A summary of Seneca’s advice on personal fulfilment

High productivity depends on quality-consciousness. There is simply no other way to sell sizeable amounts of products and services at a profit. If we do not deliver quality, customers are going to complain, and we will have to devote our resources to satisfying those complaints. Thus if we want to achieve our goals in business and private activities, we need to pay attention to every step of the process. By carrying out every step correctly, we can move steadily in the right direction, without having to go back to correct errors. Was Seneca the first philosopher in history to focus on the process, instead of focusing only on the results? Not really, but he emphasised that it is better to practise virtue and hope for the best, than to achieve goals by employing tortious methods. In doing so, Seneca was slightly decoupling morality from success, against the Aristotelian tradition. In the “Nicomachean Ethics” and “Eudemian Ethics,” Aristotle (384-322 BC) had set up an ethical framework in which virtues constitute the method for attaining success and happiness. Virtues constituted a means to an end. Aristotelian ethics are supposed to deliver beneficial results to their practitioners, that is, assuming that they are practised consistently for long. Seneca showed reluctance in promising beneficial results, if only because he lived in more uncertain times than Aristotle. In his 35th Letter to Lucilius, Seneca portrays virtue as the optimal method for guiding our life, even in a context of uncertainty. Even if we end up perishing due to some external event that is outside our control, argued Seneca, we will still lead a better life if we practise virtue. Why? Because our decisions, actions, and results will be superior to those obtained through whim or randomness. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/senecas-advice-on-personal-fulfilment/