Seneca, On The Happy Life - Defining The Greatest Good - Sadler's Lectures

Sadler's Lectures

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient Stoic philosopher Seneca's work, On The Happy Life It focuses specifically on he Stoic definitions of the greatest goods that he provides early on in the work. Seneca writes; "Happy, therefore, is the life in agreement with its own nature. And there is no other way for this to come about than if the intellect is, first, healthy and in unending possession of its own health; next, strong and energetic; then, enduring most nobly, fitted to the times, caring for its body, and for the things that pertain to the body, without anxiety; then, attentive to the other things that equip life, without admiring any of them, and ready to use the gifts of fortune and not be their slave . . . Our good can also be defined in a different way—that is, the same proposition can be grasped with different words. Just as one and the same army is spread out more widely one moment and compacted more tightly the next, and it either arcs with the middle part curving out into wings or is arranged in a straight front, but no matter how it has been ordered it has the same strength and the same will to stand up for the same cause—so the definition of the highest good can sometimes be spread out and extended, and at other times be compressed and collected into itself. It will be the same thing, then, if I say, “The highest good is the mind looking down on the things of fortune, joyous in virtue,” or, “the mind’s undefeated strength, well versed in the ways of the world, calm in action, with much humanity and concern for those with whom it has contact.” One may also define it in such a way as to say that that human being is happy to whom nothing is good or bad except a good or bad mind; who is a cultivator of the morally good,” content with virtue; who is neither buoyed up nor broken by changes in fortune; who knows that there is no greater good than that which he can give to himself; to whom true pleasure will be scorning pleasures. One may, if you wish to range further, translate it into one and another form, without endangering or damaging its power. After all, what prevents us from saying that the happy life is a free, upright, fearless, and stable mind, placed beyond fear and beyond desire, to whom the only good is what is morally good, the only bad thing, disgrace, and the rest are a worthless swarm of things that neither subtract anything from the happy life nor add anything to it, coming and going without any increase or diminution of the highest good?" To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO - or at BuyMeACoffee - www.buymeacoffee.com/A4quYdWoM You can find over 3000 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler Purchase Seneca's On The Happy Life - https://amzn.to/3BrQD7T