Curing Human Misery: A Study of Seneca's Moral Philosophy

Abstract

In this dissertation I outline and argue for a new approach to Seneca's moral philosophy - with particular emphasis on the notion that human misery can only be eliminated through philosophy. I argue that a careful reading of Seneca's philosophical texts reveal that a concern for philosophical progress dominates Seneca's writing. This concern manifests itself both in what might be called practical projects in Seneca's philosophical work - including his approaches to reading, writing, teaching, and advising his audience - and in his more theoretical accounts of the nature of philosophy and its role in producing a sound mind. Seneca's concern for philosophical progress shapes his works both substantively and methodologically. This is true of his account of the nature of philosophy and the structure of philosophical discourse, his understanding of philosophical pedagogy, and his approach to reading and writing philosophical texts. The concern for progress is perhaps most pressing on the issue of the emotions. Here, too, Seneca is devoted to helping the audience in a principled, if restrained, way. I argue that Seneca's conception of philosophy as therapy is both more subtle and more successful that those accounts available from his Stoic predecessors.