Epicurus and Epictetus 71and has an obligation to his fellow man. While the Stoic
philosophy begins with a moral premise, it has profound impli
cations for political and social philosophy. One of the great
statements of the social aspect of stoic philosophy comes from
the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, who said, “The reason, in
respect of which we are rational beings, is common; if this is so,
common also is the reason which commands us what to do, and
what not to do; if this is so, there is a common law also; if this is
so, we are fellow citizens; if this is so, we are members of some
political community; if this is so, the world is in a manner a
state... My nature is rational and social; and my city and country
so far as I am Antonius, is Rome; but so far as I am a man, it is
the world.”
Epictetus attacked the Epicurian philosophy of pleasure,
sensation, and matter. Every assertion is an act of the will;
therefore, the will is vital, not pleasure, sensation, or even matter.
What happens is less important than is our response to what
happens. What happens, happens according to a divine plan,
intelligent and purposeful, and is to be viewed from a distance.
If we get involved, we get involved by reacting to events and
become upset not by the event, but by our reaction to the event.
It is not because of our lack of things that we are miserable. It is
because we give in to our wants and desires that we become
miserable.
Epictetus believed that his philosophy of reason is simple to
understand and difficult to refute, that there are a multitude of
Stoic principles that most men would agree to, e.g., that it is
better to be in control of our emotions, rather than have them
manipulated by outside forces. The problem, in reality, is the
putting into practice these ideas which people recognize as valid.
What, then, do people do? Obviously, they become in a sense
their own worst enemies, bringing sorrow, upset, and distress
into their lives— upsetting the tranquility that stoicism bestows
on those who understand and practice rational behavior.