For nothing is so productive of elevation of mind as to be able to examine methodically and truly every object that is presented to you in life, and always to look at things so as to see at the same time what kind of universe this is, and what kind of use everything performs in it, and what value everything has with reference to the whole.
—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations III, v11
Philosophers,
I hope you enjoyed day 1 of our Crash Course. Today we’ll be studying one of the most enigmatic characters in Euro-Centric Philosophy—the Philosopher King.
Marcus Aurelius was one of the most memorable emperors of Rome, second only to Julius Cesar perhaps in fame and immortalization. What separates Aurelius, however, is his deep capacity for self-reflection.
In many ways, historians know far more about the inner-life of the man Marcus than we even know the historical facts the Emperor Aurelius.
Let’s dig in and see what we can unearth today.
Epistemology
In his writings, Marcus often reminds himself to “erase his impressions.”1 Above all, he was a Stoic. As we’ve studied so often here at TPP, the stoics were consumed with the idea of judgement and the capacity we all have for awareness.
At the heart of Stoic epistemology was a notion that a world of ideas (not unlike Plato’s world of forms) was impressing itself upon us. We have the capacity, according to ancient Stoic thought, to decide which impressions we accepted and which we rejected—ie which judgements we considered worthy of our attention and which we ignored.
The line above is actually a common thought within Stoic epistemology. In short, Marcus is committed to “objective and physical descriptions of externals”2
In other words, he wants to focus on that which he can perceive, study, and verify. This, according to Marcus, is how we gain knowledge.
Ethics
It appears that Marcus was friends, if not a student of, the famous Stoic philosopher Epictetus. As such, Marcus Aurelius would have had a deep exposure to quite a bit of Stoic and general philosophical knowledge.
This Epictean influence is evidence in Marcus’ writings, in which he dutifully practices the thoughts and ideas he desires to live by. He writes regularly on things like, “happiness lies in virtue, which is wholly in one’s own power; and that one should not be angry at one’s associates but regard them as siblings, offspring of the same God.”3
Overwhelmingly, we find in his writings a man hyper-focused on the actions which make him virtuous. He famously quipped,4
Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.
Ontology
As for Ontology, I would argue that Marcus Aurelius is student of the self. Stoic ontology itself is layered and complex. But in his unique capacity to distill the complex into the simple, we see the daily reminders of a person who attempting to work mountains of wisdom into his soul.
At a high level, Stoic ontology is about nature. They believe in Plato’s world of forms, but they examine those forms through Aristotle’s earthly, studious gaze.
In many ways, the Stoics reconcile that tension at the heart of the School of Athens we discussed yesterday.
And Marcus distills that movement at an individual level, organizing, studying, and applying this wisdom through the development of the natural self.
Greatest Work
As you might have guessed, I’ll point you in the direction of Marcus’ Meditations.
There is quite literally no other book like this left to us from history. Rather than a historical log, daily dairy, or grandiose memoir, Meditations was the sandbox for one of philosophy’s greatest minds and hearts.
It feels clear that Marcus did not intend or imagine that the world would read and share his daily struggles with the self, but this book continues to inspire even to this day. In many ways we knew who he wanted to become, much more than who he was to others.
As Plato reminded us yesterday, “Nothing beautiful without struggle.”
I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s crash course, make sure to check out tomorrow’s as we pick up the teachings of Jesus.
Until then,
Matt
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marcus-aurelius/
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https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/marcus_aurelius_383650
Marcus Aurelius