The Philosophy of Epictetus, Scaltsas and Mason

 

The Philosophy of Epictetus Edited by Theodore Scaltsas and Andrew S. Mason.  I picked this book up as a result of cascading endnotes/footnotes.  While reading and marking Open Socrates (I first listened to this book from the library, then bought a copy so that I could take notes), I found that there were several references to Epictetus (mostly from Robin Hard's translation: Epictetus Discourses, Fragments, Handbook), so I picked up Robin Hard's translation.  In the introduction to that work, there were several references to this book, so I got a copy of it.  I have been only obliquely aware of Epictetus (I thought he was a "founding father" of the Stoics, which isn't really true, more a professor of the Stoics, whereas Zeno is actually a founding father).  I found the references intriguing and suddenly was reading another book.  This is a collection of essays about Epictetus' philosophy which came about as a result of a conference.  I plan to attend a workshop on Morality at the University of Maryland (Moral Metaphysics at Maryland Workshop) at the end of the month, so I thought that understanding Epictetus' take on morality would be useful.  I have been reading a bit each morning and taking notes as well as referencing Hard's translation of Epictetus' known work.  Anil Seth keeps getting shuffled back and now Agnes Callard is taking a back seat.

Started: May 1, 2025?
Completed: June 18, 2025
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Christopher Gill (in the introduction to Hard's translation of Epictetus)

Words for which I sought help (English only, lots of Latin, Greek, French, and German):

conduce -- help to bring about

eudaimonist -- a proponent of eudaimonism, an ethical theory that emphasizes the pursuit of happiness and flourishing as the ultimate goal in life

hendiadys -- the expression of a single idea by two words connected with "and" e.g. nice and warm

protreptic -- a speech designed to instruct and persuade

Review:

I truly had not intention of studying Epictetus.  Stoicism, to me, has always felt like either a cold way to live or remarkably self indulgent (rarely both simultaneously).  As a result, the works of the Stoics have had little interest to me and, frankly, seemed to be misplaced.  I read some of the references in Callard but it was the morality workshop that encouraged me to read this book--though, as it turned out, that workshop was at a completely different level than the practical morality of Epictetus.

There is a vast difference between reading an Ancient Greek writer and studying an Ancient Greek writer.  The words are not necessarily meaningful in today's context (even with a good translation).  This book facilitates study.  Even while the study is rather isolated to specific areas of Epictetus, the reams of references in the back of this book could easily lead to another 5 years of reading and studying.

Credit needs to be given to Oxford University Press who published this book and must have realized that the market would be remarkably small.