High productivity depends on quality-consciousness. There is simply no other way to sell sizeable amounts of products and services at a profit. If we do not deliver quality, customers are going to complain, and we will have to devote our resources to satisfying those complaints.
Thus, if we want to achieve our goals in business and private activities, we need to pay attention to every step of the process. By carrying out every step correctly, we can move steadily in the right direction, without having to go back to correct errors.
Was Seneca the first philosopher in history to focus on the process, instead of focusing only on the results? Not really, but he emphasised that it is better to practise virtue and hope for the best, than to achieve goals by employing tortious methods.
In doing so, Seneca was slightly decoupling morality from success, against the Aristotelian tradition. In the “Nicomachean Ethics” and “Eudemian Ethics,” Aristotle (384-322 BC) had set up an ethical framework in which virtues constitute the method for attaining success and happiness.
Virtues constituted a means to an end. Aristotelian ethics are supposed to deliver beneficial results to their practitioners, that is, assuming that they are practised consistently for long.
The good life
Seneca showed reluctance in promising beneficial results, if only because he lived in more uncertain times than Aristotle. In his 35th Letter to Lucilius, Seneca portrays virtue as the optimal method for guiding our life, even in a context of uncertainty.
Even if we end up perishing due to some external event that is outside our control, argued Seneca, we will still lead a better life if we practise virtue. Why? Because our decisions, actions, and results will be superior to those obtained through whim or randomness.
Seneca emphasises that virtue will simply enable us to make the best of our days. If something goes wrong or fatally wrong, we can still rest assured that we had lived in the best possible manner. In this way, we can preserve our serenity when facing adversity.
The concept of “the good life” in Seneca is equivalent to the concept of optimal life, optimal results, and optimal emotions. The 35th Letter to Lucilius defines “optimal” also as purposeful and wise.
I must underline that the term “optimal” shall be interpreted contextually. It means the best possible outcome in the light of our personal constraints and circumstances. It doesn’t mean the best in the world in absolute terms.
Seneca recommends that we keep practising virtue even in high-risk circumstances because virtue will give us confidence of making the best of each hour, the best of each minute.
To illustrate this point, let us imagine a general who will soon engage in a perilous battle. How should he behave in the days that precede the battle? If he fears that the battle might cost him his life, should he throw virtue out of the window and behave recklessly?
From reading Seneca, I conclude that, even in those extreme circumstances, the general should keep practising virtue. If the battle turns against him and he dies, so be it. The fact that, until the last minute, he practised virtue, should help him accept his destiny with serenity.
The path to personal fulfilment
Seneca regarded this principle as applicable to everybody, as a principle independent of one’s fortune and responsibilities. Virtue allows every person to make the best of his life. It helps the Emperor, argued Seneca, as much as it helps the lowest-placed person in the Roman Empire.
Personal fulfilment is the result of practising virtue, even if success remains elusive for whatever reason. Virtue enables us to attain serenity and equanimity, affirmed Seneca. We should regard those as sufficient compensation for virtue, especially if the circumstances turn against us.
According to Seneca, virtue and the accompanying personal fulfilment are preferable to wealth. He wrote in the 35th Letter to Lucilius that personal fulfilment guarantees peace of mind. Neither wealth nor popularity can offer such a guarantee.
If we focus on virtue, personal fulfilment will ensue, affirms Seneca in the 83rd Letter to Lucilius. We should do what’s right on each occasion with the conviction that virtue will lead to the best possible outcome.
On the contrary, it’s a fool’s errand to pursue a good result in the absence of virtue. Personal fulfilment is the natural result of virtuous action, not a lucky outcome of unsound behaviour.
What to do in times of adversity
Seneca criticises in particular people who abandon virtue in order to pursue their ambitions. Even if the Emperor himself is rewarding unethical behaviour, one should stay loyal to virtue. Ill-gotten gains tend to produce sour consequences.
Emperor Nero (54-68 CE) inflicted severe harm on Seneca, initially by condemning him to exile, and later, by ordering his death. Those setbacks could not make any victim happy, but at least, Seneca was able to maintain his serenity.
Seneca had attained personal fulfilment because he was sure that he had lived each day in the best possible way. He would have preferred not to be exiled and not to be condemned to death, but even in the face of extreme adversity, he maintained his peace of mind.
Virtue is crucial for achieving personal fulfilment because it enables us to keep a high opinion of ourselves, argued Seneca in the 51st Letter to Lucilius. Our own opinion of ourselves has more weight in our minds than everybody else’s opinions.
Seneca warns us against getting carried away by our desires and ambitions. Even the most enticing short-term benefits and pleasures are not worth the sacrifice of our integrity. In the 51st Letter to Lucilius, Seneca appeals to reason, so that we remain loyal to virtue and resist temptation.
Personal fulfilment should be regarded as a priority because the only alternatives are anxiety, fear and inner turmoil. Seneca explained in the 51st Letter to Lucilius that, if we lose our self-respect, we won’t recover it easily.
Neither luxury nor honours can improve our own opinion of ourselves. If we fail to practise virtue, we will lack the pillar of personal fulfilment, serenity and equanimity.
Harmony and happiness
The whole point of philosophy, wrote Seneca, is learning to make good decisions. The 51st Letter to Lucilius reminds us of the importance of making wise choices every day, saying no to dishonesty and remaining loyal to integrity.
Personal fulfilment means peace of mind, spiritual harmony, and quiet contentment. Seneca advocated Stoicism as the path to personal fulfilment because, irrespective of our constraints and circumstances, it will enable us to achieve serenity.
Seneca’s formula for happiness is, in my view, only second best to the Aristotelian. The definitions of virtue in Seneca and Aristotle don’t overlap completely, and the same goes for their definitions of success.
Nevertheless, I can only endorse Seneca’s recommendation for achieving peace of mind. If we make the best of each day, we are bound to achieve the best possible results allowed by our constraints and circumstances.
A person who conducts his life in this manner, can remain assured that he has done everything possible to attain his goals. If despite those efforts, luck turns against us, so be it. Nothing can diminish the self-respect we have earned through our diligence and constancy.
In the 51st Letter to Lucilius, Seneca defines a happy person as someone “who is at peace with himself.” I would add that a happy person is someone who has done his best to tilt the odds for success and happiness very much in his favour.
If you are interested in applying rational ideas in all sorts of situations, I recommend my book “Against all odds: How to achieve great victories in desperate times.”
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