Marcus Aurelius -- The Meditations
For Tuesday, March 18, read some selections from the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. Note the next reading assignment will be from a book on reserve in the library: the Epicurus chapter of DeBotton's The Consolations of Philosophy. You might want to read this over the weekend also, if you have time.
Here is the Marcus assignment:
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
Some notes to help with the reading
Your assignment for next week is to become acquainted with The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. The problem with reading these is that they are little separate chunks, unrelated to each other. One needs to read around in the book and get a sense of Marcus project. Here are some selections that will help to orient you:
1. Read the introduction first, to get oriented. If you need more background, check out the relevant articles or parts of articles (use the “search” function) in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
2. Skip the first book, noting just what he is doing in this book – thanking people and explaining his debts to them – and think a little about what it means that he starts out this way. (Confucius would appreciate this approach.)
3. Read some of the helpful passages first. Notice the beginning of the first remark in book 2: “Say to yourself…” This is one of a family of remarks I will call “thought experiments” or “exercises in re-framing.” They are, quite specifically, devices to help one get over negative feelings or attitudes that will interfere with one’s ability to be a good emperor. Don’t take them as profound, true-for-all-time, metaphysical pronouncements. Take them as “ways of looking at the world to help Marcus get through his day.” Marcus is using his reason to get over attitudes or impulses that might otherwise paralyze him or mislead him: fear of death (4:50) regret for the shortness of life (2:14); disgust at ugly or unpleasant people (3:2; 5:28); the quest for fame(4:19); being over-impressed with his own importance or grandeur; attraction to particular goods (6:13; 11:2); annoyance at injury by others (6:20); sluggishness (3:1; 5,1); being over-impressed with important people (10:19); taking life too seriously (4:48); being overwhelmed with all the things you have to do (8:36). You might find these passages particularly interesting if any of these have ever bothered you.
4. Marcus’ view of the universe, of human psychology, of the possibilities of philosophic reflection, are scattered through the book, and you can go slightly nuts trying to put the picture together. Here are some passages to read first, to give you a general orientation:
a. For Marcus picture of the ordered universe (cosmos) in which he plays a part: 9:9, 4:40, 7:13 and 10:6. Remember that Marcus sees the universe as orderly and beautiful. The Roman Empire is one of the orderly and harmonious things in the universe (a kind of super-beehive) and he is the emperor. It’s in that way that one can understand his idea that universe itself has placed him at his “post,” has given him this commission. The ethical ideal of cooperation with the natural order is well expressed at 2:16, 5:8 and 7:55. What that means for Marcus specifically, in his job as emperor, is expressed at 6:30.
b. The opposite of Marcus’ ideal: cutting oneself off from the order and beauty of the universe: 8:34, 8:52, 9:23.
c. Philosophical and scientific understanding can help one to fulfill one’s role in the universal scheme. Here are some general statements of what such understanding can accomplish: 3:11, 4:3, and 6:38.
d. Marcus’ psychology makes a stark distinction between the directing mind, which surveys all that one perceives and feels, and the mass of impressions that come to us through our bodies. Our problems begin when we make inappropriate judgments or evaluations of our impressions: 5:26, 8:47, 11:16 and 12:3. As long as our “directing mind” is intact, nothing can seriously harm us. The ultimate thing to fear is the decay of this capacity to maintain distance from our impressions and feelings: 3:1.
e. Most of the time, Marcus maintains his view of the beautiful, orderly universe that invites him to participate in its harmonious existence. Occasionally, he considers the possibility that the universe may be quite different from this, but concludes that, even on the worst imaginable assumptions (lawless chaos), his ethical stance would remain unchanged: 12:14-15.
Beyond this, read around in the book, marking passages that appeal to you. You don’t need to read every word, and it is helpful, with this as with most philosophy reading, to split your study over several sessions and to make notes of the points you remember and of your thought as you read. Also, think of Marcus in the sequence with Confucius and Socrates. How is he like them? What are the important differences in his project or in his approach?