My Definition of the Meaning of Life From the Literature I Read

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Essay, Pages 5 (1007 words)

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“Very little is need in this life to make a happy life; it is within yourself, in your way of thinking” by Marcus Aurelius. In this class I have learned about many philosophies and have read many books in doing this I have found out what the different beliefs and how they are essential in finding what the happiness and meaning of life is. For this critical essay I have chosen Epictetus The Handbook to explain the most important philosophical ideas in the handbook which is based off the Stoicism Philosophy.

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In Epictetus The Handbook he discussed many ideas guidelines that we should live by and creates a handbook with it so that people may have a way of following. In his book he emphasizes the idea of pleasure, significance, power and determinism. As I proceed further into this essay I will begin to unfold and dissect what these terms mean in a philosophical way.

The first philosophical idea is the idea of pleasure, by the dictionary term means a feeling of happy satisfaction and enjoyment.

In Epictetus the handbook explains that pleasurable things are considered up to us. Epictetus advice about pleasure is to be on guard in case the appearances not to be carried away by it but let things wait for you and allow yourself to advise. Epictetus wants one to take part in pleasurable things but to caution them. In the book it states that:

“But if the right occasion appears for you to undertake the action pay attention so that you will not be overcome by its attractiveness and pleasantness and seductiveness and set against it how much better is it to be conscious of having won this victory’ (pg.

24 pp.34)

In this philosophical idea it is explain that pleasure is important in the happiness and meaning of life and that you should caution when pleasurable things appear because they seem to be something they are not. This relates to the happiness and meaning of life because in life come pleasure and it can come in many different forms. Although we might want to take please as it comes or when it appears, we should be cautious because it can have unexpected consequences.

The second philosophical idea from the hand book is significance. The meaning of significance is the quality of being worthy of attention; importance. In the Handbook the idea of significance refers to the metaphors that he introduces in this book. For instance, he states that we are all actors in a play. The meaning and significance of the actor in a play metaphor is that you are not in control of your life, it has already been mapped out. So, act as the character you have been assigned. Another example of understanding the significance of thing is when he states that “When a raven gives an unfavorable sign of crooking, do not be carried away by the appearance but immediately draw a distinction to yourself”. The meaning of the passage with the raven is to look on the bright side of every situation and thing of sign as positive thing.

This means do not automatically go to judge and think that everything is automatically bad because of what the sign looks like instead look deeper and see that all signs are favorable and beneficial. The idea of significance addresses the topic of happiness and the meaning of life because it states to look at the bright side of thing when referring to happiness and meaning of life one must look at the significance of even the smallest things in life. Not only should you find the significance in the sign but also see it in a positive way. There are many metaphors that are presented throughout this book although they have many different meanings, they all have the central idea that all things have significance and that is one of the major philosophical ideas that is express in the handbook.

The third philosophical idea that is present in the handbook is the idea of power. This idea of power comes from idea that somethings are in our control such as opinions, impulses, desires and aversions and the things not in our control are things such possessions, reputation, position in society, family, and innate abilities. In the book it also states that the advice Epictetus has for people who wish to be victorious in Olympic games to in every affair consider what precedes and follows, and then undertake it. He claims that different people are naturally suited for different things he clarifies this by saying think about whether you want to exchange the settings for tranquility , freedom, calm. This shows that we have power over certain things, but we also have the power to accept what isn’t in our control. Everything in our life is not up to us and somethings are inevitable. This relates to the happiness and the meaning of life because it demonstrates that everything happens for a reason and we have the power to accept what is given to us and to accept the things we can change.

The final philosophical idea is the is the idea of determinism. All-natural events are determined by a prior natural event. This means that the events that do occur are like a chain reaction one thing cause another leading to a certain outcome. Stoicism believes that it is inconceivable and that any occurrence bight be otherwise than it is which is determinism. In the hand book it states that .When Epictetus speaks of faculty of choice he is referring to Sickness is a hindrance to the body, but not to your ability to choose, unless that is your choice. An example is If you get cancer it affects your body but does not affect the choices you want to make.