Observations on the Tenth Book of Diogenes Laertius

On page 78. ...more fully. For some of his listeners, such as Plato and Xenophon, left outstanding monuments about it. Others who followed, such as Aristotle and the Stoics, explained everything pertaining to the subject more abundantly.

Regarding Epicurus, although he himself taught and wrote a great deal about Moral Philosophy, we have almost nothing of his work left. We rely on these remains preserved in Laertius and fragments scattered among other authors. We find many in Cicero, who in the first book of On Ends Latin: De Finibus has the Epicurean Torquatus speak in such a way that he weaves together a sort of compendium of all Epicurean Moral Philosophy. If his lost books On the End, On the Conduct of Life, and others still existed, we could understand more fully both the main points and the order of the matters he assigned to this branch of study. In the meantime, we can gather from this compendium (and especially from the book On the End) that his purpose was to discuss the "end" itself, or the Highest Good. He intended to prove that this good is nothing other than Pleasure. He then discussed the means suitable for acquiring and protecting this end, namely the virtues, which he claimed were valuable only for the sake of pleasure. Indeed, Torquatus begins like this: First, I shall proceed as the author of this discipline pleases: I shall establish what and of what kind this thing is that we seek. And immediately after: We seek, therefore, what the limit is, what the ultimate of goods is, which in the opinion of all philosophers must be such that all things should be referred to it, but the thing itself referred to nothing else. Epicurus places this in Pleasure, which he wants to be the Highest Good, and he makes Pain the highest evil. He begins to teach it thus: Every animal, as soon as it is born, etc. I say he does this especially in the book On the End because in other periods he could follow a different order. He does so in the Letter to Menoeceus and the Principal Doctrines original: Ratis Sententiis. There he begins with what should be thought about the Gods and death, so that peace of mind may be sought.

To speak generally about the materials collected by Laertius, they can be divided into four Chapters. FIRST, he presents the Sayings about the Wise Man, which he collects partly from Epicurus himself and partly from his followers. SECOND, he adds the Letter to Menoeceus in the exact words and tone in which it was written. THIRD, he attaches a sort of appendix to supply certain main points that seemed missing from the Letter, taken from other works by Epicurus. FOURTH and finally, he adds the Principal Doctrines as a crowning touch.

VARIOUS SAYINGS ON THE WISE MAN.

Vol. II. Line 13. "But first let us approach the views currently held concerning the wise man." original Greek: ΠΡΟΤΕΡΟΝ δ' ἐλθωμεν ἐπὶ ἃ νῦν δoκεῖ περὶ τοῦ σoφoῦ. This is the first of the four chapters just indicated. In it are reviewed several Sayings containing a

Various sayings about the Wise Man. description of the Wise Man. From these we can gather what kind of person the Wise Man is, and what he will or will not do in life. Since philosophers commonly use the name "Wise Man" to mean a man perfect in intelligence and virtue who does nothing incorrectly, he is treated as a rule or model for everything done prudently, justly, and properly in life. Consequently, they attribute various traits to him, according to what each philosopher or sect imagines is fitting. Thus, 1. Metaphysics, etc. passing over what Aristotle and others have said, there are these well known Stoic sayings: The Wise Man is not ignorant, does not hold mere opinions, and does not lie. The Wise Man is free from passions; he does not feel pity, he does not forgive, he does not sin, and he is not affected by injury. Only the Wise Man is beautiful, noble, a rhetorician, a prophet, rich, a friend, a citizen, a magistrate, and a king. The Wise Man is always in joy, self-sufficient, and equal to God. All Wise Men are equal; virtues are equal and inseparable; sins are equal and inseparable. There are other sayings of this kind. The sayings handed down by Epicurus and his followers and collected here by Laertius are of this same general type.

The Wise Man Endures Injuries by the Counsel of Reason.

Line 17. "Injuries from men." original Greek: Βλάβας ἐξ ἀνθρώπων. This is the first saying. I interpret the word hypomenein original Greek: ὑπoμένειν as "to endure." I do this in imitation of Seneca, who seems to have looked to this maxim when he spoke of Epicurus in the book titled On the Firmness of the Wise Man, or That Injury Does Not Fall Upon the Wise Man. It could also be rendered as the Wise Man rising above injuries, or considering them as nothing, or despising them, because Seneca uses the word "contempt." However, the meaning is the same. To bring the full passage from Seneca here, it must first be noted that he says at the beginning:

Chapter 1.

There is as much difference between the Stoics and the others who profess wisdom as there is between women and men. The other wise men heal sick bodies softly and mildly, like domestic and familiar doctors, not by the best and fastest way, but by the way they are allowed. The Stoics have entered a manly path. They do not care if it seems pleasant to those entering it, but they care to snatch us away as soon as possible and lead us to that high peak which rises beyond the reach of any weapon, towering above fortune.

Later, however, so that he does not seem to include Epicurus entirely among those "others," he says this:

Chapter 15.

Do not think that this is merely Stoic hardness. Epicurus, whom you take as the patron of your laziness, and whom you think teaches soft and idle things that lead to pleasure, says: "Fortune rarely intervenes for the Wise Man."

(This is actually one of the Principal Doctrines, which must be discussed in its proper place.) Then, with a few words in between and approaching the point at hand, he begins:

Chapter 16.

If even Epicurus, who indulged the body the most, rises up against injuries, what can seem incredible to us, or beyond the measure of human nature? You should not say that this is contrary to nature.