Thank you for this post, Massimo. There are plenty of legitimate and important Stoic premises and statements which are up for rational debate, and disagreement. But this isn’t one. I’ve never understood the “controversy” around this particular statement. Anyone with even a superficially passing familiarity with Stoicism in general and Ep…
Thank you for this post, Massimo. There are plenty of legitimate and important Stoic premises and statements which are up for rational debate, and disagreement. But this isn’t one. I’ve never understood the “controversy” around this particular statement. Anyone with even a superficially passing familiarity with Stoicism in general and Epictetus in particular can easily understand the context and meaning of the comment, which is hard to take issue with (“See the world for what it is, and enjoy what you have while you have it” - what’s to argue?). In my experience, those who use this as their critical handle are just not serious. Cheap shot artists, who aren’t worth the time.
David, you may be right. But I heard this sort of criticism so many times, including from major figures in philosophy, that I figured I would write something to point people to in the future!
Thank you for this post, Massimo. There are plenty of legitimate and important Stoic premises and statements which are up for rational debate, and disagreement. But this isn’t one. I’ve never understood the “controversy” around this particular statement. Anyone with even a superficially passing familiarity with Stoicism in general and Epictetus in particular can easily understand the context and meaning of the comment, which is hard to take issue with (“See the world for what it is, and enjoy what you have while you have it” - what’s to argue?). In my experience, those who use this as their critical handle are just not serious. Cheap shot artists, who aren’t worth the time.
David, you may be right. But I heard this sort of criticism so many times, including from major figures in philosophy, that I figured I would write something to point people to in the future!
And I am glad you did!