In today’s society, scholars often question a liberal arts education, not realizing the knowledge, wisdom, or virtue it could provide. The path to virtue is through a lifestyle in which harmony is achieved by the guidance of Divine Will or the Law of Nature. The effects of virtue, as stated in Seneca’s “Liberal and Vocational Studies” are represented by temperance, loyalty, and bravery. Seneca does not believe that the study of liberal studies can lead to virtue; only intrinsic factors, prompted by Divine Will and the Law of Nature, can achieve this goal.
In the times of Seneca, the popular belief was that the liberal studies were the path to salvation; however, Seneca did not agree with that belief. Seneca was a stoic – an individual who could endure pain without expressing it emotionally or physically. Seneca stressed on how one must overcome adversity: “you must remove therefrom all superfluous things…Let all other things be driven out, and let the breast be emptied to receive virtue” (Seneca 28). These quotes represent an internal decision to
…show more content…
Seneca explains, “Temperance knows that the best measure of the appetites is not what you want to take, but what you ought to take” (Seneca 27). This suggests that one should refrain from corrupting the soul through vices, which would impede individual salvation. Stoics like Seneca believe that greed & addictions inevitably corrupt the soul, so one ought to seek what is essential for survival and avoid indulging in these vices. “Temperance controls our desires; some it hates and routs…” (Seneca 27). As human beings, we often succumb to our wants before satisfying our needs. We are not yet virtuous, according to Seneca, and therefore leading a life of this kind would not satisfy the soul. In his writing, Seneca stresses that in order to become virtuous, one must accept temperance and steer away the vices of
The value attributed to the first virtue, wisdom, whose essence lay in “the perception of truth and with ingenuity,” concerns the comprehension of the nature of justice (7). In fact, Cicero asserts, within the public sphere, “unless learning is accompanied by the virtue that consists...
Seneca has a strong opinion on the liberal arts and the liberal study’s in general. He thinks students are only focused on the worldly skills, and not the skills of life. Students are lacking the common knowledge on how to treat others and losing sight in what it takes to become a decent human being. In “Liberal Studies and Education” by Seneca, the path to virtue is through self-awareness. Throughout Seneca’s letter he states his views on liberal education and how important it is in life, students can’t just focus on worldly things, they need to focus on the things we take with us after death. The mind is important, but in Seneca’s letter, he feels the soul should get the most attention in the education field, virtue being his main idea. The effects of virtue are illustrated through the characteristics of, kindness, love for the common man, and inner strength.
In the 1997 article, “On The Uses of a Liberal Education: As a Weapon In the Hands of the Restless Poor,” published by Harper’s Magazine, the social critic Earl Shorris described how political power could be achieved by a rather non-vocational educational discipline, the humanities. He emphasizes on how the knowledge of a liberal Education can be used as a form of weapon within the lives for the poor.
According to Roman philosopher Seneca, “It is easier to exclude harmful passions than to rule them, and to deny them admittance than to control them after they have been admitted.” Seneca uses repetition of the word “admit” to emphasize his belief that humans are in control of what they allow to enter lives. Seneca explains that it is easier to avoid sins than to limit the sins after they have already been committed. Huxley exemplifies this belief through John the Savage who symbolizes the values and culture of the reader’s society. John tried to remain celibate in a society with promiscuous habits. In order to avoid sin, he avoided his source of impure thoughts, Lenina. When the presence of Lenina seemed inevitable, John would punish himself to avoid sin. Overwhelmed by profligacy of wrongdoings, John eventually committed suicide in order to avoid temptation.
The commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace in the autumn of 2005, is a very deep speech that examines the whole idea of a Liberal Arts education at an extremely deep and intellectual level. In the 22 minute long speech Wallace talks about how higher education not only teaches you to think but “how to exercise some control over how and what you think.” (Wallace). Wallace later in his speech stresses the importance of this level of thinking by saying “if you cannot exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed” (Wallace) What he means by saying this is that if you cannot think at a higher level and make sense of real world problems your life will become meaningless and you will become dead inside your head.
Seneca, Lucius Annaeus. Letters From a Stoic. Translation and Introduction by Robin Campbell. New York: Penguin, 1969.
...Epicureans and Stoics] offered a conception of the world and human nature which drew its support from empirical observations, reason and a recognition that all men have common needs” (6). Though both views opposed each other in various ways, they both provided man with a way to live and to care for oneself.
Contrary to Aristotle’s view that supreme happiness is related to earthly living, Augustine argues that supreme happiness is not truly found until one seeks eternal life with God. While both mostly agree on the definitions of the virtues, differences arise when one looks at their views on the ends that those virtues should be directed towards. In this essay, I will discuss both Aristotle and Augustine’s ideas of virtues and what each thinks humans should do in order to truly find and achieve the supreme good of happiness.
“A high school graduate who has acquired Hirsch’s core knowledge will know, for example, that John Stuart Mill was an important 19th-century English Philosopher who was associated with something called Utilitarianism and wrote a famous book called On Liberty. But learning philosophy in college, which is and essential component of a liberal education, means that the student has to be able to read and understand the actual text of On Liberty”. (Murray
Shiffman believes that the drop in interest in the humanities results in the inability of students to have clear bearings amid life’s uncertainties. He believes that only by studying the humanities will students be able to introspect and recognize that endless achievement may not add up to a meaningful life (Shiffman 5). However, Shiffman fails to realize that this form of reflection need not be done solely by those majoring in the humanities. It can be done by all who try, their fields of study are no limitation. In fact, it may be this same reflection that leads to an individual’s decision to prioritize practicality. Not all those who choose the practical path are doing it for themselves. Many may do it for their families, as a safe and stable means of supporting their loved ones. Others may take this opportunity to give back to their community through the ways they are most skilled. Instead of pursuing a single interest in a certain field, they choose to follow their various callings. Doing solely what an individual loves is a self-centered view of the world. While it is important to chase happiness, it is also important to reflect on what one is doing to spread happiness to the rest of the world. One must find something that they are good at, and put that into the world. They should contribute to others and help the world be better, in addition to following their passions. An individual’s acts of service may just become one of their many passions.
The current inquiry considers some of the chief notions of the Stoics, but more specifically it focuses upon one important question: what does it mean to follow nature for the Stoics? To answer this question, the testimonies of several of the Stoics are pooled and examined together in the end. Not only does this inquisition illustrate chief attributes of Stoicism, but those attributes are eventually evaluated in light of their coherence as well.
In comparing the ethical theories of the Epicureans, Aristotle, and the Stoics it’s found that they possess three separate ideas. These ideas are different in their individual beliefs; yet attempt to accomplish the same goals of creating an inner peace and sense of well being in their followers. Generally these three disciplines had distinctly separate ideas on how to set about accomplishing these goals; the Epicureans felt that the pursuit of pleasure was the correct path to enlightenment, while the Stoics had the idea that the conformation to strict laws regarding virtue was the proper path, and as for Aristotle, he held the middle ground in this debate of the minds, feeling that moderation was the key to complete happiness.
More specifically, Stoicism is a moral guide for humans. Though nature is absolute and perfect through God, the human thought is the one and only feature of life that is controlled and changed by people. Humans have the ability to reason and to know that everything in life is determined. For every event that they encounter, humans are able to acknowledge the fact that it is a part of their life plan. Therefore, a person can control whether he/she accepts that the action is unchangeable. Many humans think that they have a choice for all that they do and all that happens to them. But in Stoic reality, natures plan has one path with no possible differences. Thus, good is not defined by what a person does; but, by a per...
In his Confessions, Saint Augustine warns against the many pleasures of life. "Day after day," he observes, "without ceasing these temptations put us to the test" (245).[1] He argues that a man can become happy only by resisting worldly pleasures. But according to Aristotle, virtue and happiness depend on achieving the "moral mean" in all facets of life. If we accept Aristotle's ideal of a balanced life, we are forced to view Saint Augustine's denial of temptations from a different perspective. His avoidance of worldly pleasures is an excess of self-restraint that keeps him from the moral mean between pleasure and self-restraint. In this view, he is sacrificing balance for excess, and is no different from a drunkard who cannot moderate his desire for alcohol.
... and it does make sense. Stoics believed that by mastering their thoughts they could master their feelings. Aurelius gave the example of a man being hurt into an involuntary loss of control by injustice. Then on the other side a man’s desires move him to do wrong of his own volition. Both are emotions and as a stoic you control your feelings to achieve happiness, thus it contradicts itself.