70 Moral Philosophy: Ideas of Good and Evil, Right and WrongEpictetus has as a basic premise the idea that we live in a
rational universe. God, the supreme intelligence, is responsible
for the laws which govern the universe, and we are responsible
for trying to understand the universe of which we are a part.
Beyond that, man with his ability to reason, has a spark of the
divine within him. Epictetus has said that man, being rational, is
a “fragment tom from God.” The ethical implications of these
premises are profound, not only for morality but for politics as
well. Reason and a rational understanding of the world are the
basis for morality.
This purpose and intelligence which permeates the universe
imply that there is purpose in all things. The individual is duty-
bound to attempt to find his place in the scheme of things, find
out how to please the God who put him here by accomplishing
those things which God intended for him. (Obviously, only those
things which are within one’s power should be of concern, since
what is beyond one’s power was meant to be so.) Such a person
is virtuous— and virtue is its own reward. There are no material
goods to be acquired, no fame and glory to be achieved, no end
of any kind, except to do one’s duty.
What then should one do? Learn self control, learn how to
relate to outside forces, and most of all develop the attitude of
dealing with the world as a neutral entity. Everything that
happens in nature is neutral. Only our attitude towards the
happening makes it good or bad. There is no such thing as an
“evil” storm, earthquake, or tornado; neither is there such a thing
as a “good” day, sunny, warm, and breezy. Nature is morally
neutral; we assign values and, in most cases, shouldn’t. If,
indeed, a picnic is planned for a particular day, and on that day
it rains, to become angry because of the rain is foolhardy, since
that only doubles the problem. The rain is a reality, and requires
that plans in some way be changed— that’s an inconvenience.
Now, to get angry, as well, is to compound an existing problem,
and the anger has absolutely no chance of solving the problem.
And to assign a value to that day is the supreme foolishness—
only the attitudes of the picnickers have value.
While it is evident that the major thrust of Epictetus’ philoso
phy is based on a personal exercise of the will to control oneself,
there is a social ethic which evolves from his philosophy. If each
of us has the “divine spark” of reason, then each of us is equal to