Meditations

The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

https://medium.com/@peterseanEsq/book-review-the-meditations-by-marcus-aurelius-e8fcf6af943c


Marcus Aurelius (“Marcus”) ruled the Roman Empire from 161 CE to 180 CE. He was born in 121 CE and is considered the last emperor of Rome's Imperial Golden Age.

Marcus was adopted into the Imperial line of succession, but he knew from an early age that he was destined to rule. This destiny may or may not have inspired his interest in Stoic philosophy; most scions destined for rule don't take an interest in a philosophy of self-restraint. Marcus, though, was nicknamed “Verissimus” – the boy who could not tell a lie. It seems that Marcus had a bent toward Stoicism from a young age.

The Meditations consist of Marcus's daily reflections. It is Marcus's philosophical diary. Marcus may have been writing the Meditations from the time before he was emperor as well as during the time he ruled the Roman Empire. His frequent statements that he lacked time to study philosophy indicate that he was writing The Meditations while campaigning as emperor.

It is fascinating and unfortunate that the Meditations may be the most intimate text we have written by a Roman empire, but it is bereft of any details concerning Marcus or his life. There is nothing that betrays the fact that Marcus was ruling an empire and fighting wars while writing the Meditations. I am tempted to think that when Marcus finds a theme to chide himself with – e.g., showing more patience or being a better judge of character – he is probably thinking of a specific event that happened to him that day. However, the text is opaque and does not give a clue about what that event was.

The Meditations are far more religious than the works of Seneca and Epictetus that I've read. Stoicism was more than ethics; it had a holistic approach to the big metaphysical questions such as the purpose of life, the origin of the world, the role of the divine, and other questions. These have a religious feel to them, and, in fact, Marcus refers to Stoic doctrines. A lot of Marcus's philosophical observations on these topics can be compared to Christian doctrines. Whether one drew from the other or both from a common source is not clear to me at this time.

I thought it would be interesting to prepare a compare/contrast of Stoic and Christian doctrines. My definitions in the “doctrine” category are inexact since the Marcus quotations often cover more than one subject and my concern may be with just part of the quotation. Also, Stoicism maps on to Christian variants like Gnosticism, so there is slippage in the concepts. If you have better ways of formulating the issues, let me know.

[Table Omitted] https://medium.com/@peterseanEsq/book-review-the-meditations-by-marcus-aurelius-e8fcf6af943c

Marcus's religious views can be summarized as: Ultimate reality is the Cosmos, or the Whole. Everything comes from the Whole and will return to the Whole. Because everything comes from the Whole, Everything has the purpose of serving the Whole and, incidentally, everything else that is part of the Whole. The Whole is rational. Rational beings possess rationality as a part of the Whole. Since everything is a part of the Whole, everything that happens is planned by the Whole and therefore for the good of the Whole. Since the Whole is greater than its parts, anything that happens is for the good of the Whole which is the good of the parts.