Stress and worry: Seneca's advice

A linear view of human nature constitutes the weakest point of Seneca as a philosopher. He regarded humans as rational, but with a tendency to do too much or too little. If we want to prevent anxiety and worry, he theorized, we should embrace moderation in all things.Seneca considered anxiety and worry to be the roots of most unhappiness. His recipe for preventing grief is avoiding strong emotions through self-control. If we restrain ourselves from all excesses, we will remain somewhere in the middle and prevent negative emotions.The logic employed by Seneca relies on linearity, that is, on the assumption that, in all human activities, there is a line that goes from zero to one hundred.According to Seneca, if we remain in the middle and avoid the extremes, we can free ourselves of anxiety and worry. If we keep strong emotions at bay, we’ll maintain our peace of mindHowever, Seneca’s logic does not withstand close scrutiny. Are we supposed to choose moderation in nutrition and health, so that we eat only average food, that is, not too noxious, but also not too healthy?If we use Seneca’s logic, we should also choose moderation in virtue. We should behave honestly, but not too much. We are also to behave courageously, but not too much, and so on.Seneca’s call for moderation would prove counterproductive in those cases. We should pursue virtue, health, friendship and love to the maximum, not with moderation. If the purpose of human life is happiness, why should we pursue happiness with moderation?Human nature is not made of linear traits, where we can set the emphasis always at a moderate level. Do not do anything in excess, says Seneca, but how are we supposed to make dozens of decisions per day if we cannot figure out what moderation means?Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/senecas-views-on-human-nature/