As noted in my previous post, I cannot agree with Seneca's characterization of poverty as carefree. However, he continues the discussion of poverty and wealth in his eighteenth letter to Lucilius. Even though Seneca was wealthy, and would not forbid Lucilius from possessing riches, he advised his friend that Lucilius could be happy without wealth. This advice seems to be based on the traditional Stoic teaching that wealth is not one of the goods. Jumping forward to Letter 87, Seneca restates for Lucilius -- in the form of syllogisms -- some of the classic Stoic arguments regarding wealth:
"That which can belong to the vilest and most despicable kinds of people is not a good. But wealth can belong to the pimp and the manager of gladiators. Therefore wealth is not a good. ...
That which is good does not come of what is bad. But wealth comes of avarice. Therefore wealth is not a good. ...
If the pursuit of something brings many bad results, that thing is not a good. Our pursuit of wealth brings many bad results. Therefore wealth is not a good."
I find Seneca's arguments about wealth to be more persuasive than his contentions about poverty. The fact that Seneca was willing to test his theories in the real world likewise supports their persuasiveness. He begins the eighty-seventh letter by telling Lucilius about a recent trip. Apparently, Seneca traveled in a country wagon pulled by mules, slept on his cloak, and dined on a simple diet of dried figs along with bread. Seneca's credibility -- and one of the qualities in him that I find to be most charming -- is also enhanced by the fact that he is willing to be honest about his own faults. Seneca confessed to Lucilius that he did not like being seen by other travelers in such a simple vehicle, and blushed when those in a more glamorous carriage passed by. Seneca observes that the person "who blushes in a shabby carriage will boast of an expensive one." The frugal habits he admires and approves of are not yet firmly established in him, Seneca admits; he has made only a little progress on the path to wisdom, Seneca says, because he still cares too much about the opinions of others.
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Seneca, Letters on Ethics to Lucilius, Translated with an Introduction and Commentary by Margaret Graver and A.A. Long (University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 2015), Letter 18, 13, page 69; Letter 87, 15-28, pages 303-305, and 2-5, page 300.
Showing posts with label Poverty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poverty. Show all posts
Monday, July 23, 2018
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
17: Is Poverty Carefree?
The seventeenth letter to Lucilius discusses another topic on which I have to agree to disagree with Seneca, at least in part. This letter begins with Seneca chiding his friend Lucilius about the latter's decision -- which he justifies by trepidation about poverty -- to continue in the family business and save money for the future rather than retire and devote himself to the study of philosophy. Seneca writes:
"Trust me: you should make philosophy your advocate. It will persuade you not to linger over your balance sheet. No doubt your aim, the purpose of all your delay, is to ensure that you need not fear poverty. But what if poverty is actually something to pursue? Many have found riches an obstacle to the philosophical life: poverty is untrammeled, carefree. When the trumpet sounds, the poor know that they are not the ones under attack; when the alarm of fire is raised, they look around for the exit, not for their belongings. When a poor person is about to embark, there is no tumult at the harbor, no bustling throng along the beach, attendants all of a single person; no pack of slaves standing around ... . Hunger is cheap; it is the palate that is expensive. Poverty is content to satisfy the immediate wants. Why, then, do you refuse to take as your companion one whose habits it is sensible for the wealthy to imitate? If you want to have time for your mind, you must either be poor or resemble the poor. Study cannot be beneficial without some time for frugality, and frugality is just voluntary poverty. So away with your excuses!"
I live about a mile away from one of the largest temporary homeless shelters in Chicago, and the residents there are among the least carefree people I have ever seen; rather, they appear to be suffering from chronic stress (among other maladies). Thus, I cannot agree with Seneca's argument that poverty is carefree. Seneca was born into a prosperous provincial family, and by the time he sat down to write the Letters late in his life, he was probably one of the wealthiest men in the Roman Empire; he seems, therefore, to have had no personal experience with poverty. However, in Seneca's defense, it must be noted that he attributed much of his success to good fortune.
Like Seneca, President Trump was born into prosperous family; like Seneca, Trump went on to build substantial personal wealth (although we do not know exactly how rich he is, because he will not release his income tax returns). But unlike Seneca, Trump attributes his success to "genius" -- instead of admitting that (after being given a head start in life) he has also been very lucky in business, as well as in politics.
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Seneca, Letters on Ethics to Lucilius, Translated with an Introduction and Commentary by Margaret Graver and A.A. Long (University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 2015), Letter 17, 2-5, pages 64-65.
"Trust me: you should make philosophy your advocate. It will persuade you not to linger over your balance sheet. No doubt your aim, the purpose of all your delay, is to ensure that you need not fear poverty. But what if poverty is actually something to pursue? Many have found riches an obstacle to the philosophical life: poverty is untrammeled, carefree. When the trumpet sounds, the poor know that they are not the ones under attack; when the alarm of fire is raised, they look around for the exit, not for their belongings. When a poor person is about to embark, there is no tumult at the harbor, no bustling throng along the beach, attendants all of a single person; no pack of slaves standing around ... . Hunger is cheap; it is the palate that is expensive. Poverty is content to satisfy the immediate wants. Why, then, do you refuse to take as your companion one whose habits it is sensible for the wealthy to imitate? If you want to have time for your mind, you must either be poor or resemble the poor. Study cannot be beneficial without some time for frugality, and frugality is just voluntary poverty. So away with your excuses!"
I live about a mile away from one of the largest temporary homeless shelters in Chicago, and the residents there are among the least carefree people I have ever seen; rather, they appear to be suffering from chronic stress (among other maladies). Thus, I cannot agree with Seneca's argument that poverty is carefree. Seneca was born into a prosperous provincial family, and by the time he sat down to write the Letters late in his life, he was probably one of the wealthiest men in the Roman Empire; he seems, therefore, to have had no personal experience with poverty. However, in Seneca's defense, it must be noted that he attributed much of his success to good fortune.
Like Seneca, President Trump was born into prosperous family; like Seneca, Trump went on to build substantial personal wealth (although we do not know exactly how rich he is, because he will not release his income tax returns). But unlike Seneca, Trump attributes his success to "genius" -- instead of admitting that (after being given a head start in life) he has also been very lucky in business, as well as in politics.
_______________
Seneca, Letters on Ethics to Lucilius, Translated with an Introduction and Commentary by Margaret Graver and A.A. Long (University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 2015), Letter 17, 2-5, pages 64-65.
Saturday, December 30, 2017
2: Virtue Or Pleasure?
In my most recent post on Seneca's first letter, I observed how the quality of his writing makes him a pleasure to read. But in the second letter to Lucilius, Seneca advises his friend to be mindful in reading selections, urging him to focus on quality versus quantity:
"Be careful, though, about your reading in many authors and every type of book. It may be that there is something wayward and unstable in it. You must stay with a limited number of writers and be fed by them if you mean to derive anything that will dwell reliably with you. One who is everywhere is nowhere."
For whatever it's worth, I have found this to be true in my own experience.
Interestingly, Seneca closes the second letter with a quote from Epicurus ("Cheerful poverty is an honorable thing"). Among other reasons, this is interesting because Seneca was a self-proclaimed Stoic, whereas Epicurus was the founder of a rival school of philosophy that bears his name. For the Stoics, according to Seneca, virtue -- defined as perfected reason -- was the sole good. The Stoic school of philosophy was founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the third century BC/BCE.
Also in that century (and also in Athens) Epicurus of Samos founded the school of philosophy that bears his name. According to Epicurus, "pleasure ... is our primary native good". Although Epicurus argued for "a simple rather than a lavish way of life", even in his own time, critics accused him of promoting hedonism; however, he attempted to clarify that:
"The pleasant life is not the product of one drinking party after another or of sexual intercourse ... or of the sea food and other delicacies afforded by a luxurious table. On the contrary, it is the result of sober thinking ... ."
It is noteworthy that -- while the Stoics and Epicureans disagreed about the nature of the greatest good -- this did not prevent Seneca from citing Epicurus when they were in agreement. The quote above on poverty seems to be favorable, as does Seneca's quotation of Epicurus in Letter 4 ("Poverty is great wealth when it adjusts to nature's law"). In fact, near the end of Letter 2, Seneca jokes with Lucilius that he crosses into the Epicurean camp as a spy rather than as a deserter.
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"Be careful, though, about your reading in many authors and every type of book. It may be that there is something wayward and unstable in it. You must stay with a limited number of writers and be fed by them if you mean to derive anything that will dwell reliably with you. One who is everywhere is nowhere."
For whatever it's worth, I have found this to be true in my own experience.
Interestingly, Seneca closes the second letter with a quote from Epicurus ("Cheerful poverty is an honorable thing"). Among other reasons, this is interesting because Seneca was a self-proclaimed Stoic, whereas Epicurus was the founder of a rival school of philosophy that bears his name. For the Stoics, according to Seneca, virtue -- defined as perfected reason -- was the sole good. The Stoic school of philosophy was founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the third century BC/BCE.
Also in that century (and also in Athens) Epicurus of Samos founded the school of philosophy that bears his name. According to Epicurus, "pleasure ... is our primary native good". Although Epicurus argued for "a simple rather than a lavish way of life", even in his own time, critics accused him of promoting hedonism; however, he attempted to clarify that:
"The pleasant life is not the product of one drinking party after another or of sexual intercourse ... or of the sea food and other delicacies afforded by a luxurious table. On the contrary, it is the result of sober thinking ... ."
It is noteworthy that -- while the Stoics and Epicureans disagreed about the nature of the greatest good -- this did not prevent Seneca from citing Epicurus when they were in agreement. The quote above on poverty seems to be favorable, as does Seneca's quotation of Epicurus in Letter 4 ("Poverty is great wealth when it adjusts to nature's law"). In fact, near the end of Letter 2, Seneca jokes with Lucilius that he crosses into the Epicurean camp as a spy rather than as a deserter.
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References:
Epicurus, Letter to Menoeceus at 129, page 158, from The Art of Happiness, Translated with Commentary by George K. Strodach and Forward by Daniel Klein (Penguin Classics, London, 2012); see also 131 at page 159 and 132 at page 160.
Seneca, Letters on Ethics to Lucilius, Translated with an Introduction and Commentary by Margaret Graver and A.A. Long (University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 2015), Letter 2, 2 and 5, pages 26 and 27; see Letter 76, 10 and 21, pages 241 and 243; see also Letter 4, 10, page 30.
Seneca, Letters on Ethics to Lucilius, Translated with an Introduction and Commentary by Margaret Graver and A.A. Long (University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 2015), Letter 2, 2 and 5, pages 26 and 27; see Letter 76, 10 and 21, pages 241 and 243; see also Letter 4, 10, page 30.
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