Seneca made some worthy recommendations about how to deal with pain and suffering. Unfortunately, he also dispensed plenty of irrational, harmful ones. It’s important to tell the difference between his good and bad advice.
For instance, Seneca offered solid advice for addressing pain and suffering when they are mental constructs, but does his method work in cases of physical pain? In his 13th Letter to Lucilius, he affirms that “we are more frequently afraid than hurt; and suffer more from our fears than from real injuries.”
I can only wonder if Seneca had forgotten all victims of the cruelty inflicted by emperors such as Nero (54-68 AD). We are talking about vast numbers of individuals being sent to exile or executed.
How could Seneca possibly argue that the suffering of those victims was predominantly a mental construct? Was their pain and anxiety a figment of their imagination? Did those people suffer just because of their negative thinking?
Seneca’s emphasis on psychological aspects
Seneca was wrong, but his error is not obvious. Through the centuries, many readers have taken him seriously and adopted his insights. They have confronted pain and suffering by telling themselves that those emotions are mostly imaginary.
They were convinced that Seneca was telling them the truth, but over time, they were forced to recognise reality. Their pain and suffering eventually became so acute that they could no longer be categorised as imaginary.
I would have asked Seneca to recheck if his philosophical recommendations have universal applicability. Human pain and suffering arise mostly from harmful situations, not from delusion or imagination.
When individuals fall sick or suffer severe injuries, I find it abusive to attribute their suffering to psychological reasons. Or when they lose their job, home, or life’s savings, I consider it heartless to categorise their suffering as imaginary.
Seneca’s view of adversity as a test of strength
Seneca was equally wrong in recommending defeatism as a way of life. His essay “On Providence” views the world as a testing ground for the soul. Is he referring to a world in which criminals ply their trade unmolested and ordinary people must endure abuse and exploitation?
I am not exaggerating Seneca’s defeatism. In fact, his essay “On Providence” advises readers to accept pain and suffering without complaining. Does it mean that we all live in a world where bad things happen, but can do little to protect ourselves?
Seneca’s call for passive suffering is irrational and should be firmly rejected. I won’t deny that bad things sometimes happen and that bad people sometimes get their way, but that’s no reason for remaining passive.
Instead of suffering quietly, we should seek justice when it’s possible and adopt measures to prevent further damage. Today we live in a far more advanced world than in Seneca’s century. Instead of suffering silently, we can relocate to better places.
Was Seneca right in viewing adversity as a “test of strength” that probes the soundness of our convictions? His 67th Letter to Lucilius portrays health problems and the enduring of suffering as training grounds for our soul, but I am willing to relinquish those training opportunities.
In contrast to Seneca, I see no value in adversity, hardship, pain, and suffering. We should do everything possible to avoid them, never welcoming them, never viewing them as natural or inevitable.
Seneca doesn’t help anybody by framing hardship as a “test of strength” or “an opportunity for building up our resilience.” He is advising people to delude themselves in calling suffering a blessing, but nothing good can arise from delusion.
In times of adversity, we should establish priorities and use our energies wisely. First of all, we should avert further danger, stop the bleeding and stabilise our situation. Subsequently, we should take steps to heal and rebuild our life.
Seneca’s excellent advice on gaining perspective
Seneca provided excellent insights for reducing anxiety in crisis situations. Epictetus (55-135 AD), a later Stoic, urged us to “focus on the aspects that we can control,” thus transforming Stoicism in a call for action, not for passivity.
Let us not make the mistake of overrating our problems and underestimating our possibilities to find solutions. Seneca gave excessive emphasis to our power to find serenity, and too little to our power to solve the underlying problems.
When circumstances lead me to the opposite conclusion, I would be unwilling to view suffering as temporary or transient. If we remain passive, things might get worse. The search for serenity is fine, but we should take action to address the root cause of problems.
How does the fact that our lifespan is limited help solve any problem today? How can our future mortality offer consolation for today’s pain and suffering? Seneca’s arguments in this area are convoluted, weak and unconvincing.
Seneca’s most useful recommendation is his call for viewing our problems from the right perspective. If we endure sickness for a year, it is indeed annoying, but shouldn’t prevent us from enjoying the next years or decades.
Similarly, if we lose our job, we might go through a difficult period, but we should normally succeed in finding another job, or start a business, or find other ways to rebuild our finances.
As Seneca said, it’s crucially important to place problems in perspective, so that we do not lose heart. People who panic are doing themselves a disservice because their anxiety will drain their energy and curtail their initiative.
In his 16th Letter to Lucilius, Seneca compares philosophy to a shelter in times of trouble, but I regard this comparison as inaccurate. Philosophy is a tool for making good decisions, not a shelter for taking refuge from reality.
If you are interested in applying rational ideas in all sorts of situations, I recommend my book “Asymmetry: The shortcut to success when success seems impossible.”
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