Preview

Summary Of The Enchiridion By Epictetus

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
601 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Summary Of The Enchiridion By Epictetus
In “ The Enchiridion,” Epictetus argues ideas in which people fail to understand the difference between the things in one has in control and what surrounds them. Perhaps one of the strongest claims that Epictetus gives is that one lacks to distinguishing the two points the external world and the internal world. Epictetus believes that many do not notice what is in more in value and they expect more than what is able to take in control, which makes them unhappy. In this paper, I will argue that Epictetus argument has reasonable justification for his idea that it is one's opinion that dictates if we are feeling happy or melancholy.
Epictetus argues the idea that one over thinks the concept of happiness and is confused on how it is obtained
…show more content…
If external comes to attention when trying to please or grab attention, he states that it will ruin your life. “Don’t stretch your desires towards it, but wait till it reaches you.” Basically, let the disappointed desires or anything else come into life when needed and make a wise choice at the present moment. I agree on Epictetus thought, because the philosopher Socrates states that death is something unstoppable and that is something to not worry about at the moment. Socrates believed that the thought of dead had lead people into making the wrong choices. In the first place, Socrates never considered death as to being bad, it was just the fact that people eventually had the thought of it coming soon. Mortality was designed for everyone and there was going to be a point in their lives that it was going to come and nothing could be done. Socrates thinks that it is a waste of time to think of it, nothing can be done, but the way one thinks can be changed. I agree on both Socrates and Epictetus believes because, if death is something can’t be stopped might as well make the most out of every moment and nothing better than a joyful

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Epictetus wrote in The Enchiridion, "Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them.(2010:pg344)…

    • 1412 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Based on real events, this novel is set in the old Ohio Penitentiary. The metaphors of the institution are realistic. The inmate characters and the names of staff have been changed in this novel. The story begins by tagging a group of inmates who meet weekly under the tutelage of a lifer named Zeno in a group called the Epictetus Club. The inmates try to learn something from the teaching of this Greek philosopher. The inmates meet the daily confronts of their lives with the help of his ancient perception. The club members show how to think beyond our own self-imposed limitations and comfort zones, as they start to learn to think outside the limits of their own literal walls as they resist to convert themselves.…

    • 1179 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sharon Begley in “Happiness: Enough Already” argues that being extremely happy may be a goal of anybody but it also can be “the end of the drive for ever-greater heights of happiness” (455). Begley claims that “being happier is not always better” (455) and an excessive happiness may affect badly to people’s life. She points out that people who reach the highest level of happiness don’t feel motivated to move forward since they are already satisfied. The author goes on insists that happiness does not last long because “negative emotion evolved for a reason” (456). She presents many cases of famous people who experienced negative emotions to create their well-known works showing the need of sadness in every lifetime. Furthermore, people desire to gain more and more happiness causing them the fear to experience sadness. Therefore, what they once considered normal sadness is regarded as a psychiatric illness now. The author then concludes that everything would be much better if “the single-minded pursuit of happiness as an end in itself” (458).…

    • 741 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The plays Trifles by Susan Glaspell and Oedipus the King by Sophocles illustrate how uncontrolled emotions, such as fear, anger, embarrassment and can lead to bad consequences, including impulsive actions, destroying lives, and ultimately death. When reading these plays, the reader sees how detrimental negative emotions can be when it comes to the well-being of themselves and others that are in their lives. Not only can the lack of control of these emotions cause physical pain, but it can also cause emotional distress and also can cause distrust within relationships ultimately causing the relationships to be ruined. The reader is given good examples of cause and effect of how emotions can ruin a person’s life based off of how they are controlled. As humans we are all given emotions, and sometimes we are given challenges to test our emotional control, however it is only when we learn how to control them that we actually learn how to find happiness within ourselves.…

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In reading Epictus Handbook, I discover that Epictus never really states a point of options. I understand from his reading and works that he doesn't like to take a definite stand on anything he speaks on. He says our "opions or perceptions are entirely up to us, and our impulses, desires, aversions". However I only agree with his statement to a degree, but the following statement "our bodies are not up to us, nor are our possessions, our reputations, or our public office, or, that is what is not our own doing". I strongly disagree with the statement, that our reputations are not our own doing. Reason being, is in my opion, from book 1. Epictus is stating that whatever I think or feel about something or someone is all up to me and no one can change the thoughts, but he says what other's think or feel about me I can't do anything about it, which I agree on to an extent. As far as reputations is concerned I personally believe that one can control other's perceptions of you, meaning if one is living in accordance to what is deemed civil and proper in his or hers society; their peers can't say anything to tarnish that reputation being good or bad. However everyone is entitled to have his or her own opinions. So in short Epitus is saying everyone has…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “The prospect of death is at best a disquieting annoyance; it is at worst a terrifying mystery” (Rosenbaum 175). Death, a tragedy of life, is an experience that each and every one of us have to undergo through at a certain point in our lifetime. May it be from old age, sickness, violence etc. death is a state of affairs that is inescapable. Stephen Rosenbaum, a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, writes the essay “How to Be Dead and Not care” where he introduces Epicurus’ argument, defends and explicates it while also incorporating an American philosopher Thomas Nagel, objections to the argument. Evidently Rosenbaum’s essay serves as an insight for readers to learn how to value and repurpose their lives to be better than they are. Personally I do believe that death is not always bad for one in that, if a person were sick and day-in-day-out they were in pain, which hindered their daily interactions and experiences, then their death is not bad. At this point the person is at peace hence no pain, no sufferings, and no worries. Looking at the antithesis of my belief, if a happy person dies of a car accident then at this point death is bad for them since it deprives the person of their continued happiness and…

    • 1563 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    200) I think what Epictetus was trying to say is to not seek or wish to have events happen to you as you would want them to happen. For if you did you would be always be in a rut, always seeking what you want out of like instead of taking what your life has to offer. Each life has something else to offer each individual person. For what might happen to one might not happen for you and it might not happen when you want it too. When people win the big money with the lottery, there is always someone wishing they had that money or luck. They think of things to say of why that person does not even need that money and how you could use it for better and/ or wiser things. Who is to say that you won’t win the lottery tomorrow, the next year or 15 years from now? So there is no reason to wish or be concerned of what you have and do not…

    • 1251 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    ‘Aristotelianism is defined as happiness as the quality of a whole life time.’ “Happiness is the purpose for which we live. Aristotle concluded that happiness is not a moment to moment experience of pleasurable things but rather a way of characterizing how one’s life is being conducted. Happiness is living and having lived a good life”. (Janaro & Altshuler, 2009)…

    • 1333 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Manual of Epictetus, Arrian described the beliefs held by Epictetus and the Stoics. Arrian explained the aspect of power in terms of thoughts, impulses, actions and our will, in addition to existing things not in our power. Arrian also discussed behavior and actions to a great extent, focusing on attitude, compassion, your character, (bodily) limitations, and obedient piety. The Stoics according identified a happy life, according to Arrian, through contemplation of nature without pride, loss, envy, hate and the desire for control in the face of persecution or troubled times. Not to mention, Arrian stated that the Stoics were more concerned with the mind and intellectual thought than the flesh, disregarding bodily health as a fundamental…

    • 1210 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Example Of Epictetus

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Epictetus states that when someone offends you or wrongs you to the point where they irritate you, it’s not the act or person that insults you but the belief that you create when the action or person interacts with you. An example of this would be someone who purposely says hurtful things or charged statements to incite anger or ill-advised actions from you. What Epictetus deems, is that the person acting against us is not causing us to become irritated, but the image or perception that we craft from their actions that causes us this feeling of malcontent. In order to avoid this feeling we must become aware of this misguided feeling of irritation and not be swayed by it to better control our temper and avoid any negative actions that may inflict more self-harm in the future.…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    EPICURUS TO MENOECEUS

    • 914 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Epicurus began his letter by encouraging both the old and the young to seek for wisdom because; it will help both the aged and the young to exercise themselves in things that bring happiness. It is this happiness that brings about the wellbeing of the soul. Consequently he posits the limitedness in pursuit for happiness.…

    • 914 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Epictetus Imperfection

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Epictetus represents a complex group of concepts. One concept is that one should live with the awareness of human imperfection and boundaries. He feels that one is able to abandon the feelings of disrespect and desire by allowing all that is ill-fated to appear before one's eyes…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Epictetus’ Enchiridion, Epictetus claims that people are upset not by the things themselves but by their judgements about the things. This is because people are not in control of what happens to them, but they are in control of their own response. Therefore, the only things in life worth worrying about are those that are within the individual’s control. Worrying about anything else is destined to end in disappointment or sorrow.…

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stoics Vs. Epicureanism

    • 976 Words
    • 4 Pages

    After Aristotle’s rein, a new age on philosophy took subject matters into a new direction, emphasizing on emotion, and unorthodox methods. Two of the four iconic philosophical groups who greatly influenced society on how to obtain happiness were the stoics and the Epicureanism. The difference between these groups and their predecessors was not their end goal, like happiness, but the unconventional ways they chose to achieve their idea. Take for instance Epicureanism, they emphasized “on an ideal for living though what they called ataraxic or tranquility of soul, while Stoicism took the approach of controlling their reactions in inevitable events. In spite of both groups different methods, philosophers spawned these groups under the same circumstances.…

    • 976 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Like the causes of good and evil, Imlac explains to the prince that the circumstances of life are “so various and uncertain, so often entangled with each other, so diversified by various relations, and so much subject to accidents which cannot be foreseen, that he who would fix his condition upon incontestable reasons of preference, must live and die inquiring and deliberating” (Johnson 42). In this regard, there is no tangible substance to the word ‘happiness’ since the infinite variables of life inhibit such a term from having any definitive meaning. Therefore, Rasselas’ greatest folly may be that he believes the circumstances of a man’s life are chosen by the man himself, but fails to consider that a man’s way of life may, in reality, be determined by how he reacts to such…

    • 1851 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays