Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations: Ancient Philosophy for Modern Problems

291 Pages·2013·2.47 MB·English

by  Jules Evans

Copyright © 2012 by Jules Evans All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, or other
— without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a
review.
First published in Great Britain in 2012 by Rider Books, an imprint of Ebury Publishing, a Random House
Group company. www.randomhouse.co.uk
Text design by Tona Pearce Myers Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Evans, Jules.
Philosophy for life and other dangerous situations : ancient philosophy for modern problems / Jules Evans.
pages cm
Originally published: London : Rider Books, 2012.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60868-229-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-60868-230-0 (ebook) 1. Philosophy, Ancient.
2. Conduct of life. I. Title.
B111.E93 2013
180—dc23 2013019258
First New World Library edition, October 2013
ISBN 978-1-60868-229-4
Printed in Canada on 100% postconsumer-waste recycled paper
New World Library is proud to be a Gold Certified Environmentally Responsible Publisher.
Publisher certification awarded by Green Press Initiative. www.greenpressinitiative.org
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my mother and father, with love
“When evening comes, I return home and go into my study. On the threshold I
strip off my muddy, sweaty, workday clothes, and put on the robes of court and
palace, and in this graver dress I enter the antique courts of the ancients and am
welcomed by them, and there I taste the food that alone is mine, and for which I
was born. And there I make bold to speak to them and ask the motives of their
actions, and they, in their humanity, reply to me. And for the space of four hours
I forget the world, remember no vexation, fear poverty no more, tremble no
more at death…”
NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI
Contents
Preface: Welcome to the School of Athens
1. Morning Roll Call: Socrates and the Art of Street Philosophy
MORNING SESSION: THE WARRIORS OF VIRTUE
2. Epictetus and the Art of Maintaining Control
3. Musonius Rufus and the Art of Fieldwork
4. Seneca and the Art of Managing Expectations
LUNCH: PHILOSOPHY BUFFET
5. Lunchtime Lesson: Epicurus and the Art of Savoring the Moment
EARLY-AFTERNOON SESSION: MYSTICS AND SKEPTICS
6. Heraclitus and the Art of Cosmic Contemplation
7. Pythagoras and the Art of Memorization and Incantation
8. Skeptics and the Art of Cultivating Doubt
LATE-AFTERNOON SESSION: POLITICS
9. Diogenes and the Art of Anarchy
10. Plato and the Art of Justice
11. Plutarch and the Art of Heroism
12. Aristotle and the Art of Flourishing
Graduation: Socrates and the Art of Departure
EXTRACURRICULAR APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Is Socrates Overoptimistic about Human Reason?
Appendix 2: The Socratic Tradition and Non-Western Philosophical Traditions
Appendix 3: Socrates and Dionysus
Notes
Further Reading
Acknowledgments
Index
About the Author
Preface: Welcome to the School of Athens
POPE JULIUS II WAS A GREAT ENTHUSIAST for home improvement. Not content with
commissioning Bramante to design the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, or
Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling, his Holiness hired a relatively
unknown twenty-seven-year-old from Urbino, called Raphael, to paint a series of
huge frescoes on the walls of his private library in the Vatican Palace. The
frescos would represent the main subjects found in Julius’s library: theology,
law, poetry, and philosophy. It is the last fresco, which has come to be called The
School of Athens, which is particularly admired today. In it, Raphael presents a
group of philosophers from the ancient world, mainly from Greece but also from
Rome, Persia, and the Middle East, gathered together in animated conversation.
Academics are not certain exactly which philosophers are depicted in the
painting. They’re sure the two figures debating in the center of the painting are
Plato and Aristotle, as they’re holding their books. They’re fairly sure the
philosopher in the front left writing equations is Pythagoras, and the melancholy
philosopher sitting alone is Heraclitus. The rather louche figure sprawled on the
marble steps is probably Diogenes the Cynic. Socrates is in the back row,
interrogating a pretty youth, and the smiling, garlanded philosopher on the far
left may be Epicurus. What is clear is that this is a very heterogeneous group of
philosophers, who put forward distinct and radical ideas, many of which were
well beyond the limits of Catholic dogma. Epicurus was a materialist, Plato and
Pythagoras believed in reincarnation, Heraclitus believed in a cosmic
intelligence made of fire. And yet here they all are together, bursting out from
the wall of the Vatican Palace.
The School of Athens is one of my favorite paintings. I love its balance