How to Be Free: An Ancient Guide to the Stoic Life by Epictetus

Author:Epictetus [Epictetus]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Philosophy, Free Will & Determinism, Movements, General, Social, History & Surveys, Ancient & Classical, Ethics & Moral Philosophy, Political
ISBN: 9780691177717
Google: c1iYDwAAQBAJ
Amazon: 0691177716
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2018-10-30T00:00:00+00:00

From the Discourses

This part of the current work is a translation of nine excerpts from three of the four extant books of Epictetus’s Discourses. These books in total comprise almost one hundred items ranging in length from about twenty pages of a modern volume to less than a single page. The longest item, from which I have taken the passages numbered 3 and 4, is entitled simply On Freedom. Arrian or a later editor applied this title. Apt though it is, the topic of freedom is ubiquitous throughout the Discourses just as it is in the Encheiridion. I have supplied the titles to each of these excerpts, to indicate Epictetus’s multipronged treatment of his favorite theme.

In making this selection, I have had two principal goals: first, to supplement the Encheiridion with additional philosophical content, and second to give readers a taste of Epictetus’s dialogical style. To savor Epictetus in depth, the Discourses are indispensable, but Arrian did an equally fine job in extracting from them the compendious guidance of the Encheiridion. As the little classic that it is, you can take it everywhere, and if you are like me, you will find its abrasive message provocative, invigorating, and even comforting.

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