human equality. See equality
human kinship, 144–47. See also human community; okeiōsis
human nature: identical in Seneca’s time and our own, xii, 12–15
human rights: implied by Stoic philosophy, 140–41, 233n24; as natural rights, 140–41. See also natural law, in Stoic philosophy and Cicero
hypnosis, 133–36. See also crowd psychology; unconscious influence
imagination: and anxiety, 49–50
impressions: Epictetus on, 70; and Socratic questioning, 53–54; testing or evaluating, 53, 54, 57, 70–71
“invisible influences”: as a metaphor for unconscious socialization, 135–36. See also socialization
Irvine, William B.: on fame and fortune, 122; on overcoming hedonic adaptation, 98
Jefferson, Thomas: on natural rights, 140–41; work on abolition of slavery, 141
Jobs, Steve, 179–80
judgments or opinions: and “ABC Theory of Emotion,” 54–55; as being under our control, 7; Chrysippus on, 226n15; and cognitive behavioral therapy, 55–56; Epictetus on, 56; and false beliefs, 19, 56; that give rise to anger, 63–64; as giving rise to negative emotions, 49, 53–55, 63, 67, 222n3–223; 226n15; importance of in Stoic philosophy, 4; Marcus Aurelius on, 74. See also false beliefs, as a cause of mental suffering
Kelly, Kevin, 125
King Jr., Martin Luther, 141
Lactantius: on the Stoic view of human equality, 139
Le Bon, Gustave, 133–34
leisure: as essential in life, 39, 84–85
letter-writing and friendship, 19–20
life: life’s quality matters, not its duration, 175–76; living each day as if it’s your last, 179–80. See also “completing life” to discover lasting happiness; death
living with authenticity 151–62; and intellectual freedom, 156–58; and persistence, 158–59; and self-consistency, 153–55; and self-knowledge 151–53
living within one’s means, 126
Locke, John: on natural rights, 140–41
Logos (rationality or intelligence), 107–8, 109, 138; Einstein on the rationality present in nature, 110
loneliness, 20, 142; and social media, 20
love or affection, 190–92, 193, 195; as the foundation of human society, 63, 65, 144–45, 191; the most primary human feeling in Stoic psychology, 65; philostorgia (family love or affection), 170, 191; relationship to appreciation and gratitude, 193, 204; and Stoic ethics, 191. See also emotions, the four types of emotions in Stoic psychology; okeiōsis
Lucilius Junior (friend of Seneca), 16–17; his financial anxiety, 123–24; saw Seneca as a philosophical mentor, 18–19
Lyon, France (Ludunum): fire at, 88–89
manumission, 40
Marcia (friend of Seneca), 183, 184, 187, 188, 189
Marcus Aurelius: on amor fati, 114; on desiring what you already have, 194; on gratitude, 114, 194, 205; on human kinship, 144; on judgments, 74; on living in the present moment, 50, 53; on love, 191; read Seneca, 50; on transforming adversity, 102; used premeditation of future adversity, 96; wept in public, 182. See also Meditations
May, Rollo, 70–71
mindfulness (prosochē): analyzing emotions as they arise, 53, 57. See also impressions, testing or evaluating
Meditations (Marcus Aurelius), 29, 96, 2005, 224n19
memento mori (remembering death), 165–70; Epictetus on, 167; Epicurus on, 167; as inspiring gratitude, 167, 187–88; and reducing the shock of grief, 185–88; Socrates on, 167. See also death; premeditation of future adversity; Stoic philosophical exercises
Metronax (friend of Seneca), 176
misfortune. See adversity
Mitsis, Phillip: on the Stoic origin of natural rights, 233n24
mob mentality, 133. See also crowd psychology
natural law: in Stoic philosophy and Cicero, 139–41
natural wealth (nature provides for our basic needs), 118–20, 126
Nero: became emperor before turning seventeen, 10; forced Seneca to commit suicide, 12
Nicomachian Ethics (Aristotle): on friendship, 21
Nietzsche, Friedrich: and amor fati, 113; his experience of gratitude, 202
okeiōsis (affinity and kinship), 144–47; and the circles of Hierocles, 145–57; described by Cicero as the basis of human society, 144–45. See also human community
old age, 163–65, 176–79; as being pleasurable, 177; and euthanasia, 178; as resembling a lingering death, 177–79. See also death
On Anger (Seneca), 61, 64
On Benefts (Seneca), 192
On Leisure (Seneca), 85
On Providence (Seneca), 99
On the Constancy of the Wise Person (Seneca), 159
On the Happy Life (Seneca), 127
On the Shortness of Life (Seneca), 36, 38
opposites: things turn into their opposites, 88–89
Palladio, Andrea, 79
Panaetius: on four aspects of human nature, 152–53
pantheism: definition of, 198, 201; as being neither atheism nor theism, 199, 201
paradoxes. See Stoic paradoxes
path (metaphor for Stoic philosophy), 25–31, 82, 83; leading to freedom, 40–42; making progress every day, 29–31. See also having a destination, 79–87; progress; “progressor”; wandering vs. having a destination
pathē (“passions” or extreme negative emotions), 60, 65–66; Chrysippus on, 226n15; like “little mental illnesses,” 67, 226n15. See also emotions, the four types of emotions in Stoic psychology
philosophical mentoring, 17–19
philosophy. See Epicurean philosophy; Stoic philosophy; real philosophy vs. academic philosophy
philosophy as therapy, 2–3; and Epicurus, 4; and Seneca, 2, 4; and Socrates, 3
philostorgia (family love or affection), 170, 191; and philanthropy, 191. See also love and affection
Pigliucci, Massimo, 61, 221n6
Plato: and cardinal virtues, 91; on Diogenes of Sinope, 24
Polybius (friend of Seneca), 185, 187
poverty: fear of, 171; originated from greed, 119. See also practicing poverty; voluntary simplicity; wealth
practicing poverty, 125–26
premeditation of future adversity (praemeditatio malorum): Chrysippus on, 228n15; and the experience of gratitude, 98–99, 170, 194; and exposure therapy, 98; Marcus Aurelius on, 96; Seneca on, 95–96
“preoccupation” and postponing life, 38–39. See also busyness
presence: living in the present moment, 50, 52–53, 57–59, 179, 194, 210, 219–20; and Seneca’s metaphor of the sun and the clouds, 58–59
progress (concept of character-development): an aspect of real philosophy, 8; and “completing life,” 174–75; as freeing yourself from slavery, 40–42; making incremental progress every day, 29; and persistence, 158–60; requires friendship and others, 31–32, 137–38; and self-knowledge, 23–29; one of Seneca’s most-used terms in the Letters, 28; in Stoic philosophy, 8, 22–31. See also character-development; “progressor”
“progressor” (prokoptōn or “one who makes progress”): name for a student of Stoic philosophy, 28–29
propatheiai (natural human feelings), 65–66; and grief, 181–84. See also emotions, the four types of emotions in Stoic psychology
Providence, 108–9
psychological inflation: and wealth, 121