front, stumbling, kill those walking behind), so in life, if you look closely:

every person, having made a mistake, directly or indirectly misleads others; It is truly harmful to follow those in front, but everyone prefers to take things on faith rather than reason; and about own life we never have our own judgments, only faith; and now the same mistakes are passed from hand to hand, and we are tossed and turned from side to side. We are destroyed by the example of others; If we manage to get out of the crowd of people at least for a while, we feel much better.

5. Contrary to common sense, people always defend what brings them trouble. This is what happens in elections in the national assembly:

As soon as the fickle wave of popularity rolls back, we begin to wonder how those people for whom we ourselves just voted got into praetorship. We sometimes approve and sometimes condemn the same things; This is the inevitable flaw of any decision taken by the majority.

II. 1. Since we are talking about the blessed life, I ask you not to answer me, as in the Senate, when they cancel the discussion and arrange a vote: “There is a clear majority on this side.” - So this side is worse. Things are not so good with humanity that the majority will vote for the best: a large crowd of adherents is always a sure sign of the worst.

2. So, let's try to figure out what to do the best way, and not the most generally accepted; Let us look for what will reward us with eternal happiness, and not what is approved by the mob - the worst interpreter of the truth. I call the mob both those who wear chlamys (3) and those who are crowned; I don’t look at the color of the clothes covering the bodies, and I don’t believe my eyes when we're talking about about a human. There is light in which I can more accurately and better distinguish the real from the false: only a spirit can reveal what is good in another spirit.

If our spirit had time to rest and come to its senses, oh how it would cry out, having tormented itself so much that it would finally decide to tell itself the pure truth; 3. How I wish that everything I had done would remain undone! How I envy the dumb when I remember everything I have ever said! Everything I wished for, I would now wish for my worst enemy. All that I feared - good gods! - how much easier it would have been to bear than what I longed for! I was at enmity with many and made peace again (if we can talk about peace between villains); but I have never been a friend to myself. All my life I tried my best to stand out from the crowd, to become noticeable thanks to some talent, and what came of it? - I only exposed myself as a target for enemy arrows and allowed myself to be bitten by someone else’s malice. 4. Look how many of them are praising your eloquence, crowding at the doors of your wealth, trying to flatter yourself with your mercy and extol your power to the sky. And what? - all of these are either real or possible enemies: as many enthusiastic admirers are around you, there are exactly the same number of envious people. It would be better if I were looking for something useful and good for myself, for my own feeling, and not for display. All this tinsel that people look at on the street, that they can brag about to each other, shines only on the outside, but is pitiful on the inside.

III. 1. So, let us look for something that would be good not in appearance, durable, unchangeable and more beautiful on the inside than on the outside; Let's try to find this treasure and dig it up. It lies on the surface, anyone can find it; you just need to know where to reach out. We, as if in pitch darkness, pass next to him without noticing, and often get ourselves into trouble by stumbling upon what we dream of finding.

2. I don’t want to lead you along a long, roundabout path and I won’t begin to express other people’s opinions on this matter: it would take a long time to list them and even longer to sort them out. Listen to our opinion. Just don’t think that “ours” is the opinion of one of the venerable Stoics, to which I join: I am also allowed to have my own opinion. I will probably repeat some, and partially agree with others; or maybe I, as the last of the judges called to the trial, will say that I have nothing to object to the decisions made by my predecessors, but I have something to add on my own.

3. So, first of all, as is customary among all Stoics, I am for agreement with nature: wisdom consists in not deviating from it and forming oneself according to its law and according to its example. Therefore, a blessed life is a life consistent with its nature. How to achieve such a life? - The first condition is complete mental health, both now and in the future; in addition, the soul must be courageous and decisive; thirdly, she needs excellent patience, readiness for any changes; she should take care of her body and everything that concerns it, without taking it too seriously; pay attention to all other things that make life more beautiful and convenient, but do not bow down to them; in short, we need a soul that will use the gifts of fortune, and not slavishly serve them. 4. I need not add - you can guess it yourself - that this gives indestructible peace and freedom, driving away everything that frightened us or irritated us; in place of pitiful temptations and fleeting pleasures, which are not only harmful to taste, but even to smell, comes great joy, smooth and serene, comes peace, spiritual harmony and greatness, combined with meekness; for all savagery and rudeness come from mental weakness.

IV. 1. Our good can be defined differently, expressing the same idea in other words. Just as an army can close ranks or turn around, form a semicircle, putting out. forward horns, or stretch out in a straight line, but its numbers, fighting spirit and readiness to defend its cause will remain unchanged, no matter how it is lined up; in the same way, the highest good can be defined both at length and in a few words. 2. So all further definitions mean the same thing. “The highest good is a spirit that despises the gifts of chance and rejoices in virtue,” or: “The highest good is an invincible force of spirit, highly experienced, acting calmly and peacefully, with great humanity and concern for others.” You can define it this way: blessed is the person for whom there is no other good or evil except good and evil spirit, who takes care of honor and is content with virtue, who is not forced to rejoice by luck and will not be broken by misfortune, who does not know a greater good than that which he can bestow on himself; for whom true pleasure is contempt for pleasure.

3. If you want even more detail, you can, without distorting the meaning, express the same thing differently. What will prevent us from saying, for example, that the blessed life is a free, upward-looking, fearless and stable spirit, inaccessible to fear and lust, for which the only good is honor, the only evil is shame, and everything else is a heap of cheap junk, nothing to the blessed neither adding to life nor taking anything away from it; the highest good will not become better if chance adds these things to it, and will not become worse without them.

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Overall, Seneca presents a typically Stoic ideal of the happy (blessed) life in his treatise On the Blessed Life. According to the philosopher, only the virtuous and intelligent life can be happy. In pleasures, wealth, power and might, Seneca does not see that which can lead a person to a truly blissful life.
Also, a blessed life for Seneca is impossible without humility and acceptance of divine laws, those laws according to which the Universe is structured. In particular, a person needs to take his social and financial situation for granted and put up with the blows of fate.
Undoubtedly, Seneca's concept of the blessed life is very interesting and profound in its essence. It contains important provisions, such as the need to cultivate virtue in oneself, not to make a cult out of wealth...

Introduction
Chapter 1. Biography of L. Seneca. Seneca's main philosophical views
Conclusion
Bibliography

Introduction

This paper analyzes Seneca’s treatise “On the Blessed Life.” This treatise is one of the main ones in Seneca's philosophical heritage. Here is one of greatest philosophers raises a lot important problem the possibility of a person achieving a happy, blissful life. This problem is central to philosophical system Seneca, in addition, it is relevant for the philosophy of different eras, almost all philosophers turned to its development, tried to find the ideal and, most importantly, the secret of a happy life. In our time, this problem is also very important, since in any era it is common for a person to seek happiness and try to understand how it can be achieved.
The main goal of the work is to analyze the basic philosophical concepts presented in Seneca’s treatise “On the Blessed Life.” In connection with the set goal, it is necessary to complete the following tasks:
Consider the biography of L.A. Seneca.
Study the basic philosophical views of Seneca.
Conduct an analysis of the text of the treatise “On the Blessed Life.”

Fragment of work for review

Seneca's philosophical teaching is essentially eclectic, since it combines Stoicism and elements of other philosophical teachings in which the statement took place ideal image a sage who overcame human passions, is spiritually independent and, by his example, teaches people self-improvement4.
Seneca’s philosophical heritage includes philosophical dialogues, 8 books of “Natural Scientific Questions”, 124 letters to Lucilius and treatises, of which only isolated fragments have survived to this day.
Being a Stoic, Seneca argued that everything that exists is corporeal, at the same time, he believed that human knowledge is capable of limitless development. The pantheistic views of Stoic physics or natural philosophy became the basis for the philosophical teachings of Seneca. Seneca's philosophy differs from classical Stoicism in the presence of a clear religious element. Also philosophical views The Seneca were formed under the influence of the ideas of Posidonius; at a later stage, Seneca also studied the philosophy of Epicurus. However, the ideas of Epicurus were not close to Seneca.
The moralistic works of Seneca are especially famous. In general, it can be argued that moral problems are predominant in Seneca’s philosophical system (“Natural Scientific Questions”, “Letters”).
At the same time, despite the dominance of moral issues, Seneca was a true Stoic, a philosopher who developed the doctrine of materialistic monism in all parts of philosophy. As noted earlier, according to the teachings of Seneca, everything is corporeal. This means that everything is warm breath, or “pneuma”, i.e. fire. Seneca's physics - as far as he can speak of an independent physical teaching - is the physics of Heraclitean fire. In its purest and most subtle form, this fire resides in heaven. Following the ancient Stoics, Seneca accepts their teaching about the periodically repeated combustion of the world. Seneca’s teaching about the original fire is teleological and at the same time fatalistic5.
Seneca does not make a clear distinction between the areas of existence. In his system, God, fate, nature, providence are identical. The eternal laws of nature become conscious in man, in him they become his free will. As V.F. rightly noted. Asmus, “Seneca’s worldview is a real pantheism, imbued with the idea of ​​​​the harmony of space and chaos, and for Seneca the cosmos is united and common for gods and people. Together with the ancient Greek Stoics, Seneca endows with psychic life and deifies all the heavenly bodies and all the heavens.”6
Seneca's anthropology is, of course, quite controversial. On the one hand, he believed that human nature is essentially pure. However, on the other hand, this pure nature is corrupted. As a result, the body became the prison of the soul. From this it follows that only outside the body is it possible to find the true life of the soul.
According to Seneca's thought, all people are equal because they are members of a single world whole. Man has endless ways of improvement, which means that if he strives for good, then evil will be defeated. For Seneca, handicraft work was humiliating; only spiritual creativity was considered by Seneca to be the only free one7.
Seneca also condemned anger, called for forgiveness, and preached mercy and love for one's neighbor. As a Stoic, he believed that when hopelessly entangled in the contradictions of life, a philosopher should voluntarily leave it, and he himself fulfilled this commandment8.
Chapter 2. Analysis of Seneca’s work “On the Blessed Life”: philosophical ideas and concepts
In his work “On the Blessed Life,” Seneca discusses how achievable the ideal of a happy and blissful life is, and what needs to be done to, if not achieve, then at least get closer to this ideal.
According to Seneca, achieving a blissful life is almost impossible for a person; it is an extremely difficult process. The philosopher rightly notes that the desire to live happily is inherent in all people, but the whole problem lies in ignorance the right ways fill your life with happiness. It is also impossible not to agree with Seneca that attempts to get to a happy life as quickly as possible, as a rule, end in complete failure; moreover, these attempts interfere with a person; Seneca compares them to running in the opposite direction.
Accordingly, your main task Seneca's vision is to find out what the object of aspiration is and then begin to look for the shortest path. Seneca notes that on this path you should listen not to the discordant noise of the crowd, but to your guide. This guide must be familiar with all the difficulties of the path. Let Seneca compare the path to a happy life with a road, which the “more traveled and crowded, the more likely it will lead to the wrong place”9.
The general meaning of the above is that for ordinary person the blissful life is distant and essentially inaccessible. Without a doubt, it is possible to argue with this statement of Seneca, since the philosopher understands the blessed life in a much broader aspect than it is perceived ordinary people.
At the same time, Seneca gives whole line very useful tips for those who strive to achieve a happy and blissful life. According to the philosopher, these tips should help any person along the way.
First of all, it is important not to be like sheep who run after their flock. A very important and correct idea is expressed here that people often tend to go not in the right direction, but in the direction where everyone is moving, obeying the herd feeling. For our modern times, this idea is also relevant, since many tend to go with the crowd, for this reason we find ourselves in the mass of people and lose ourselves, we cease to understand our own true desires and aspirations. At the same time, many do not even realize that they are following the wrong path and feel quite comfortable in this crowd, the mass, taking the desires of the masses as their own.
People tend to subject the same things to both approval and condemnation. That is why every decision made by the majority has certain serious drawbacks. Seneca believes that it is necessary to turn first of all to yourself, to give your spirit a break, to find itself, only then will the spirit tell the “pure truth” about itself.
In a vain and disorderly life, in which people do not pay attention to the voice of their own soul, Seneca quite rightly sees the root of evil, the sources of many troubles in human life.
If we turn to modern life, then we will see that little has changed: we are still fussing, late, in a hurry somewhere, but we do not leave ourselves the opportunity and time to talk with ourselves, to turn to our own soul and its call, we constantly lack time for self-improvement, self-development, for family, friends, etc. This is how human life flies by in this vanity, a person dies without knowing what happiness is. This is exactly what Seneca talks about in his treatise.
Seneca calls to look for the true treasure nearby, outside. It lies on the surface, accessible to many, but the main problem is to know where to reach out. However, most people tend to walk next to this treasure, wander as if in darkness, get into trouble and constantly dream of finding this treasure. At the same time, even the thought that this treasure is next to us is not allowed.
As a true Stoic, Seneca believes that it is necessary to live in harmony with nature. The wisdom of human life lies in its alignment according to natural law and example. That is, a blessed life is “a life consistent with its nature”10.
Seneca expresses a very important idea that in order to achieve a blissful life, a person must maintain complete mental health, both now and in the future. The soul must have such qualities as courage and determination, patience, and readiness for change. The soul takes care of the body, but does not accept everything that happens to it. physical body Very close. Seneca also believed that those things that make a person’s life more comfortable and beautiful certainly deserve attention, but one cannot bow before them. Seneca proclaims his ideal of the soul: “a soul that will enjoy the gifts of fortune, and not slavishly serve them”11.
This idea is very important for understanding Seneca’s entire concept of the blessed life. Its essence lies in the fact that it is not at all necessary to chase an ideal, to try to find some kind of treasure. Happiness is hidden in us, in our soul, our soul is that treasury, that path to a blissful, happy life.
If we find peace and freedom, get rid of fear and irritation, do not succumb to petty temptations and do not seek fleeting pleasures, then we find joy, and this joy is smooth and serene. This is also, according to Seneca, the path to spiritual harmony and greatness, which at the same time is combined with meekness. Seneca rightly associates savagery and rudeness with mental weakness.
Seneca considers it deeply wrong for people to strive for wealth and power, since as long as a person is rich and has power, there are many so-called friends around him. But as soon as he loses wealth and power, these “friends” immediately turn away. This is false happiness, self-deception. Those people who do not have wealth and power believe that happiness lies in them, but this is a deeply erroneous opinion. And Seneca strives to convey this idea in his treatise. Of course, a person can have wealth and be happy at the same time, but this is only possible if this wealth was obtained honestly, and also if the person does not attach great importance to it, does not consider the state to be the greatest good and the meaning of his life. Unfortunately, we can often see examples where wealth is considered true happiness. This is a deeply flawed approach.
Special attention it is necessary to pay attention to what Seneca says about inequality in society. Some people have honors, wealth, power, while others are forced to lead a miserable existence, work hard and receive a modest salary. Seneca's view of this problem is purely stoic, he believes that there are things in the world that must be put up with. The universe is established according to a certain order. More precisely, there are divine laws, by observing which, a person is able to find true happiness. Achieving happiness is impossible without gaining inner harmony and agreement with these divine laws.
In general, this idea of ​​Seneca is quite controversial, since social inequality cannot be explained only by the presence of universal and divine laws. If society is structured fairly, if it has certain laws that protect people's rights different classes and different social and property status, then social inequality ceases to be so acute.
Seneca also claims that one can be called blessed who listens to the voice of reason, desires nothing and is not afraid. However, here it is necessary to understand that animals and stones, for example, also have no fear, but they do not know what happiness is. Seneca says that there are also people “whose natural stupidity and ignorance of themselves have reduced them to the level of beasts and inanimate objects. There is no difference between the two, because the latter are completely devoid of reason, while in the former, it is directed in the wrong direction and shows intelligence only to their own detriment and where it should not be. No one who is beyond the truth can be called blessed."12
As a true Stoic, Seneca considers blessed the life that is based on true and accurate judgment, as a result of which it becomes independent of change. If the soul remains pure and is not subject to evil, then it will be able to avoid wounds and withstand the blows of fate.
Of course, Seneca presents us with a typically Stoic ideal human soul, which can be criticized. In particular, not every soul that remains pure is able to withstand all the cruel blows of fate.
Seneca also touches on the very important problem of the compatibility of pleasure and virtue: “the thirst for pleasure leads to the most shameful life; virtue, on the contrary, does not allow a bad life; that there are people unhappy not because of the lack of pleasures, but because of their abundance, which could not happen if virtue were an indispensable part of pleasure: for virtue often does without pleasure, but is never completely deprived of it... Virtue there is something high, majestic and royal; invincible, tireless; pleasure is something base, slavish, weak and fleeting, whose home is in a den of debauchery and favorite place in a tavern"13.
One cannot but agree with Seneca that pleasure is fleeting, it is not capable of giving a person a feeling and feeling of complete happiness. According to Seneca, if a person is within the limits of truths that are important for a person’s life and are fundamental, then he is able to be blessed or happy: “blessed is he whose judgments are true; blessed is he who is content with what he has and in harmony with his destiny; Blessed is the one to whom reason dictates how to behave."14

Bibliography

1.Asmus V.F. Ancient philosophy. – M., 1976.
2.Grinenko G.V. History of philosophy. – M., 2004.
3. Reale J., Antiseri D. Western philosophy from its origins to the present day./Electronic resource// http://www.krotov.info/
4.Seneca L.A. About the blessed life.// http://lib.ru/POEEAST/SENEKA/creation.txt
5. Tatarkevich V. History of philosophy. Ancient and medieval philosophy. – Perm, 2000./Electronic resource// http://polbu.ru/tatarkevich_philohistory

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I accept general rule All the Stoics: “Live in accordance with the nature of things.” Do not shy away from it, be guided by its law, take its example - this is wisdom. Therefore, life is happy if it is consistent with its nature. Such a life is possible only if, firstly, a person always has a sound mind; then, if his spirit is courageous and energetic, noble, enduring and prepared for all circumstances; if he, without falling into anxious suspiciousness, takes care of satisfying physical needs; if he is generally interested in the material aspects of life, without being tempted by any of them; finally, if he knows how to use the gifts of fate without becoming their slave. There is no need for me to add, since you yourself understand that the result of such a state of mind is constant calm and freedom due to the elimination of all reasons for irritation and fear. Instead of pleasures, instead of insignificant, fleeting and not only vile, but also harmful pleasures, there comes strong, unclouded and constant joy, peace and harmony of spirit, greatness combined with meekness...

A person who has no concept of truth can in no way be called happy. Therefore, life is happy if it is invariably based on correct, reasonable judgment. Then the human spirit is clear; he is free from all bad influences, freed not only from torment, but also from minor pricks: he is always ready to maintain the position he occupies and defend it, despite the fierce blows of fate...

Even if philosophers do not always act as they say, they still bring great benefit by reasoning, by outlining moral ideals. And even if they acted according to their speeches, no one would be happier than them. But even so, one cannot treat noble words and people inspired by noble thoughts with disdain. A useful activity scientific issues commendable even if it were not accompanied by significant results. Is it surprising that, having planned to climb to such a height, they do not reach the top? If you are a true husband, then you must respect people who decide to do great things, even if they fail. He acts nobly who, without considering on our own, and with the forces of human nature, he sets high goals for himself, tries to achieve them and dreams of such great ideals that translating them into reality turns out to be difficult even for people with extraordinary talents. Here are the goals he can set for himself: “At the sight of death and at the news of it, I will maintain an equally calm expression on my face; I will endure difficult trials, whatever they may be, strengthening my physical strength with spiritual strength; I will despise wealth whether I have it or not; I will not become sadder if it belongs to another, and prouder if it surrounds me with its brilliance; I will be indifferent to fate, whether it will favor me or punish me; I will look at all lands as mine, and at mine as the common property, I will live in the conviction that I was born for others, and for this I will be grateful to nature, since she could not take better care of my interests: me alone She gave it to everyone, and everyone - to me alone.

Epictetus. What is our good?

People and animals are constructed differently, because they have different purposes... Man, like animals, must take care of the needs of his body, but most importantly, he must do everything that is assigned to man alone and that distinguishes him from animal... A person must act as his conscience and reason tell him.

It is given to me, as a person, to know who I am, why I was born and what I need my mind for. It turns out that I received the best spiritual abilities: understanding, courage, humility. And with them, why should I care what might happen to me? Who can make me angry or embarrassed?

When I see a person who torments himself with some fears and worries, I ask myself: - What does this unfortunate person need? He probably wants something that is not in his power and which he cannot dispose of himself; because when what I want is in my power, then I cannot worry about it, but directly do what I want...

When a person desires what is not given to him and turns away from what he cannot avoid, then his desires are not in order: he is sick with a disorder of desires in the same way as people are sick with a disorder of the stomach or liver.

Every person who worries about the future or torments himself with various worries and fears about what does not depend on him is sick with such a disorder of desires...

People find it difficult, worry and worry only when they are busy with external affairs that do not depend on them. In these cases, they anxiously ask themselves: what will I do? Will something happen? What will come of this? How could this or that not happen? This happens to those who constantly care about what does not belong to them.

On the contrary, a person who is busy with what depends on him and dedicates his life to the work of self-improvement will not worry himself so much...

What faculty of ours tells us what to do and what not to do?

– This ability is called reason. Reason alone indicates what should be done and what should not be done... Meanwhile, instead of illuminating and directing our lives with reason, we load ourselves with many extraneous concerns. One cares about the health of his body and trembles at the mere thought of getting sick; another torments himself with worries about his wealth; the third is worried about the fate of his children, about the affairs of his brother, about the zeal of his slave. We voluntarily take upon ourselves all these unnecessary worries...

What should I do in this case?

Submit to what does not depend on you and improve in yourself what depends only on you. It is reasonable to only take care of this, and accept everything else as it happens. After all, everything else happens not as you want, but as God pleases....

Our only good and evil is in ourselves, in our own soul. For each of us, the good is to live wisely, and the evil is not to live wisely... If we firmly remember this, then we will never quarrel or be at enmity with anyone, because it is stupid to quarrel over this , which does not concern our good, and - with people who are mistaken and, therefore, unhappy.

Socrates understood this. The anger of his wife and the ingratitude of his son did not make him cry at fate: his wife poured slop on his head and trampled his pie with her feet, and he said: “This does not concern me. What is mine - my soul - no one in the world can take away from me. In this, a crowd of people is powerless against one person, and the strongest against the weakest. This gift is given by God to every person.”...

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Abstract on the course of ancient philosophy on the topic: “Lucius Annaeus Seneca. "About a happy life"

Completed by: Kuzmina A.,

1st year student of Faculty of Physics, 3rd ac. gr.

Teacher: N. I. Biryukov

Moscow

2006

2.What should be the spiritual qualities of a person striving for a happy life

5. Goals on the path to happiness. The advantages of the best over the worst for a philosopher.

6. The main task of every philosopher.

1. What is a happy life?

Everyone wants to achieve happiness in their life, but not everyone has an idea of ​​what happiness is. It is very difficult to achieve it. So what do you need to do to live happily?

It is necessary to correctly formulate the final goal, outline the means to achieve it and, most importantly, choose the right path. If you wander without a guide, then life will pass aimlessly and will be filled with wrong actions and judgments. Seneca concludes that life needs a guide and it seems that he considers the philosopher to be this guide. If the path is chosen incorrectly, we often move away from the goal, striving for it. Sometimes it happens that the most priority path is the most deceptive.

Yes, the path followed by everyone seeking happiness is, as a rule, wrong. The fact is that people are susceptible to herd feelings. They tend to do everything like others. But this often leads to the fact that the mistake of one harms not only him, but also causes the failures of the other. This happens in election meetings when voters betray their candidate, following the opinion of others. Therefore, if a majority votes for a senator, then this is not proof of his worth, but, on the contrary, proof of his complete insolvency. Seneca believes that a philosopher should determine the behavior and way of thinking of an ideal person, what will really lead to happiness, and not study the behavior of the crowd. According to the author, each person should adhere to his own point of view, different from the way of thinking masses, often carrying false truth. And representatives of these masses can be both common people and those in power. In this situation, the author does not distinguish between two layers of society that are polar to each other.

2.Spiritual qualities of a person striving for a happy life

The type of thinking of each person is determined by his spiritual qualities.

It is quite natural that Seneca asks the question: what should be the spiritual qualities of a person? In other words, what character traits should he ideally have?

The author expresses his own opinion, while at the same time adhering to all the provisions of his predecessors. Thus, the Stoics believe that life is happy if “it is a life consistent with its nature” 1. The philosopher believes that real man must be self-critical of his actions, thoughts and desires. Sooner or later he realizes that the real is always hidden behind the tinsel, behind what the crowd trembles at. He must have such qualities as nobility, courage, endurance, independence, decency, and integrity. A person with such qualities can be considered happy. Following this strict criterion, one can give several definitions of a happy life, but the essence still remains the same: happiness is spiritual freedom, perseverance, awareness of one’s own dignity and decency (contempt for all vices). All these qualities are closely related to each other.

What does spiritual freedom mean from Seneca's point of view? First of all, it is the renunciation of insignificant pleasures and vulgar desires. But to become a spiritually free person, you need fearlessness, which, nevertheless, must be based on rational thinking. Reasonable and clear thinking man cares not so much about satisfying his physical needs as about the spiritual side of his being (about his moral character). The author believes that only that person who is able to think rationally and, therefore, clearly imagine the truth can be happy.

Seneca also considers the presence of such a quality as decency (aka virtue, aka morality, aka contempt for all vices).

According to the view of the Stoics, “the spirit ... can also receive its pleasures” 2, that is, the physical and spiritual aspects of life are very closely intertwined and exist almost in phase. However, a free-thinking person is able to figure out what is good and what is evil and abandon the latter. No worthy person would want to neglect the soul in the interests of the flesh.

3. Comparison of morality and pleasure.

If you live according to the laws of morality, then you can experience the highest pleasure in life and, enjoying life (receiving from it the satisfaction of all physical needs), you can live morally. The author opposes this statement. If such an investigative connection existed, he says, then we would not see the difference in the fact that the pleasures obtained in life do not always have a moral basis. The same deeply moral actions are difficult, and they can only be accomplished through great effort and even suffering.

Continuing his discussion of morality and pleasure, Seneca concludes that these two concepts cannot be identified. They are not a consequence of each other. Pleasure is often associated with servility, weakness, and is always found in vicious, dirty places. It smells nice, it's powerless and flirtatious. Virtue, on the contrary, is “something high, majestic and royal; invincible, tireless" 3; she is always found where these qualities are required - “in the temple, in the forum, in the curia, in the defense of city fortifications” 4. Decency is limitless, not addictive, not annoying, and does not allow remorse. Pleasure is short-lived and causes satiety.

The author compares the views of the Epicureans and the Stoics on how pleasure is achieved in life. Thus, the Epicureans believe that if you live righteous life, then you will inevitably enjoy it. This means that the Stoics are also right. After all, by slightly correcting their thought, you can get the following: living happily means living in unity with nature, but satisfying your natural needs without becoming a slave to them. Seneca concludes that a person’s morality must subjugate all feelings and physical desires, only in this case, in search of a happy life, he will not go astray and achieve spiritual balance. Let us give examples of people who became slaves to their own pleasure: the gourmet Nomentanus and the great glutton Apicius, who squandered his entire fortune on culinary wonders. The Epicureans claim: “Yes, it will be bad for them, because circumstances that confuse their spirit will constantly invade their lives, and conflicting opinions will instill anxiety in their souls” 5 (the sad fate of Apicius). If a person does not experience a sense of proportion in pleasure, then it harms him. “Extraordinary fools...taste great pleasures” 6 . But a person subservient to pleasure will not be able to withstand the daily trials of life. He will become a slave to pleasure, losing his self-esteem. Fools continue to rage and act extravagantly as long as they are deprived of their common sense.

“Virtue...” is not immeasurable, “... for it itself is a measure” 7. Seneca compares the attitude towards pleasure of a moral and an immoral person: the virtuous person is restrained, while the vicious one enjoys and is carried away by it. The vicious one sees good in it, the moral one accepts it as given to him from above. The vicious person is ready to do anything to get pleasure, while the virtuous person simply receives it as a gift.

Seneca again turns to the teachings of Epicurus, saying that it is “holy and correct” 8. But many people seek to justify their passions (gluttony, debauchery) by his teaching. The philosopher claims that the correct teaching of Epicurus was undeservedly discredited, mainly by the Stoics. The fact is that many pay attention only to the external side of the teaching and choose moments from it that are convenient for themselves, while its essence lies in its depths.

Very often, “everyone who calls idle idleness with the alternate satisfaction of the desires of lust and the belly happiness, seeks good authority to cover up bad deeds, finds it, attracted by the seductive name, and from now on considers his vices to be the fulfillment of philosophical rules, although his pleasures are not those about which he heard here, and those that he brought here with him; but now he indulges in them without fear and without hiding” 9. But Epicurus spoke of a completely different pleasure, characteristic of the sages: without passion, modest and calm.

Seneca believes that if a person wants morality and pleasure to be on the path along which he moves towards happiness, then he must first choose morality, and pleasure will certainly accompany it. Those who put pleasure on the first level are pitiful, because they lose morality and suffer from an excess or lack of pleasure. For comparison, we can cite a navigator whose ship either runs aground or rushes through a stormy sea.

Epicureans are confident that it is possible to merge virtue and pleasure and even identify the moral with the pleasant. The joy, cheerful mood and tranquility generated by morality are not its components. The one who combines morality and pleasure subsequently becomes dependent on the pleasant moments presented to him by fate. A person’s life becomes anxious, fussy and suspicious. He cannot correctly and calmly interpret all events; he cannot be a worthy defender of his homeland.

So, the author believes that the virtue, the consequence of which these pleasures are, is at such a height that “it will endure, no matter what happens, enduring misfortunes not just patiently, but even willingly, for it knows that all the difficulties of our temporary existence are law of nature" 10. The champion of virtue will remember the ancient commandment: “Follow God” 11. People must face all the hardships of life with dignity, endure all the vicissitudes of fate (“to obey God is our freedom” 12).

“So, true happiness lies in virtue” 13.

4. What is the spiritual freedom of a person.

A virtuous person must act in a manner similar to God. Then he will receive great advantages, he will be free, safe, his life will be protected from unwanted obstacles. Morality is perfect; it contains a huge amount of divine qualities. A decent person can consider himself completely free. Here Seneca once again returns to the problem of spiritual freedom.

A person who has achieved spiritual perfection enjoys the rights of a free person. Not every philosopher is free. Seneca does not at all consider himself a sage and does not want to achieve complete perfection, but wants to be better than bad people. He changes himself, striving for virtue, talks about the life that must be led. If possible, he himself would live exactly as he bequeaths to others. Seneca's opponents believe that he says one thing, but in fact does another. But one should not pay attention, says Seneca, to these spiteful critics. They and the cynic Demetrius criticized him for not being poor enough, because... allegedly was a preacher not of virtue, but of poverty. They condemn the Epicurean Diodorus, who cut his own throat, considering him insane. But in reality, he died in full consciousness, with the words: “I have lived long enough and I have completed the path given to me by fate” 14.

These crafty people seek to denigrate a person, because the moral purity of the righteous clearly points to their own sins. They strive to compare the decency of the sages and their unclean life, which still does not turn out in their favor, because in this case their true unclean essence looks even lower.

Seneca agrees that the actions of philosophers do not always coincide with their speeches, but by reasoning, they thereby bring great benefit by presenting moral ideals to people. And even if these ideals are too high and it seems impossible to achieve them, we must respect people for the fact that they dared to rise to them.

5. Goals on the path to happiness. The advantages of the best over the worst for a philosopher.

Seneca believes that the goals that a person sets for himself can be the following: to remain calm at the sight of death, to endure difficult trials with steadfastness, not to be known as a fatalist, to despise wealth, to act as one’s conscience dictates, not to engage in gluttony, to believe in God. Seneca's opponents are surprised and object that in fact, with philosophers it is the other way around. And they have wealth, and they take care of their health, etc. To which he replies that philosophers do not renounce wealth, but are not afraid of losing it. If they lose wealth, they will not be upset, but if a person who does not thirst for spiritual perfection loses wealth, then this will be a tragedy for him. Seneca writes: “...I own my wealth, your wealth owns you” 15. A philosopher should not be a beggar, and the wealth that he has was acquired in an honest way. The author develops the idea of ​​​​the well-being of philosophers and says that not a single sage would boast of his wealth, because it is stupid, and would not hide it, showing his pettiness. A philosopher can engage in charity, but very carefully, because... This activity is not the same as wasting money. You need to choose the object of your attention. It may be one in need, but only one who deserves it is necessarily a good person or one who can become one. The philosopher helps, according to Seneca, one out of compassion, simply helps out another in a difficult life situation, and repays a third a debt, but does not scatter money left and right. The author criticizes those who condemn him for giving with the desire to get back (“in any case, in order not to incur losses” 16). There is no need to demand a return from people, the main thing is that the sage’s wealth is not wasted.

Description of work

Everyone wants to achieve happiness in their life, but not everyone has an idea of ​​what happiness is. It is very difficult to achieve it. So what do you need to do to live happily?

Content

1. What is a happy life?
2.What should be the spiritual qualities of a person striving for a happy life
3. Comparison of morality and pleasure.
4. What is the spiritual freedom of a person.
5. Goals on the path to happiness. The advantages of the best over the worst for a philosopher.
6. The main task of every philosopher.

• “What nature requires is available and achievable, we sweat only for the sake of excess. And what we have enough of is at hand. He who is good in poverty is rich. Do not act like those who do not want to improve, but to be in plain sight, and do not make anything conspicuous in your clothing and lifestyle. Let us be different from the inside - from the outside we should not be different from people. Let the one who enters our house be amazed at us, and not at our dishes. Great is the man who uses clay utensils as if they were silver, but no less great is he who uses silver utensils as if they were made of clay. He is weak in spirit, and both hope and fear are inherent in an uncertain soul, troubled by the expectations of the future. main reason hope and fear - our inability to adapt to the present and the habit of sending our thoughts far ahead. We are tormented by both the future and the past. And no one is unhappy because current reasons"The ideas of Gestalt therapy and the principle of living “here and now” are visible to the naked eye.
• “Whoever cares about the future will lose the present, which he could enjoy... Is there anything more pathetic and more stupid than to be afraid in advance? What kind of madness is it to anticipate one’s own misfortune? Those who suffer earlier than necessary suffer more than necessary."
• Seneca called to engage in philosophy, your spiritual backbone: “If you are engaged in philosophy, it is good, because only in it is health, without it the soul is sick, and the body, no matter how much strength it has, is healthy, just like that of the insane and obsessed. So, first of all, take care of your real health. Exercising only to make your arms stronger, your shoulders wider, your sides stronger, is a stupid activity and unworthy of an educated person. all the same, you cannot compare in weight or body with a fattened bull. Moreover, the burden of flesh, growing, oppresses the spirit and deprives it of mobility, it is impossible to live not only happily, but even tolerably. happy life It is wisdom that is perfect, and its beginnings that make it bearable...
• Philosophy forges and tempers the soul, subordinates life to order, governs actions, indicates what to do and what to abstain from, sits at the helm and guides the path of those driven by waves among the abyss. Without it there is no fear and confidence. If there is one good thing about philosophy, it is that it does not look at pedigree. Nobility of spirit is available to everyone. We are well-born enough for this..."
• It is not the body that needs to be changed, but the soul! Even if you went beyond the wide seas, your vices will follow you wherever you go.” Socrates answered someone’s question the same way: “Is it strange that you have no benefit from traveling if you drag yourself everywhere?” No matter how much you drive around, everything will be in vain. You can't run away from yourself! You need to get rid of its burden from your soul, and before that you won’t like a single place.”

• Video lessons on mathematics.

• Seneca argues that one must live in accordance with the Laws of Nature: “If in life you conform to nature, you will never be poor, and if you conform to human opinion, then you will never be rich. Nature desires little, human opinion desires infinitely much. Excess is only "They will teach you to desire even more. Natural desires have a limit, generated by a false opinion - they do not know where to stop, because everything false has no boundaries." , obligations and whose demands know no bounds!
• And also Seneca: “Has nature, having given us such a small body, endowed us with an insatiable womb so that we conquer the largest and most voracious animals with greed? Not at all! Nature is content with little! How much is given to nature? It is not our hunger that costs us dearly, but our vanity. Those ... who obey the stomach, we must classify not as people, but as animals, and some not even as animals, but as dead ones. The one who benefits many lives, the one who is useful to himself lives.”
• “The body is given health for a while, but the soul is healed forever.” A thought that can be traced in all psychoanalytic concepts of neuroses: only personality correction can serve as a criterion for recovery.
• The following passage can serve as an example of rational psychotherapy: "Good consolation becomes a healing drug; what lifts the spirit helps the body."

For one man, these words served as the beginning of an insight: “When I heard these words of Seneca, I suddenly realized that even when I eat alone, I kind of want to prove to others that I am no worse than them. I stopped chasing delicacies, walking less to go to parties, take care of myself more, improve in my specialty. My food expenses have noticeably decreased, I even lost weight, which I no longer hoped for. My qualifications grew, I began to bring more benefit to others, and my income increased.”

How to cope with the loss of a loved one? Seneca.

Here are some more thoughts that are in tune with the ideas of psychotherapy, helping in the treatment of depressive neurosis that arose after the loss of loved ones.

• “When you lose a friend, let your eyes not be dry and not stream: you can shed a tear, but you can’t cry.”
• “We look for evidence of our melancholy in tears and do not submit to grief, but put it on display. No one grieves for himself! And in grief there is a share vanity ! “So,” you ask, “will I really forget my friend?” - You promise him a short memory if it passes away with sorrow! Soon any occasion will smooth out the wrinkles on your forehead and make you laugh. As soon as you stop watching yourself, the mask of grief falls off: you yourself guard your grief, but it slips out of custody and dries up the sooner the more acute it was. Try to make the memory of those lost joyful to us...<…>For me, thinking about dead friends is joyful and sweet. When I was with them, I knew that I would lose them, when I lost them, I know that they were with me. So let us enjoy the company of friends - after all, it is unknown how long it will be available to us... He who does not love them [friends] weeps most bitterly until he loses them! That’s why they grieve so uncontrollably because they are afraid that someone will doubt their love, and they are looking for late proof of their feelings.”

A surprisingly subtle observation. But Seneca is mistaken in believing that we cry for others. Grief for the deceased is sincere at the level of consciousness, but often it is actually death loved one- simply a convenient reason for unconscious psychological defense mechanisms to get rid of emotional stress and at the same time remain passive.

"Clouds". Automatic earnings on the Internet.

Clinical example. For several years, the young woman went to her husband’s grave every day and sobbed bitterly. She lived with her husband for only 10 days. It looked, of course, very beautiful. But analysis showed that during the days of her marriage she developed a pronounced aversion to intimate relationships. Tears and grief relieved her of the need to arrange her personal life, because bad experience scared her.

But let’s return to Seneca: “If we still have friends, then we treat them poorly and do not value them, since they cannot console us by replacing one buried; if he was our only friend, then it is not fortune that is to blame for us, and we ourselves: she took one from us, but we did not get the other. And then, whoever could not love more than one, did not love one too much. You buried the one you loved, it’s better to get a new friend! than cry!

If reason does not stop sorrow, then time will put an end to it; however for reasonable person weariness with grief is the most shameful cure for grief. So it’s better to leave grief yourself before it leaves you, and quickly stop doing what you cannot do for a long time.

The ancestors established one year of mourning for women - not “so that they would mourn for so long, but so that they would not mourn longer; for men there is no legal period, for any period is shameful for them.

Nothing becomes hateful so quickly as grief; the recent finds a comforter... the old causes ridicule. And not in vain: after all, it is either feigned or stupid...

What can happen every day can happen today. So let us remember that we will soon go to where those we mourn went. And maybe those whom we think have disappeared have simply moved on...<…>We are losing not friends, not children, but their bodies. The wise man is not depressed by the loss of children or friends: he endures their death with the same calm with which he awaits his own, and just as he is not afraid of his own death, he does not grieve over the death of loved ones... for life, if there is no courage to die, is slavery. Are you afraid to die? Are you still alive now? Life is like a play: it doesn’t matter whether it’s long or short, but whether it’s well played.”

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c. 4 BC - 65 AD) - Roman philosopher and writer. Mentor, then advisor to Emperor Nero. He was subsequently accused of plotting against Nero and committed suicide. He was the most prominent representative of Roman Stoicism. Seneca outlined his views in “Moral Letters to Lucilius”, “Questions of Natural Science”, etc. He is also the author of nine tragedies. Seneca's philosophical writings subsequently influenced the memoir-moralistic genre, and his tragedies influenced William Shakespeare and the playwrights of French classicism.

Using materials from the book Mikhail Efimovich Litvak "From Hell to Heaven. Selected lectures on psychotherapy"

Four "YES" for happiness.

The next video is not the wisdom of Seneca, but it also has meaning :-). What four “YES” should any person say in order to be happy and not get stressed? An excerpt from Mikhail Efimovich Litvak’s seminar “How to recognize your script and get out of it.”

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