Seneca’s thoughts on mental strength

Stoicism is the only philosophy that aims at increasing one’s mental strength. Its founders, #Zeno of Citium (334-262 BC) and Cleanthes (330-230 BC) devoted more efforts to avoiding emotional misery than to achieving success and happiness. Seneca followed the line of thought of his predecessors, but his recommendations are more subtle. It’s not hard to understand why: #Seneca was more knowledgeable than the earlier Stoics. Not only was he familiar with the ideas of #Socrates (470-399 BC), Plato (427-347 BC) and #Aristotle (384-322 BC), but he also possessed a wider experience of the world. None of his predecessors had occupied a high office in the Roman empire, nor acquired a large fortune. Seneca’s Letters to Lucilius give remarkably modern advice on self-control (I would call it “mental strength.) I view the 5th Letter as particularly relevant in this respect. Mental strength, Seneca affirms, is the result of self-reliance and moderation, not the cause; the purpose of cultivating virtue is to grow emotionally balanced, rational and highly resilient. I would compare Seneca’s ideal of a philosophically minded person to a fisherman, who lives modestly and self-sufficiently. Like a fisherman, the philosopher keeps going day after day, unaffected by fashions and social pressures. The philosophically minded love human interaction, Seneca notes, but they will not be swayed by other people’s fear and preoccupations. They are also able to enjoy the pleasures of the world, but they will embrace moderation in order to preserve their peace of mind. Seneca regards mental strength as the highest benefit from #philosophy. Like other Stoic philosophers, he takes for granted that happiness is unlikely and adversity inevitable. Everybody is confronted with adversity sooner or later. The purpose of philosophy is to develop mental and physical habits that render us practically immune to adversity. Mental strength is a synonym for emotional immunity to #adversity. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/senecas-thoughts-on-mental-strength/