Slavery or Freedom? | Christine Lambie
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- Опубліковано 26 сер 2024
- Christine Lambie speaks about Epictetus, who lived from c55-135 AD. He was born to a slave woman in what is now Turkey. He was either lame from birth or injured at some early stage; either way, he was disabled for life. He was trafficked west to Rome in a slave caravan and was bought by Epaphroditos who was a secretary to Emperor Nero. This gave Epictetus a unique view of empire. During this time Epictetus started attending stoic lectures in Rome. When he was eventually freed, he started his own school.
Epictetus' style is very lively. His words are written by his pupil Arrian. Both Epictetus' works begin by distinguishing between what we can control and what we can't control. We may think there are lots of things we partially control. But for Epictetus, 'control' means what we can completely control ie our own judgments, opinions and impulses. Epictetus himself will have faced extreme events, so these are not just empty words on his part.
'It is not events that disturb people, it is their judgements concerning them."
James Bond Stockdale was a pilot in the Vietnam war; when he was shot down and captured, Epictetus' teachings sustained him through 8 years of torture and prison.
Albert Ellis, a 20th century psychologist, was drawing on Epictetus when he pinpointed three areas of rigid expectation that people often have:
1. We expect ourselves to perform outstandingly well at all times.
2. We expect others to treat us nicely all the time.
3. We expect life to go smoothly all the time.
When there's a clash between the expectations we hold and the events as they unfold, we can become very unhappy. Instead of these expectations, we could say, 'I don't like how this person treated me, but I can bear it' etc.
Epictetus said, 'By managing our judgements and our impressions, we have flexibility.' This is not just enduring hard times or repression. It's about managing our inner reactions and what we tell ourselves.
The School of Philosophy and Economic Science offers courses in practical philosophy and economics with justice as well as other subjects. It aims to approach philosophy in a practical way, encouraging students to apply philosophy in their lives. The School also introduces a mindfulness-type exercise leading eventually to mantra meditation.
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#Epictetus #stoicism #ancientgreekphilosophy #practicalphilosophy #spirituality #westernwisdom #stoicphilosophy #ancientrome #AlbertEllis #practicalphilosophy
You may find this video relates also to ancient Greece, ancient Greek philosophy, Stoic philosophy, Enchiridion, western wisdom, spirituality, spiritual practice, enlightenment,
Although slightly biased by having had the privilege of introducing Christine's lecture, I felt it was even more brilliant, easy to follow and understand listening to it on line. I liked the structure with first a summary of Epictetus's life and philosophy, and then the examples of proponents of stoicism James Stockdale and Albert Ellis. The lecture was inspiring.
Very good wish one could HEAR more like this coming from working class one never heard this well done
Recently found this channel and very glad I did. These videos get right at the heart of philosophy as a way of life. Keep them coming!
Welcome aboard! So glad you like the videos. Why not subscribe so you get notifications when we upload new ones!
Excellent talk, I can relate to Epictetus's life, and I particularly appreciated Lambie's examples of modern day people and how his ideas were applied in the 20th century, i.e. the soldier, the psychologist.
So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching. If you're interested, you can see more of her videos here: ua-cam.com/video/nZ-qDrmBwyI/v-deo.html
This is gold!
So glad it was helpful - thanks for the great comment!
So helpful ❤
Very happy to hear this, thanks for your comment!
I’ve read several times that this image associated with Epictetus isn’t correct as it’s believed he was left handed! I have no idea if this is true however 😂
Hmm, interesting point. We'll need to look into this, if it's even possible to discover what hand he preferred! 🧐
@@Philosophycourse 😂 exactly…maybe there’s a photograph somewhere!