The Meaning and Purpose of Life — Marcus Aurelias and the Stoics

MEANING & PURPOSE OF LIFE: MARCUS AURELIAS & THE STOICS

When I recently told an old friend that I organised a philosophy group she asked me: “Are there any other philosophers like Marcus Aurelias, my son read his book and he can’t find anything else as good”. No, I answered, I couldn’t think of anything else with a straightforward and stoic attitude who communicates his ideas so clearly.

Marcus Aurelius (121AD-180AD) was a Roman Emperor who ruled from 161 to 180 CE, and is remembered as the last of the "Five Good Emperors." He received an education in Stoic philosophy, which profoundly shaped his worldview. Despite the demands of warfare and governance, he wrote his personal philosophical reflections—now known as Meditations— as a form of self-examination and spiritual exercise. Marcus Aurelius was thoroughly and authentically Stoic, both in philosophy and practice—he's considered one of the three major Stoic philosophers whose works survive substantially intact (along with Epictetus and Seneca). The Meditations is essentially a Stoic handbook written for himself, filled with core Stoic doctrines: the dichotomy of control (focusing only on what's in our power), living according to nature and reason, accepting fate, viewing obstacles as opportunities, and maintaining equanimity in the face of external events.

We should mention that Marcus Aurelias was not the pioneer of Stoicism, and many others before him set out the principles of Stoicism. Zeno of Citium (334BC – 262BC) was the founder of the Stoic school of philosophy, which he taught in Athens from about 300 BC. Another was Seneca the Younger (4AD-65AD). His works include essays, plays and letters dealing with moral issues. These writings constitute one of the most important bodies of primary material for ancient Stoicism. The Stoic views of Seneca focus on living a virtuous life guided by reason, emotional discipline, and acceptance of fate. His ideas appear mainly in works like Letters from a Stoic and On the Shortness of Life.

Epictetus (50AD-135AD), importantly for our discussion, taught that philosophy is a way of life and not simply a theoretical discipline. To Epictetus, all external events are beyond our control; he argues that we should accept whatever happens calmly and dispassionately. However, he held that individuals are responsible for their own actions, which they can examine and control through rigorous self-discipline.

Here's a quick primer on Stoicism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu7n0XzqtfA

A quote from Stoic commentator Massimo Pigliuccio: “The Stoics are nothing if not realists about life: they accept the world the way it actually is, not as you would like it to be”. Things are complex, and we like to try to simplify things, but according to the Stoics we should study how the world actually works and act accordingly, rather than impose our view on the world.

Please have a good look generally at the Stoics if you haven’t already. However, because of the amount of time available and because I like to go back to the original sources, I’d like to concentrate our discussion on Meditations. It also fits our examination of purpose in life because it is written as if it is a guide to living life. It is less than 100 pages long and is divided into 12 books. Marcus Aurelius packs a lot of advice into this one slim volume, and for practical purposes I’ll keep to the more obvious “life lessons” and Stoic wisdom. Unlike the other Meetups with this theme, I’d like to deliberately compare and contrast this philosophy with current leaders (you know who!).

Let’s start by simply discussing some quotes from Meditations. If you like you can read the full text for free here: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2680/pg2680.txt

My quotes are from the Everyman Library edition:

Self control: “Mastery of self and vacillation in nothing” & “You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realise this, and you will find strength.”

Lack of ego and love of work for its own sake: “…gentleness and unshaken resolution in judgments taken after full examination; no vainglory about external honours; love of work and perseverance; readiness to hear those who had anything to contribute to the public advantage; the desire to award to every man according to desert without partiality; the experience that knew where to tighten the rein, where to relax.” “Do not act unwillingly nor selfishly, nor without self-examination..”

Do not be influenced by others or their attitudes, but stay true to the beauty of good: "When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly. They are like this because they can't tell good from evil. But I have seen the beauty of good, and the ugliness of evil, and have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own—not of the same blood or birth, but the same mind, and possessing a share of the divine. And so none of them can hurt me. No one can implicate me in ugliness."

Contentedness with our situation: “no longer to be indignant with what is allotted in the present”.

Recognition that we are a small part of a larger world which is more important than us: "... there is, besides, necessity and the wellbeing of the whole universe, whereof you are a part.” “Of man’s life, his time is a point, his existence a flux”.
Nature offers a true path: “..(be) content with present action in accord with Nature, and with heroic truth in what you mean and say, you will have a blessed life.”

He believed in a natural and simple approach which concentrated on the task at hand: “.. to do what is to your hand, with precise.. and unaffected dignity, natural love, freedom and justice…” “Do things break in from outside to distract you? … cease to wander out of your course”

There are many such sentiments in the Meditations, and we quickly understand what type of man he aimed to be.

Question: How much do we agree with the above points? Should we accept how the world is, or should we try to define how we would like to look at the world?

Question: Has modern society taken us far from a simple approach to an honest life, and is this a good thing? Taking each of the above quotes, how is modern society different?

Question: What does a life of duty bring? Is it more productive than a life of selfishness? What has caused us to become distracted from a sense of duty?

Question: Is there anything wrong with a life of hedonism? Should we control our desires?

Question: Does a stoic attitude make sense and does it create a sense of purpose, or is it simply a way to avoid goals and responsibility for ourselves?

Question: Should our own leaders learn from the Stoics?

Question: What is to blame for our modern life of distraction?