Epictetus's Stoicism from Enchiridion 1-5: A Close Reading
Epictetus's Stoicism from Enchiridion 1-5: A Close Reading
Section 1: The Fundamental Distinction
**Text:** "Some things are within our power, while others are not. Within our power are opinion, motivation, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever is of our own doing; not within our power are our body, our property, reputation, position, and, in a word, whatever is not of our own doing."
The Basic Framework
Epictetus establishes a binary classification of all existence into two categories:
- **Internal sphere:** Opinion (δόξα), motivation/impulse (ὁρμή), desire (ὄρεξις), aversion (ἔκκλισις)
- **External sphere:** Body, property, reputation, social position
Key Insights from Close Reading:
**1. Exhaustive Classification**
The phrase "in a word" (ἑνὶ λόγῳ) signals that these examples represent complete categories. Epictetus claims to have divided all of reality without remainder.
**2. Identity and Agency**
What's "within our power" is described as "of our own doing" (ἐφ' ἡμῖν). This suggests our true identity consists in our capacity for mental acts - opinions, motivations, desires, aversions.
**3. Radical Externalization**
Even our own body is classified as external. This is striking - Epictetus doesn't say "some aspects of our body" but places the entire physical self outside our control.
**4. The Nature of Control**
The text doesn't explain what kind of control we have over internals, only that we have it. The nature of this control - whether absolute, partial, or something else - remains unspecified.
Section 1 (continued): The Promise and Warning
**Text:** "Those things which are within our power are by nature free, unimpeded, unhindered; but those which are without our power are weak, slavish, restrained, alien."
Analysis:
**1. Ontological Claims**
Epictetus makes metaphysical assertions about the nature of internals vs. externals:
- Internals are inherently "free" (ἐλεύθερα)
- Externals are inherently "slavish" (δοῦλα) and "alien" (ἀλλότρια)
**2. The Problem of Misidentification**
The implication is that treating externals as "ours" creates a category error - we attempt to control what is by nature uncontrollable.
**3. Freedom as Natural State**
Freedom isn't something we must achieve but something we naturally possess in the internal sphere. Slavery comes from extending our identity beyond proper boundaries.
Section 1 (conclusion): The Fundamental Choice
**Text:** "Remember, then, that if you suppose that things which are slavish by nature are also your own, and that what belongs to others is your own, then you will be hindered... But if you suppose that only to be your own which is your own, and what belongs to another to belong to another, then no one will ever compel you or restrain you."
Critical Analysis:
**1. The Central Mistake**
Human suffering stems from a cognitive error: misidentifying what belongs to us. This is presented as a mistake about facts, not values.
**2. The Promise of Invulnerability**
Correct identification guarantees freedom from compulsion and restraint. This is an absolute promise - "no one will ever" be able to harm us.
**3. Practical Implication**
The solution is purely cognitive - changing our understanding of what is "ours" vs. "others'."
Section 2: The Logic of Desire
**Text:** "Remember that desire promises the attainment of that of which you are desirous; and aversion promises the avoidance of that to which you are averse. However, he who fails of the object of his desire is disappointed, and he who incurs the object of his aversion wretched."
Analytical Framework:
**1. Desire as Promise
Desire inherently involves expectation of attainment. To desire X is to expect to get X.
**2. Logical Necessity of Suffering**
If we desire externals (which are uncontrollable), disappointment becomes logically inevitable, not just possible.
**3. The Emotional Mathematics**
- Desire for externals + external uncontrollability = guaranteed disappointment
- Aversion to externals + external uncontrollability = guaranteed wretchedness
Section 2 (continued): The Practical Conclusion
**Text:** "If, then, you avoid only those things contrary to nature which you have control over, you will never incur anything which you avoid. But if you avoid sickness or death or poverty, you will be wretched."
The Prescription:
**1. Restriction of Aversion**
Only avoid things within our control that are "contrary to nature." The text doesn't specify what makes something "contrary to nature," but the context suggests it means contrary to our rational nature.
**2. Acceptance of External Outcomes**
Sickness, death, and poverty are explicitly named as things we should not avoid (in the sense of having aversion to them).
**3. Guaranteed Outcome**
Following this prescription promises to eliminate wretchedness - a strong empirical claim.
Section 3: The Practice of Detachment
**Text:** "With regard to whatever objects give you delight, are useful, or are deeply loved, remember to tell yourself of what general nature they are, beginning from the most insignificant things. If, for example, you are fond of a specific ceramic cup, remind yourself that it is only ceramic cups in general of which you are fond. Then, if it breaks, you will not be disturbed. If you kiss your child, or your wife, say that you only kiss things which are human, and thus you will not be disturbed if either of them dies."
### Analysis of the Cognitive Technique:
**1. Categorical Despecification**
Transform attachment to specific individuals into recognition of general categories. Your particular child becomes "a human being among human beings."
**2. Applied During Intimate Moments**
The instruction specifically targets moments of affection - "if you kiss your child, or your wife" - when emotional bonds are being actively expressed and reinforced.
**3. Conscious Emotional Distancing**
The technique requires deliberately thinking "I only kiss things which are human" during intimate contact with family members. This represents active cognitive intervention to prevent specific attachment formation.
**4. Prevention of Grief Through Despecification**
The explicit goal is immunity from disturbance at death. Epictetus presents this as achievable through treating loved ones as interchangeable instances of general categories.
**5. Universal Application Without Exception**
The method applies to "whatever objects give you delight, are useful, or are deeply loved" - no relationships are exempt from this despecification requirement.
Psychological Implications:
**1. Radical Emotional Detachment**
The instruction goes beyond preparing for loss to actively preventing the formation of specific emotional bonds during ongoing relationships.
**2. Instrumental View of Relationships**
Family members are to be consciously viewed as replaceable instances of general categories rather than irreplaceable individuals with unique significance.
**3. Complete Emotional Immunity as Goal**
The technique aims for total prevention of grief rather than grief management or reduction. The promise is absolute: "you will not be disturbed."
Section 4: Preparation and Expectation
Practical Philosophy:
**1. Realistic Expectations**
Before engaging in any activity, mentally rehearse likely frustrations and difficulties.
**2. External Focus**
The obstacles mentioned are all external - other people's behavior, not our own failures.
**3. Cognitive Preparation**
The goal is mental preparation rather than external prevention of problems.
Section 4 (continued): The Proper Attitude
**Text:** "Now you'll be able to say, 'I will now go bathe, and keep my own mind in a state conformable to nature.' And so with regard to every other action. For thus, if any hindrance arises in bathing, you will have it ready to say, 'It was not only to bathe that I desired, but to bathe while keeping my will in a state conformable to nature.'"
Analysis:
**1. Dual Intention**
Every external action should have dual purpose: the external goal (bathing) plus internal goal (maintaining proper mental state).
**2. Priority Structure**
The internal goal takes priority - if external goal fails but internal goal succeeds, the action is still successful.
**3. Nature Conformity**
Our "will" or "choice" (προαίρεσις) should remain "conformable to nature" regardless of external outcomes.
**4. Redefinition of Success**
Success is redefined from external achievement to internal maintenance of proper attitude.
Section 5: The Cognitive Theory of Emotion
**Text:** "Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of them. Death, for instance, is not terrible, or else it would have appeared so to Socrates. But the terror consists in our notion of death that it is terrible."
Revolutionary Claim:
**1. Complete Cognitive Causation**
All emotional disturbance comes from "views" (δόγματα) rather than events themselves.
**2. Universal Principle**
The word "men" (ἄνθρωποι) suggests this applies to all humans without exception.
**3. Historical Evidence**
Socrates serves as empirical proof - the same event (death) produced no terror in him, demonstrating the event itself isn't the cause.
**4. Location of Terror**
Terror exists in our "notion" (δόκησις) about death, not in death itself.
Section 5 (continued): The Practical Implication
**Text:** "When we are hindered, or disturbed, or grieved, let us never attribute it to others, but to ourselves; that is, to our own views."
Responsibility Assignment:
**1. Complete Self-Attribution**
All negative emotions should be attributed to ourselves, never to external agents.
**2. Specific Mechanism**
The cause is always "our own views" - our interpretations and judgments.
**3. Universal Application**
This applies to hindrance, disturbance, and grief without exception.
**4. Practical Technique**
When experiencing negative emotions, the first step is redirecting causal attribution from external to internal.
Section 5 (conclusion): The Nature of Education
**Text:** "It is the action of an uneducated person to blame others for his own bad condition; it is the action of one who has begun to be educated to blame himself; and of one whose education is completed, to blame neither himself nor others."
Educational Stages:
**1. Uneducated Stage**
Blames others for suffering - the default human condition.
**2. Intermediate Stage**
Blames self - recognition of internal causation but still within blame framework.
**3. Completed Education**
Transcends blame entirely - presumably because proper understanding eliminates the suffering that prompts blame.
What This Close Reading Reveals
Explicit Claims:
- Sharp dichotomy between controllable internals and uncontrollable externals
- Our identity consists in our capacity for mental acts
- Emotional disturbance comes entirely from false judgments
- Correct understanding can eliminate suffering
- Even loved ones are externals not truly "ours"
Implicit Framework:
- Some judgments about externals are objectively false
- Human nature includes rational capacity that can be "conformed to"
- Complete emotional freedom is possible through cognitive change
- The sage (fully educated person) transcends ordinary human emotional patterns
What Remains Unspecified:
- The metaphysical nature of the mind-body distinction
- How exactly we "control" our internal states
- What makes some judgments true and others false
- The positive content of virtue beyond avoiding false judgments
- How to engage constructively with externals while maintaining detachment
Assessment:
The first five sections contain a revolutionary psychological theory with radical practical implications, but many crucial philosophical foundations remain implicit or undeveloped. The text provides the transformative vision and basic framework but requires significant elaboration to become a complete systematic philosophy