Literature and history

come. Hello and welcome to literature and history.

Episode 74, Marcus Aurelius.

This program is on the meditations of Marcus Aurelius, a short work of ethical philosophy written during Marcus's years as the Emperor of Rome, between 161 and 180 CE.

While we will cover the meditations in some degree of detail, breaking this fragmentary book into

some different thematic categories and discussing them separately, we'll also talk about Marcus himself, his family history, his

intellectual background, his work as emperor, and the wars that he found himself compelled

to fight.

Perhaps the first thing we should say about Marcus Aurelius

is that at the moment he happens to be very popular.

As I record this, a number of the top 30 best-selling philosophy books on Amazon are print

and audio versions of the meditations.

And Stoicism has outstripped many of its rivals in ethical philosophy to emerge in the 21st century

to the bemusement and no doubt joy of classics professors as something of a mania.

Its core tenets, the notion that one always has power over the private

world of one's ethical choices, that one ought to work for the betterment of humanity in

general, that a single force controls the universe,

and that the pursuit of virtue, reason, and self-discipline over hedonism and self-indulgence should be the main goals of life are things that

we've discussed in previous episodes on Seneca and others.

For its broad compatibility with Abrahamic religions and its generally uncontroversial stances on self-conduct,

Stoicism is a sort of shredded wheat breakfast cereal of ethical philosophies, endorsing as so many ethical philosophies

do.

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