SENECA SCHOLARS Flashcards
‘True love is, in many ways,
analogous to an ideal friendship; both arise from mutual, genuine affection; neither is propelled by any ulterior motive.’ – Motto
‘focuses on the regulation
of emotions rather than their denial.’ (different from Stoics) – Motto
‘Paulina is not simply facilitating
her husband’s journey, she is shaping it.’ – Gloyn
‘Stoics did not think eros was
irrational. They defined eros as a wish to create a friendship with another person based on that person’s moral and physical attractiveness.’ - Gloyn
‘Marriage is an indifferent but
but it should be grounded in reason.’ – Gloyn
‘There is not enough evidence to be sure of what Seneca’s actual position
on homoerotic relationships were; he is far more concerned by behaviour ‘against nature’.’ – Gloyn
‘Love in itself is neither good
or bad; its how you use it that matters.’ – Gloyn
‘Amor is rational and under
control yet affectus is what must be avoided.’ – Gloyn
‘implicit gender
equality.’ – Gloyn
Seneca’s view on gender equality
are radical and countercultural, but he is not a proto-feminist since he is not advocating for an overhaul of society
- Gloyn
the Stoics believe sex
is the antithesis of reason so should be avoided
- Kreitner
due to his political environment
he can’t be a sage but is living a virtuous life
- Edwards
marriage is not only a stoic
duty, but a constructive opportunity in which to develop your and your spouse’s intellectual virtue
- Gloyn
We can have no more certainty
that Seneca actually followed his own moral teaching than we can have about any person in antiquity
- Fisher
the stoics placed
enormous value on human reason
- Wilson
love in and of itself is
neither good nor bad; its how you use it that matters. In the case of affectus, where being in love becomes more important than the pursuit of virtue, things have gone badly wrong
- Gloyn
Seneca maintained that love
is honourable and should be practiced and shared often.
- Motto
unlike most ancient writers,
Seneca often uses the first person and has much to say about the details of daily life and how to live it
- Wilson
the drastic tenets of this philosophy
encouraged the jettisoning of the body in favour of the mind and the will
- Bartsch
the notion that the human body
is a prison for the soul, or a set of chains around its soul, is a concept more familiar to us from Plato than from Greek Stoicism
- Bartsch
when Seneca seems to criticise
homosexuality by saying it is against nature for a man to remain in a state like boyhood past his time, he is more focused on things that are against nature and the natural flow of time than specifically homosexuality
- Gloyn
his criticism of Quadra
is less to do with the fact that he enjoys sex with both men and women, and more to do with the fact that he enjoys making things seem unnatural
- Gloyn
the Stoic principle is not that
people cannot have relationships and love, but that they must do away with any irrational aspect (affectus) and displays that distract them from virtue - you should only fall in love with someone because of their virtue or potential for virtue
- Gloyn
because Stoicism suggests that every human
has an equal potential for virtue, there is a sense of gender equality at the heart of the philosophy
- Gloyn
