An Introduction to Musonius Rufus and How We Can Apply our Philosophy (Part 1)
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“Philosophy is nothing else than to search by reason what is right and proper, and by deeds to put it into practice.” –Musonius Rufus
Musonius Rufus was born about 20-30 AD in the city of Volsinii, i.e. modern day Bolsena in Italy. He is considered one of the great Roman philosophers. Musonius was very much about ethics and how to apply stoic virtues. He showed great courage in his criticism of the Roman elites and was consequently exiled by the despotic Roman emperors on three occasions.
Musonius advocated for women’s and girl’s access to education arguing that we have equal reasoning ability. He also was responsible for teaching and mentoring a slave called Epictetus who became a famous stoic philosopher popular in these modern times.
Musonius believed philosophy should be practical guiding one’s lifestyle or actions. A humble man he advocated a frugel simple lifestyle in harmony with nature. He considered farming a suitable occupation but disapproved of eating meat. When he was exiled to a very sparse Island he was a great survivalist finding a source of water and growing food.
The philosophies from teachers like Musonius Rufus provide inspiration and can be an antidote or challenge to our modern ways of thinking and behaving. In this session we will firstly ask the philosophical question of how important is it to reflect on lifestyle. We will divide into groups according to participants’ interests as follows:
1 .Discuss education issues with reference to principles of Justice and Wisdom
2. Discuss the application of Courage and Justice e.g. against corruption and despotic rulers.
3.Wisdom and Temperance : how important is one’s daily lifestyle? How can we live in harmony or in accordance with nature? Is what we eat important?
As philosophers we are all about applying reason and discussing ideas. We are interested in the ancient stoics and not being experts we learn from each other. Whether you are new to stoism or familiar with it’s principles you are most welcome to come along and join in our discussions.