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Single Idea 13293
[filed under theme 1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 5. Aims of Philosophy / a. Philosophy as worldly
]
Full Idea
Shall I tell you what philosophy holds out for humanity? Counsel.
Gist of Idea
What philosophy offers humanity is guidance
Source
Seneca the Younger (Letters from a Stoic [c.60], 048)
Book Ref
Seneca: 'Letters from a Stoic (Selections)', ed/tr. Campbell,Robin [Penguin 1969], p.98
A Reaction
See Quine for a flat modern denial of this claim (Idea 9764). There is a modern tendency to see ethics and political thought operating at a meta- or metameta- level. I take the main ethical theories to be very illuminating of real life.
Related Idea
Idea 9764
Inspiration and social improvement need wisdom, but not professional philosophy [Quine]
The
32 ideas
from 'Letters from a Stoic'
13290
|
One joy of learning is making teaching possible
[Seneca]
|
13293
|
What philosophy offers humanity is guidance
[Seneca]
|
13292
|
Selfishness does not produce happiness; to live for yourself, live for others
[Seneca]
|
13294
|
We know death, which is like before birth; ceasing to be and never beginning are the same
[Seneca]
|
13295
|
Wise people escape necessity by willing it
[Seneca]
|
13297
|
To the four causes Plato adds a fifth, the idea which guided the event
[Seneca]
|
13301
|
We are scared of death - except when we are immersed in pleasure!
[Seneca]
|
13299
|
Living is nothing wonderful; what matters is to die well
[Seneca]
|
13300
|
It is as silly to lament ceasing to be as to lament not having lived in the remote past
[Seneca]
|
13298
|
Suicide may be appropriate even when it is not urgent, if there are few reasons against it
[Seneca]
|
13302
|
Life is like a play - it is the quality that matters, not the length
[Seneca]
|
13303
|
A man is as unhappy as he has convinced himself he is
[Seneca]
|
13305
|
Character is ruined by not looking back over our pasts, since the future rests on the past
[Seneca]
|
13312
|
Excessive curiosity is a form of intemperance
[Seneca]
|
13308
|
It's no good winning lots of fights, if you are then conquered by your own temper
[Seneca]
|
13311
|
Does time exist on its own? Did anything precede it? Did it pre-exist the cosmos?
[Seneca]
|
13310
|
Wisdom does not lie in books, and unread people can also become wise
[Seneca]
|
13307
|
If everything can be measured, try measuring the size of a man's soul
[Seneca]
|
13309
|
That something is a necessary condition of something else doesn't mean it caused it
[Seneca]
|
13313
|
Even philosophers have got bogged down in analysing tiny bits of language
[Seneca]
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13317
|
Philosophy aims at happiness
[Seneca]
|
13315
|
To govern used to mean to serve, not to rule; rulers did not test their powers over those who bestowed it
[Seneca]
|
13318
|
Nature doesn't give us virtue; we must unremittingly pursue it, as a training and an art
[Seneca]
|
13319
|
If we control our own death, no one has power over us
[Seneca]
|
13324
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Living contrary to nature is like rowing against the stream
[Seneca]
|
13320
|
Sometimes we have a duty not to commit suicide, for those we love
[Seneca]
|
13321
|
Is anything sweeter than valuing yourself more when you find you are loved?
[Seneca]
|
13322
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Both teachers and pupils should aim at one thing - the improvement of the pupil
[Seneca]
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21399
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Referring to a person, and speaking about him, are very different
[Seneca]
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22239
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Humans acquired the concept of virtue from an analogy with bodily health and strength
[Seneca, by Allen]
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13323
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The whole point of pleasure-seeking is novelty, and abandoning established ways
[Seneca]
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13325
|
Trouble in life comes from copying other people, which is following convention instead of reason
[Seneca]
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