Sénèque

Book

Seneca: On the brevity of life

Author

In “On the Brevity of Life,” Seneca the Younger explores the timeless themes of time and wisdom. This philosophical text, written in the form of an essay, is addressed to his friend Paulinus, to whom Seneca gives advice on how to live fully. The author develops the idea that human life, often perceived as too short, is in reality long enough if used well. Seneca criticizes inaction, procrastination and the incessant…

• Philosophy

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Seneca: Anger

Author

In his treatise On Anger (or The Art of Calming Anger), Seneca defines this emotion as a passing madness and the worst of passions, characterized by the desire to punish unjustly. He radically distinguishes it from reason and justice, asserting that it deprives the individual of his ability to think and inevitably leads to personal and social destruction. Seneca maintains that the wise should never feel angry, ev…

• Philosophy

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Seneca : Of the constancy of the wise

Author

Seneca contends that the wise man cannot suffer any offense or moral damage. His firmness rests on an inner virtue that the setbacks and external humiliations cannot attain.

• Philosophy

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Seneca: On providence

Author

“You ask me, Lucilius, why, if the world is governed by a Providence, good people experience so much evil. The answer would more easily find its place in the body of a treatise where we would demonstrate that this Providence presides over all things and that a God dwells in our midst. »

• Philosophy

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Seneca: On the tranquility of the soul

Author

On the Tranquility of the Soul is a Stoic philosophical dialogue by Seneca addressed to his friend Serenus, who seeks to overcome persistent inner turmoil. The work explores ways to achieve inner peace (tranquillitas or euthymia) by identifying and healing the causes of anxiety, such as misdirected desires, vain ambition and dispersion of the mind. Seneca, playing the role of the doctor of the soul, offers thera…

• Philosophy

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Seneca: On the happy life

Author

On the Happy Life (or De vita beata), Stoic treatise by Seneca written around 58 AD. JC, defines happiness as virtue and agreement with reason (nature), and not as the possession of material goods. The work responds to critics accusing Seneca of hypocrisy (a wealthy Stoic) by establishing that: The sovereign good resides in virtue, which provides indestructible inner autonomy in the face of the vagaries of fo…

• Philosophy

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Seneca: Benefits

Author

Seneca is a Roman Stoic philosopher who wrote Benefits, a seven-book treatise dedicated to Aebutius Liberalis and published around 54 AD. JC This text offers an in-depth analysis of the ethical notions of gratitude, ingratitude and benefit, aimed at defining how to properly grant, receive and return social favors. Benefit lies in the intention and act of giving, not in the material value of the object. Seneca ma…

• Philosophy

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Seneca: Letters to Lucilius

Author

Seneca, a Latin philosopher born in Cordoba, lived between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD. He studied rhetoric and philosophy in Rome but was forced into exile in 41 BC. On his return to Rome, he became the tutor of the young Nero and composed an excessively biting satire of his society. In these letters he addresses his old friend Lucilius. Of modest origin, Lucilius rose, through merit, to the rank of k…

• Philosophy

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Seneca: Medea

Author

Abandoned by Jason, Medea transforms her pain into vengeance. The tragedy of Seneca explores the fury, the power of the word and the destruction produced by an unmeasured passion.

• Philosophy