It's easy to forget that philosophy means "love of wisdom," not "love of thinking." In addition to philosophy that tells you how to think well, the field also provides guidance on how to live well - solid advice on how to be a good father or friend, or how to grow old gracefully, or to know what true happiness is. Greek and Roman thinkers such as Marcus Tullius Cicero, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Dio Chrysostom, and Plutarch of Chaeronea devoted their lives not to metaphysics and epistemology but to the appreciation and practice of morality and virtue, values, and character. They give us - in plain, straightforward language - rules designed to help us progress as people. These 24 inspiring lectures introduce you to the sages who, as a group, represent the "missing page" of the history of philosophy. Although their names are sometimes familiar to us, as in the case of Cicero and Plutarch, their philosophy is not. Studying these thinkers offers some surprising ways to think about philosophy. For example, they believed the heart of philosophy is the question of how to live well as a human being. It is how you act, not what you think, that is most important. Virtue and morality are the keys to living a good life. And philosophers should practice what they preach (although, as you'll discover, the Greco-Roman moral philosophers certainly had flaws). From Cicero's deep sense of civic duty to Marcus Aurelius's pursuit of wisdom and dedication to the common good, this course offers ample opportunity to hear, in their own words, the philosophers' prescriptions for healthier living.
Practical Philosophy: The Greco-Roman Moralists
01: The World of the Greco-Roman Moralists
This opening presentation introduces the Greco-Roman moralists through a comparison between the ancient Roman Empire and the new American Empire. The moral philosophers look less like academic philosophers of today than they do the talk-show therapists who haunt contemporary media.
02: How Empire Changed Philosophy
Greek philosophy found its distinctive voice in the context of the city-state, but the late Roman republic and early empire were different worlds. The rich sense of local culture and of citizen participation that had marked Athens was now subordinated to the structures of empire. For those in the middle of society, the result was sometimes alienation and anomie.
03: The Great Schools and Their Battles
The sages of the early empire agreed that a virtuous life was the best life, but disagreed on the best way of accomplishing virtue. To some extent, their differences were based in the various schools of philosophy that grew up in Greece. Each had distinctive opinions concerning reality, truth, and virtue. The most influential traditions for the Greco-Roman moralists were Stoicism and Cynicism.
04: Dominant Themes and Metaphors
Greco-Roman philosophers teach in many literary modes, including letters, discourses, biographies, and collections of maxims. Certain themes and metaphors constantly recur. The first is athletic: The quest for virtue is perceived as an Olympic contest. The second is medical: Virtue is health and vice is illness. The philosopher, not incidentally, is the physician of the soul.
05: The Ideal Philosopher—A Composite Portrait
What should the philosopher be like? Those committed to the pursuit of wisdom emphasized inner qualities of character. Proteptic discourses by Dio Chrysostom, Epictetus, Lucian of Samosata, and the emperor Julian provide a composite portrait of the ideal philosopher.
06: The Charlatan—Philosophy Betrayed
The polemical attacks of philosophers were directed not only at members of rival schools or at sophists who spoke publicly for pay. Their greatest scorn and contempt were reserved for charlatans (goetai), those who claimed the name of philosopher, but whose behavior did not match their professed ideals. A particularly sustained and effective dismantling of a charlatan is Lucian of Samosata's Proteus Peregrinus.
07: Philosophy Satirized—The Comic Lucian
Lucian of Samosata (120–200 C.E.) is one of history's great humorists, the ancient world's equivalent of Jonathan Swift or Mark Twain. In his savage attacks on the pomposities of pretend philosophers, Lucian most resembles the American journalist, H. L. Mencken. As his tractates Nigrinus and Demonax demonstrate, he also had a great respect for what he considered to be an authentic philosophical spirit.
08: Cicero—The Philosopher as Politician
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.E.) is one of the best-known figures of Roman antiquity, because of his public career as a politician, and his extensive private correspondence. While not entirely admirable in his own character, he shows us the real-life struggle between high ideals and human frailty.
09: Seneca—Philosopher as Court Advisor
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 B.C.E.-65 C.E.), like Cicero, was fundamentally a scholar, and attained the consulship (57 C.E.). His greatest role was as tutor to the young man who would become the emperor Nero, to whom Seneca directed his best thoughts on the virtuous government and kingship (for example, On Clemency). Seneca composed many letters and essays approached from the perspective of Roman Stoicism.
10: Good Roman Advice—Cicero and Seneca
No aspect of life was so highly valued in Greco-Roman culture as friendship. The first part of this presentation investigates Cicero's great treatise, On Friendship. The second part draws lessons from a comparison of Cicero's and Seneca's treatment of old age.
11: Musonius Rufus—The Roman Socrates
Cicero's contemporary Musonius Rufus is virtually unknown to us, even though he enjoyed a huge reputation among his fellow philosophers. His fame had something to do with his impressive virtue. From the fragments of his discourses that remain, we see that he was at once rigorous and humane, remarkably open to the capacity of women to learn, yet traditional in his perception of their social roles.
12: Dio Chrysostom—The Wandering Rhetorician
Dio of Prusa (45-115 C.E.) is unusual among the Greco-Roman moralists, because he spent part of his life as one of their rivals. His great eloquence earned him the name Chrysostom (golden-tongue). In mid-life, he experienced a dramatic conversion to the philosophical life. His orations provide a lively portrait of the many public speakers competing for attention in Hellenistic cities, as well as the qualities distinguishing the real philosopher from the charlatan.
13: Dio Chrysostom—Preaching Peace and Piety
As a public speaker who traveled from city to city, Dio had the opportunity to address issues of civic and not simply individual virtue and vice. His pleas for concord between cities evoke some of the other major themes of ancient philosophy. Dio is an example of a philosophical monotheism that developed independently within Greco-Roman culture.
14: Epictetus—Philosopher as School Teacher
Epictetus (c. 50-120 C.E.) is recognized as one of the great moral teachers of any age. Born a slave and suffering from lameness, he was freed sometime after the death of Nero (c. 68), but was banished from Rome by the emperor Domitian in 89 or 93. He founded a school for young, would-be philosophers in Epirus. This first presentation on Epictetus focuses on his life and his manner of teaching through the lively discourses known as "diatribes."
15: Epictetus—The Stotic Path to Virtue
Epictetus's discourses show how Stoic philosophy was constantly put in service of moral transformation. In this presentation, we learn the basics of Stoic doctrine as communicated to his students by Epictetus, and especially the personal twist he puts on logic, physics, and ethics.
16: Epictetus—The Messenger of Zeus
The Greco-Roman philosophers remind us that high moral standards and religious convictions do not necessarily go hand-in-hand. Epictetus stands out for his personal religious fervor. His understanding of the true Cynic is as a messenger of God to humans, to turn them from vice and toward virtue.
17: Marcus Aurelius—Meditations of the King
Among the most attractive representatives of ancient moral philosophy is the emperor, Marcus Aurelius (121-180 C.E.). His sole literary work, the Meditations, was composed while he was engaged in his military campaigns. It shows how democratic the ideals of philosophy were within the empire, embracing both the slave Epictetus and the emperor Marcus, whose personal circle also included philosophers of various schools, all dedicated to the life of virtue.
18: Jews Thinking Like Greeks
The power and persuasiveness of Hellenistic moral philosophy is nowhere more evident than in its impact on Jewish thinkers of the imperial period. Greek-speaking Jews in Palestine and the Diaspora, although regarding their ancestral traditions as older and better, nevertheless adopted the perspectives of Greek philosophy. In his Jewish War and Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus describes Jewish sects in terms of philosophical schools.
19: Philo—Judaism as Greek Philosophy
The synthesis of Judaism and Greek philosophy found its most prolific expression in the writings of Philo Judaeus of Alexandria (15 B.C.E.-50 C.E.). A member of a wealthy and influential Jewish family, Philo was also thoroughly steeped in Hellenistic culture. He unhesitatingly interpreted Jewish traditions from the perspective of Greco-Roman philosophy.
20: Plutarch—Biography as Moral Instruction
Plutarch of Chaeronea (46-146 C.E.) lived under the emperors Nerva, Trajan, and Hadrian, a time when the Roman Empire enjoyed some of its best and most stable government. His life was correspondingly placid and productive. We review his major ethical writings, "The Moralia" and "The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans."
21: Plutarch and Philosophical Religion
As an official functionary in a cult, and a man generally dedicated to traditional practices, Plutarch provides insight into the way a sympathetic philosopher viewed religion during the empire's most stable period. This presentation considers some of his general views before considering some of his treatises dealing specifically with religious issues.
22: Plutarch on Virtue and Educating Children
The ancient moralists disputed how virtue was acquired, but most agreed that it involved some form of "prokope," or progress, that resulted from the cultivation of habits. No one had a better grasp of the difficulties of this process than Plutarch. We consider his tractate "On Progress in Virtue" and his treatise "On the Education of Children."
23: Plutarch—Envy, Anger, and Talking Too Much
If the Greco-Roman moralists were adept at describing virtues, they excelled in their depictions of vice. Plutarch's "Moralia" is filled with precise and subtle examinations of human failing. We gain some acquaintance with his opinions of three vices discussed broadly by ancient philosophers: anger, envy, and garrulousness.
24: The Missing Page in Philosophy’s Story
The Greco-Roman moralists remind us of the deeper issue that has traditionally been at the heart of philosophy: how to live well as a human being. The Greco-Roman moralists tend to be neglected by scholars in spite of their importance. The story of philosophy might look different if the page dealing with them were read more carefully.
About
Dr. Luke Timothy Johnson is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Emory University's Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, Georgia. Professor Johnson earned a Ph.D. in New Testament Studies from Yale University, as well as an M.A. in Religious Studies from Indiana University, an M.Div. in Theology from Saint Meinrad School of Theology, and a B.A. in Philosophy from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. A former Benedictine monk, Professor Johnson has taught at Yale Divinity School and Indiana University, where he received the President's Award for Distinguished Teaching, was elected a member of the Faculty Colloquium in Teaching, and won the Brown Derby Teaching Award and the Student Choice Award for teaching. At Emory University, he has twice received the On Eagle's Wings Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2007 he received the Candler School of Theology Outstanding Service Award. His most recent award is the 2011 Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Religion for the ideas set forth in his 2009 book, Among the Gentiles: Greco-Roman Religion and Christianity. Professor Johnson is the author of more than 20 books, including The Real Jesus: The Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the Truth of the Traditional Gospels and The Writings of the New Testament: An Interpretation, which is widely used as a textbook. He has also published several hundred scholarly articles and reviews.
