Self-help from the 2nd Century A.D.

The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote a fabulous book that we simply call Meditations.

Authorities tend to denigrate this book. Some have called it contradictory. The best that can often be managed in its favor is this: it’s the best representation we have of the basic tenets of Stoicism. And as everybody knows, “Stoicism” functions mainly as an hyperbolic adjective to be applied to emotionless people. It’s a bit of a joke. “Those stoics,” we mentally chortle at mention of the their name, “facing off with the Epicureans in Rome. The moralists vs. the pleasure-seekers. How nicely these historical systems fit into boxes on my shelf of historical allusions.”

But contra the experts, Aurelius’s book fascinates a general reading public. When the Modern Library published a new edition of the book in 2002 it actually remained on the bestseller list for two weeks! Not bad for an almost 1800 year old piece of therapeutic diary-writing.

Possibly Marcus had no intention of his book ever being published. We have it from the preserve of a single manuscript source—and that source no longer survives. Mainly the Meditations consists in notes Marcus wrote to himself—reminders of lessons learned, virtues to be cultivated, techniques for dealing with daily affairs. What’s so interesting about that?

I have no idea why so many people love to read the Meditations. But I do know why I love to read them.

I’m not attracted to stoicism as a moral philosophy. I’m not much of an antiquarian. I’m not overawed by the prestige of the author. I’m not just interested to learn more about the old dude who got smothered in the movie Gladiator (that’s not how Marcus died, by the way).

Instead, I am deeply inspired by Aurelius’s practice of moral reasoning. He demonstrates how his religious ideas about the origin and direction of the universe influence his behaviors. Privately and publicly, Aurelius strove to be a virtuous man. Sometimes the rigidity of this striving, as manifested in the Meditations, can be off-putting, as when he thanks the gods that he never got too good at art or poetry because that might have distracted him from his real moral duties. But the particulars of Aurelius’s moral vision don’t really detract from his value as a model. The techniques he cultivated for remembering and applying his principles to his own life deserve examination.

Moral reasoning as a visible factor in public decisions is terribly absent in many contemporary public events. This lack is one of the worst effects of modernism. As a general prelude on this blog to examining more recent examples of moral reasoning, I plan to write a short series of posts on the Meditations, from a definitely non-specialist viewpoint.

Stay tuned for self-help from the 2nd Century A.D.