Philosophers In The Midst of History #13 - Epictetus, Slavery, Stoicism, and the Roman Empire

Three years ago, I started delivering a new quarterly series of lectures here in the Milwaukee area, hosted at the Frank Weyenberg Library.  The series is called "Philosophers In The Midst of History".  Each year, I provide a lecture and discussion on an ancient philosopher in February, a medieval philosopher in May, an early modern philosopher in August, and a 19th or 20th century philosopher in November.

In each of the sessions, I lead the participants into some of the key ideas of the philosopher, place him or her within the larger historical context that informs his or her works, and discuss the philosopher's influence and legacy on history.  In the case of the latest thinker who we covered last month, the great Stoic philosopher, Epictetus, this means setting him within the framework of the Roman Empire and the classical culture of the Greco-Roman world.

It involves discussing his birth into slavery, being brought to the court of Nero by his owner - the freedman and secretary to the emperor, Epaphroditus - and having the opportunity to study with the Stoic teacher, Musonius Rufus.  It also means talking about Epictetus' own career as a teacher of Stoic philosophy, first in Rome, and then after being banished with the other philosophers from that city, relocating to Nicopolis.  There, he quite likely met a later Emperor, Hadrian (one of the few good ones), and taught countless students.  One of these was the historian Arrian, who recorded some of Epictetus teachings and conversations in his Discourses and condensed them in the Enchiridion.

Here is the videorecording of session 13.

If you'd like to see any of the other twelve sessions - covering Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Augustine of Hippo, Boethius, Anselm of Canterbury, Rene Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Friedrich Nietzsche, Albert Camus, and Hannah Arendt - here's a page with links to videos of all of them.

The sessions coming up later this year will focus on Thomas Aquinas, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Simone de Beauvoir.