EpictetusBorn in the year 55, Epictetus was a Greek philosopher in the Stoic tradition. He began his life as a slave in Rome, but after his release and eventual exile to Nicopolis, a city in northwestern Greece, he flourished as an instructor of philosophy. He opened his own school, based on the knowledge of earlier Stoicism that he had gained under the tutelage of Musonius Rufus.
All that is known of the teachings of Epictetus come from two main sources: the Discourses and the Handbook. The Discourses are the more philosophical and academic of the two works. Neither were written by Epictetus himself, but rather by his student Arrian, who states that he wrote them in an attempt to capture word for word the lectures given by his mentor. Reading through them one notes that, although Epictetus falls squarely within the Stoic tradition, he concentrated almost solely on the subject of ethics (i.e. discovering how to live one’s life well), whereas his predecessors had divided their time between ethics, natural philosophy and logic. He believed that the purpose of philosophy is not mere inquiry, but rather to discover the best way to live a human life.
For Epictetus, philosophy was the discovery of the nature of man and his place in nature, not for its own sake, but for the sake of living a life of eudaimonia (meaning happiness). Eudaimonia requires living a life that is in harmony with both one’s own nature and the larger natural world of which one is a part. Under this view, reason is a tool for discovering the nature of things which is only the first step towards virtue. To attain virtue, one must also develop habits that accord with the discoveries made via reason.
Web Resources On Epictetus
IEP: Epictetus
Wikipedia: Epictetus
Book Resources On EpictetusHandbook of Epictetus by Nicholas P. White
Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life by A.A. Long
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