Natali Petriashvili
09.12.15
CL 278
Moral Letters of Seneca
Seneca was a stoic philosopher. Seneca had very interesting views on many topics including virtue, friendship, honesty, and, also, death. His moral letters to Lucilius discuss themes that are discoverable in many philosophers’ works. Death is one of the most mysterious phenomena. No one has yet discovered what becomes of those who pass away; however, many philosophers, including Seneca, have tried to explain what it means and why humanity desperately fears it. Seneca’s point of view on death is a rather interesting one. In his letters to Lucilius, he explained the terrors of death and the hatred towards it. He, also, discussed old age and the phenomena of taking one’s own life.
Seneca…show more content… Seneca had a very interesting understanding of life and death. As he mentioned multiple times in his letters to Lucilius, the most important trait a human can have is integrity. According to the philosopher, if one leads a courageous, decent and a moral life, one’s death can be honorable. Seneca also has an interesting point of view on the concept of suicide. In his opinion, a man can take his own life. For the philosopher dying is nothing but a part of the life-cycle. As he further explained to Lucilius, Seneca thought that it is unwise to fear something inevitable. In his opinion, death is life itself, hence he does not understand why humanity is so terrorized from it. Although it is very difficult to make peace with a finite life, Seneca had had calmly accepted old age as well as the expected death. He understood that it was pointless to fear a concept, which humanity had no knowledge of. Throughout the years many emperors and dictators have feared and tried to avoid death; however, as the philosopher mentioned multiple times, a man who tries to extend his life is a man who knows nothing of