Instead of endless abstract discussions, I prefer philosophers to cut to the chase and give me an example of their theories. If the example is convincing, I may explore their theories further.
On the other hand, if the example doesn’t make sense, I will no longer care what that philosopher claims to know. If a plan cannot be put into practice, I don’t want to waste time studying the details.
Seneca (4 BC-65 AD) came up with excellent, deep insights in many areas, but from time to time, he got completely lost. In particular, his views on human nature rest on assumptions that contradict our daily experience.
In his 95th Letter to Lucilius, Seneca praised Socrates (470-399 BC) for his philosophical lifestyle. Seneca emphasised that Socrates had devoted his life to acquiring knowledge, which he regarded as more valuable than wealth and popularity.
Seneca expresses profusely his admiration for Socrates. It is clear that he regarded Socrates as an example to be imitated, as the embodiment of wisdom. Similarly, other Letters to Lucilius speak about Socrates very positively.
I have a problem with Seneca’s admiration for Socrates. The praise that Seneca bestows on Socrates seems to me gratuitous, perfunctory and exaggerated.
Is Seneca’s wisdom realistic?
If Seneca had limited his praise to Socrates’ ability to come up with pertinent questions, I would have seconded his words. However, I disagree with Seneca’s view of Socrates as a moral ideal.
Socrates is not an example to imitate, unless one is socially insensitive and suicidal. On the hand, he did not build anything tangible; he didn’t write any books, build a business or perform any remarkable feats. He simply talked and talked.
On the other hand, he made numerous enemies, got himself into unnecessary trouble, and proved incapable of extricating himself from the whole mess.
To make things worse, Socrates didn’t seize the opportunity to flee during his trial or after the sentence. In his “Apology,” Plato (427-347 BC) recounts that Socrates, aided by a friend of his, could have fled Athens and gone into exile, but instead, he stayed put and died shortly after.
Socrates’ wisdom must have been purely theoretical because he made the wrong choice when he found himself under strong pressure. I would have gone into exile and enjoyed a few more decades of a productive, joyful life.
There was no sound philosophical reason for Socrates to die and Seneca seems unable to see the obvious. When he praises Socrates as an example to imitate, Seneca is taking for granted that we are all willing to stand still like sitting ducks and get ourselves obliterated.
Seneca and human motivation
Socrates’ pitiful ending embodies Seneca’s views on human nature. Seneca regards humans as passive conformists, unable to give shape to their own lives. That’s why he is portraying Socrates as highly accomplished, as an example to imitate.
Seneca’s got human nature wrong because he did not grasp motivation. He failed to understand that humans need to grow, develop and thrive in order to achieve happiness.
Aristotle (384-322 BC) had never considered passivity and conformity as virtues. He had known of Socrates and his ideas directly from Plato, who had talked to Socrates extensively, but it would have been anathema to Aristotle to elevate Socrates to an example to initiate.
Furthermore, Seneca exaggerates the animalistic element in human nature. In the 86th Letter to Lucilius, he exhorts us to live in the present moment; that’s something that Socrates must have practised, but with little success.
Seneca never grasped that humans are happier when they’re pursuing ambitious, long-term goals. It is unrealistic and cruel to expect humans to behave like animals and focus solely on the present, without thinking about the future.
Seneca’s intellectual shortsightedness
Intellectual shortsightedness tends to produce deleterious, unwanted consequences. Even if we practise meditation twelve hours per day, we will still have to face the demands made by reality.
Socrates is the perfect example of the ethical ideal endorsed by Seneca, but the ideal was itself deficient. It’s a passive, inert ideal of blind conformity that cannot make anybody happy.
I have proof that I am not distorting Seneca’s philosophy. In his 86th Letter to Lucilius, Seneca is praising Cato the Younger (95 BC-46 AD) for having committed suicide to protest against Julius Caesar’s ascent to power as sole ruler of Rome.
Cato’s suicide was as pointless as Socrates’. Neither one nor the other changed the course of history. For no good reason, they just shortened the lives of talented individuals who could have done great things for decades. What a terrible waste.
The fatal flaw in Seneca’s views on human nature does not invalidate other elements of his philosophy, but it should make us wary of accepting any package deal in the realm of ideas. It is wiser to content ourselves with a few true principles, carry them out assiduously, and enjoy their fruits.
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